CIMM - IRCC’s Reintegration Planning - Dec 2, 2020

Key messages

• Since mid-March 2020, employees have continued working either remotely or on-site to maintain our critical operations.
• Throughout the summer, my Department implemented a reintegration and resumption strategy to manage its core programs and services.
• Our actions are gradual and phased and our top priority continues to be the health and safety of Canadians, employees and our clients.
• While most of my Department’s employees continue to work remotely, employees began gradually returning to workplaces over the summer to deliver non-critical services.
• As of September 26, 2020, the Department had 90% of its operations workforce in the office or teleworking. This is up significantly from the low of 38% at the end of March 2020.
• The Department’s reintegration strategy and resurgence readiness follows public health guidance and takes into account the state of the pandemic in our different worksites in Canada and abroad.

Supplementary messages

• In March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the Department responded by prioritizing delivery of critical services:
  • Temporary residence, including in-Canada extensions, seasonal agricultural workers, essential and vulnerable workers
  • Permanent residence, including Express Entry (Canada Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program), spousal (in-Canada and those who are travel ban exempt), Permanent Resident Travel Document and Humanitarian and Compassionate considerations
  • Resettled refugees exempt from Canada’s air travel restrictions as well as cases in urgent need of protection  
  • Citizenship, including urgent proofs of citizenship and the implementation of virtual ceremonies
  • Passport, including urgent travel documents
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has developed a strategy that has been piloted and tested, allowing for a safe return of our workforce to departmental worksites in Canada and abroad.
• Over the spring and summer months, the Department equipped its officers with the tools to support remote processing where possible, partially reinstating our operational capacity both in Canada and abroad. As of October 2020, while continuing to follow guidelines and recommendations set by the Public Health Agency of Canada and provincial and local public health authorities, the Department has moved forward with business reintegration efforts in all lines of business by gradually increasing access to worksites for employees whose work cannot be done remotely, and to support file distribution to remote workers.
• The Department has also implemented innovative solutions to reduce business impacts. For instance, it has implemented virtual citizenship ceremonies and adopted technology that allows the Client Support Centre to operate remotely. The Department will continue using existing and new technologies to conduct client interviews, process paper applications and improve service delivery.
• Our strategy ensures engagement with employees, unions, the Occupational Health and Safety Committee as well as consults with service provider organizations and other stakeholders.
• Protocols for cleaning, in-person activities, and working offsite have been developed in consultation with unions and employees. Other health and safety measures have also been implemented, including worksite modifications, based on public health recommendations.
• Our resurgence readiness protocol includes a monitoring system that captures pandemic conditions and their impact in different regions and worksites. It provides data that helps the Department decide how to best maintain its capacity while providing a safe and healthy work environment for employees in each region.

699 leave

• Departmental employees’ use of 699 leave from mid-March 2020 onwards has decreased significantly over time to present. The decreased use of 699 is largely attributable to the Department’s support of remote work by the majority of its employees, as well as the gradual, well-planned and well-monitored reintegration of employees focused on priority business lines.
• The Department’s modernization and support of remote work, where possible, will ensure that priority lines of business continue to operate even during the current (and future) pandemic resurgence.

Supporting facts and figures

• Reintegration as of November 18, 2020:
  • In Canada: 9.4% (834) employees are working from the office, 81.5% (7208) are teleworking, and 9.1% (806) are on leave or not scheduled to work.
  • Abroad: 45.5% (612) employees are working from the office, 34.6% (466) are teleworking, and 19.8% (266) are on leave.
• 699 leave across the Department (in Canada) :
  • On Mar 18, 2020, 2312 employees were on 699 leave; on November 18, 2020, 29 employees were on 699 leave.

Background

Who is working? Where are they working?

• As of November 18, 2020:
  • Centralized Network: 25.6% (520) employees are working from the office, 65.3% (1327) are teleworking, and 9.1% (185) are on leave or not scheduled to work.
  • Domestic Network: 12.5% (174) employees are working from the office, 76.3% (1058) are teleworking, and 11.2% (155) are on leave or not scheduled to work.
  • International– Domestic: 5.3% (20) employees are working from the office, 86.1% (323) are teleworking, and 8.5% (32) are on leave or not scheduled to work.
  • International – Overseas: 46% (603) employees are working from the office, 33.7% (441) are teleworking, and 20.3% (266) are on leave or not scheduled to work
  • CPPB: 0% (0) employees are working from the office, 93.3% (140) are teleworking, and 6.7% (10) are on leave or not scheduled to work
  • Settlement: 0.6% (2) employees are working from the office, 91.6% (293) are teleworking, and 7.8% (25) are on leave or not scheduled to work

What are they working on?

