CIMM - Innovations in Lines of Business - Mar 8, 2021

Key messages

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to innovate and evolve in how we do business through both policy and digital transformation. IRCC’s Digital Transformation Journey is well underway, delivering benefits to our clients and our country, and mitigating COVID-19 challenges.
• IRCC has made progress in expediting delivery of virtual services for clients and remote processing in Temporary Resident, Permanent Resident and Citizenship programs. It has also enabled a remote workforce through enhanced digital tools and stabilized IT systems.

Temporary Residents:

• The Dynamic Temporary Resident Visa e-Application and portal provide an innovative, modern and completely digital application experience for clients.
• The use of the counter foil-less visa issuance process for temporary workers is available for some clients who are not able to have a physical visa affixed in their passport in exceptional circumstances only.

Permanent Residents:

• Digitization and scanning projects are helping us upload thousands of paper files to the Global Case Management System for remote processing across the network. We are also working with our Visa Application Centre locations to enable the scanning and transmission of applications electronically to IRCC.
• Phone interviews were implemented in key areas for permanent resident applications, such as the in-Canada spouse and common-law partner stream.
• We are piloting virtual interview facilitation services at VACs, with the goal of increasing the availability of service locations across the network. Virtual interviews for in-Canada clients will also be offered in the near future.
• A public policy to allow virtual admissions has been implemented. It enables officers to grant permanent resident status to approved in-Canada applicants without requiring those individuals to be present for an in-person interview at an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office.
• The Department has also launched a secure Permanent Resident Confirmation Portal that allows clients to send and receive protected files and finalize the in-Canada landing process digitally. Clients can now submit a recent photo through the portal to use as part of their permanent resident card application and download an e-Confirmation of Permanent Residence. Between November 2020 and January 31, 2021, over 2,200 permanent resident clients were admitted through this initiative.
• IRCC has implemented Canada Post’s epost Connect messaging service for business processes, such as asylum claims, which is a secure, and timely messaging system used to communicate and exchange documents.
• Implementing innovative approaches, such as virtual admissions, has given IRCC the ability to maximize production to the extent possible, mitigate processing delays and continue to serve our clients while respecting public health guidelines. IRCC began to process “virtual” admissions on April 20, 2020. From April 20 to January 31, 2021, the Department completed over 85,000 virtual admissions.

Citizenship

• [Redacted]
• In late November of 2020, IRCC transitioned from a paper-based citizenship knowledge test to an online test. Over 18,000 clients were invited to take the test online by January 31, 2021.
• Thanks to live, video-conferenced virtual citizenship ceremonies through a web-accessible conferencing platform, over 50,000 clients became new citizens between April 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.
• Phone interviews were implemented in key areas for permanent resident applications, such as the in-Canada spouse and common-law partner stream.
• We are piloting virtual interview facilitation services at Visa Application Centres, with the goal of increasing the availability of service locations across the network. Virtual interviews for in-Canada clients will also be offered in the near future.

Supplementary messages

Citizenship

• Prior to the pandemic, the Department was already undergoing transformation of its operations, leveraging technology to develop tools and new processes to make our immigration system more agile, efficient and client-focused.
• COVID-19 has accelerated the digital imperative and need for transformation, spurring the Department to renew our commitment to digital transformation and continue to enter into new innovative areas.
• Through various computer analytics and machine automation initiatives, IRCC has achieved efficiencies in processing and reduced response times. For example, on December 15, 2020, IRCC launched an automated e-mail triage system to provide faster responses to clients seeking an exemption from travel restrictions.
• The Department is currently developing a Permanent Residence intake portal that will provide a digital front-end electronic application option. This, along with the digitalization of core forms for the Department’s paper-based lines of business will facilitate the way clients can submit applications without the need to rely on in-person or mail-in services and will increase the ability to process applications remotely.
• Recognizing that immigration will play an important role in Canada’s economic recovery, the Government of Canada is continuing to develop innovative solutions across all of its lines of business to help bring newcomers such as workers in key industries to Canada.

Supporting facts and figures

• Various digital solutions have been developed and implemented across the Department to facilitate processing. Highlights of innovations by line of business include:
• Temporary resident: Dynamic e-application and portal; phone interviews for temporary resident permits issued to vulnerable populations;
• Permanent resident: in-Canada virtual landings; digitization of family class priority applications; and, in prescribed circumstances, reuse of previous biometrics and extending validity of medical exams.
• Asylum:
  • Thousands of asylum claimants have used epost Connect or alternative electronic means to submit claims and receive documentation.
  • IRCC will soon launch an online application for in-Canada asylum applicants, which will allow IRCC to limit in-person interactions while meeting the needs of claimants and their counsel. Additionally, IRCC, Canada Border Services Agency and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada are electronically sharing documents instead of using courier or mail, which allows staff to continue working efficiently from home.
  • IRCC will soon implement procedures for virtual intake interviews to allow us to make eligibility decisions. Our senior immigration officers have recently started participating in virtual asylum hearings for intervention at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
• Refugee Resettlement: IRCC worked closely with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to adapt pre-departure orientation services for refugees to provide this service over the phone and integrate key messages from the Public Health Agency of Canada. IRCC also introduced a new web-based tool that allows the IOM to book travel for government-assisted refugees based on up-to-date community capacity. Sponsors in Canada continue to receive supports and services from the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program via augmented online tools and online training as well as a virtual national conference.
• Citizenship: On March 14, 2020, IRCC cancelled all citizenship ceremonies, tests and re-tests, until further notice:
  • IRCC began holding virtual citizenship ceremonies in April 2020;
  • The online citizenship knowledge test was launched in November 2020;
  • IRCC has leveraged existing videoconferencing capabilities for conducting interviews and hearings;
  • IRCC has also launched the Grant of Citizenship 2D Barcode application form, designed to improve client service and ease application data entry at the intake stage.
• Case management: Federal Court electronic filing; remote commissioning of affidavits; secure electronic file transfer.

Background

• Prior to COVID-19, the primary drivers for innovation were growing application volumes outpacing processing capacity, aging information technology infrastructure and client demands for better service.
• A new set of challenges were introduced by COVID-19 and created additional roadblocks to in all lines of business and have accelerated the need for innovation.
• Continued innovation will be required with an expected increase in immigration demand when the border re-opens, notably to meet ambitious permanent resident admission targets set for next three years: 401,000 in 2021; 411,000 in 2022; and, 421,000 in 2023.