CIMM – CIMM 82.2 – Work permit refusals – February 7, 2024

IRCC’s response to a request for information made by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on November 7, 2023

Question

Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe: I arranged a meeting between Le Réseau d’aide aux travailleuses et travailleurs migrants agricoles du Québec (RATTMAQ) and the Minister's Office. They passed on the information regarding what was discussed at the meeting. You must have done some sort of assessment to identify why, all of a sudden, it became virtually impossible for people whose applications were in order to obtain open permits in the same circumstances. Why was it easier to obtain those permits before? What did your assessment reveal? What's the reason that the permits were suddenly denied? Did you make changes to the process? Was the situation corrected?

Mr. Jean-Marc Gionet: Thank you for your question. We are always looking for ways to improve the instructions we give our officers so that applications are processed properly. I'm going to have to get back to you on this. I'll have to go back and see what exactly was recommended.

Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe: As far as you know, did one particular officer deny more applications than the rest of the team, say?

Mr. Jean-Marc Gionet: Again, I'm going to have to get back to you on that, because I can't give you an answer now.

Response

Approval Rates

There has not been a sudden or significant change in refusals of open work permits for vulnerable workers (OWP-V) applications.

A review of the OWP-V approval rates illustrates that approval rates are in line with the five-year average.

Repeat applications

Data illustrates that refused applicants are often re-applying multiple times without a change in their circumstances hoping for a different outcome. In total, 26% of the OWP-V application intake between June 2019, and October 31, 2023, were repeat applications. This contributes to refusal rates.

The OWP-V application is fee-exempt to ensure vulnerable workers have access to the permit regardless of their financial situation. This also facilitates reapplication compared to other lines of business that are not fee-exempt (i.e., regular work permits).

Allegation of a single officer refusing a large number of applications

The Department conducted an initial review of approval rates per officer specific to the office in question and we did not find any evidence of bias, discrimination or racism in application refusals. However, there were some cases of inconsistency or irregularity in assessment, and, therefore, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is currently conducting a broader review of our procedures across all our offices to ensure that any other irregularity is dealt with swiftly.

The Department also has a quality assurance program that includes monitoring the quality of officer decisions in general to ensure consistency and to identify potential biases in decisions. When errors, training gaps, or inconsistencies are identified, actions are taken immediately to address specific situations. Such actions can include the redetermination of decisions, providing additional training or clarifying procedures to ensure consistency.

Reasons for refusal

Since 2019, approximately 15% of refused applicants did not hold a valid employer-specific work permit at some point prior to applying for the OWP-V, which would make them ineligible for OWP-V.

Other reasons for refusals include:

• We have seen anecdotally that some clients apply when they are in a precarious situation, but they aren’t necessarily experiencing abuse (e.g., a client was laid-off due to business closures, but has been paid and treated fairly).
• Applicants were not able to demonstrate that they were experiencing abuse or at risk of experiencing abuse in the context of their employment.
• Applicants are not currently in Canada, as required.
• Applicants who were issued an OWP-V apply for an extension of their OWP-V, but they are not eligible for renewal.

Recently, the Department updated the OWP-V refusal letter so that the reasons for refusal are more clearly communicated to the applicant.

While officers are encouraged to record the specific reason for refusal in the Global Case Management System (GCMS), it is not a mandatory field and therefore we are unable to provide a detailed breakdown of reasons for refusal. However, the Department is in the process of doing a full scale manual data review of the program to identify the percentage of times each of these reasons above are used to refuse an application.