• Domestic Network: As part of business resumption efforts, employees were reintegrated into the office since July supporting business lines that either required back office activities to support remote work; or more recently, to provide in-person services at select offices to support the asylum continuum, urgent citizenship re-tests and hearings. Due to the recent reintroductions of public health restrictions in certain provinces, offices in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario have reverted back to Level Critical (per the Resurgence Readiness Protocol) and are only working on critical functions at this time. Where feasible, since the closures remote work has continued on various business lines across the DN via remote decision-making models and other virtual innovations, including: PR and TR decision making, virtual landings, virtual Citizenship oaths, upcoming online testing, Asylum triage and intake by e-Post. The DN is also working on other innovations, such as: using MSTeams as a platform to further PRRA interviews, and consequently applying this process to other business lines that would also require client interviews; and a PR card portal which aims to reduce the mail-in and scanning of PR card photos.
• Centralized Network: Has resumed intake and processing on all lines of business except permanent resident applications for the Caregiver line of business.  This includes: citizenship grants and proofs, permanent resident cards, economic permanent resident lines of business (e.g. PNP, QSW, CEC, FSW), family class lines of business (spousal both in-Canada and overseas and parents and grandparents), and temporary resident lines of business (in-Canada extensions, overseas work permits and study permits, select eTA and TRV).  Caregiver resources have been diverted to process in-Canada temporary resident extensions which are a critical line of business.  Caregiver processing is anticipated to resume in January.
• International Network:
  • Temporary residents:
    • First tier priority:  WPs for Critical NOCs (agricultural, health care, truck drivers, seafarers etc.) and Film & TV industry; TRVs and written authorizations for OIC Exemptions (immediate family members, extended family members, compassionate travel); Study Permits for students destined to DLIs with covid-readiness plan).
  • [Redacted]
    • [Redacted]
  • Permanent residents: We continue to process all classes of permanent residence applications, to the extent possible, with priority being given to overseas spousal applications.
• Citizenship and Passport Program:
  • Grants of Citizenship:
    • Working with processing networks to deliver video oath ceremonies, urgent knowledge testing, urgent hearings, and urgent program integrity interviews.
    • Providing training for these delivery formats.
    • Developing SOPs/PDIs for the delivery of these delivery formats.
    • Drafting procedures for conducting urgent citizenship judge hearings.
    • Developing ways to modernize the program and move away from paper-based processing through online testing, electronic applications and a digital intake channel, a 2D barcode application form, and virtual delegation training for citizenship.
  • Citizenship Proofs:
    • Operational instructions for implementation of new interpretation of parent for citizenship by descent;
    • Research on birth registration practices in other countries to support legal parent at birth policy;
    • Revising and adapting proof delegation training for delivery in a virtual environment;
    • Providing functional guidance on urgent proof and repatriation of Canadians in global hotspots (i.e. Hong Kong, Syria); and;
    • Researching options for the development of an electronic citizenship certificate.
• Settlement Network:
  • Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, departmental interaction with service provider organizations has been entirely virtual in order to limit contact between individuals and contain the spread of the virus.
  • Key in-person activities conducted by settlement and resettlement officers now take place virtually with the assistance of our service provider partners; including Resettlement Assistance Program Income Support orientation, engagement with new service provider partners, and financial monitors.
  • Management of contribution agreements with service providers has been accomplished effectively in the current remote environment. Management of contribution agreements does not require a return to physical office spaces and we anticipate that to be the case for some time to come.

IRCC - Reintegration to the workplace timeline

Pilot / Wave 1

Launch week of July 6

Reintegrate back-office activities at:

• CPC-Sydney Vancouver Robson
• Vancouver Hornby
• Resettlement Operations Centre-Ottawa

Wave 1B: Back Office (CPCs and Vancouver Expo)

Launch week of Aug 10

Reintegrate back-office activities at:

• CPC-Mississauga
• CPC-Edmonton
• OSC (Gatineau)
• CPC-Ottawa
• Vancouver Expo

Wave 1C: Back Offices (DN)

Launch week of Aug 24

Reintegrate back-office activities at:

• Montreal
• Etobicoke
• Halifax
• Reintegrate some activities at Client Support Centre

Wave 2A

Offices ready September 14

Reintegrate some front- and back-office activities at:

• Calgary (asylum)
• Edmonton (asylum)
• Hamilton (asylum)
• Niagara Falls (asylum)
• Etobicoke (PRC & PRD)
• Montreal (PRC & PRD)
• Vancouver Expo front office (citizenship)

Reintegrate some front- and back-office activities at:

• Vancouver Hornby (asylum)
• Montréal (asylum)
• Etobicoke (asylum

Wave 2B

Launch Sep/Oct

Reintegrate select NHQ and regional functions within and outside the Operations Sector:

• ICB
• IN
• HRB
• CMB
• IT-Ops

Wave 3A: Back Offices and Site Visits

Launch Nov/Dec TBC

Reintegrate back office and client facing activities at:

• DN (all offices)
• SN (Site visits)

Wave 3B NHQ

Launch Oct/Nov

Reintegrate select NHQ and regional functions within and outside the Operations Sector:

• HRB
• MHB