CIMM – Creation of an Independent IRCC Ombudsperson – November 29, 2022

Key Messages

IRCC understands the concerns with existing mechanisms for addressing inconsistencies in processing and seeking additional information about officers’ decisions on applications.
IRCC has taken a number of steps to address the issues raised in recent Parliamentary Reports to make real and lasting changes within the Department to ensure that systemic inequities and disparities are eliminated from its operations and policies.
We are exploring the feasibility of establishing an Ombudsperson Office by conducting a thorough review of the issues raised by the Committee and the potential scope of this office. This needs to be considered in light of client service improvements we plan to make, as well as initiatives currently underway to identify and address systemic inequities which can lead to unequal outcomes.
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), IRCC decisions are eligible for redetermination for any individual refused temporary or permanent residence.

The concept of client service is interwoven into all of the Minister’s mandate commitments, specifically reducing processing times, strengthening family reunification, expanding temporary or permanent pathways, simplifying application processes, or supporting employers and communities.
In recent years, IRCC’s service to clients has been under scrutiny from several federal oversight bodies, such as the Auditor General of Canada (audit regarding Call Centre services), the Office of the Information Commissioner (systemic investigation regarding Access to Information and Privacy [ATIP] practices), and most recently, reports by the Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship and Immigration related to immigration during the pandemic and differential treatment of foreign students.
We have been using the recommendations coming out of these reports as an opportunity to accelerate client service and support improvements and to provide greater transparency to clients (e.g., the creation of the Citizenship and Family Class Application Status Trackers). We recognize, however, that we still have more to do.

IRCC has taken steps to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards for programs, policies and client service free from any racial bias.
We published an Anti-Racism Value Statement, which makes it clear that addressing racism is the responsibility of every employee. In that statement we committed to being accountable and transparent through the collection, use and dissemination of disaggregated and race-based data, and reporting on progress and outcomes.
We established a dedicated team to provide anti-racism guidance to senior management and employees through IRCC’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) in July 2020. The Task Force identified a three-year iterative strategy in 2021 and released Anti-Racism Strategy 2.0 (2021-2024) to launch the Department on the path to building the foundations for the generational work required to eradicate racism in its policies, operations, and people management practices.

IRCC already has a number of pathways in place that clients can, and do, access with to provide feedback regarding their experience;
Under the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act, clients are provided with different avenues of recourse depending on their specific circumstances.
Non-complex issues typically include undue delays, requests for reconsideration of an officer decision, clarifying the reason(s) for officer decisions, identifying inconsistencies or administrative errors in processing, and other service experience issues such as poor or misleading information and an issue involving an IRCC staff member, or service provider.
Reconsideration (of an officer’s decision) is an option for any client with a negative immigration decision and can be requested through the IRCC online web form. Reconsideration requests are currently dealt with by the offices responsible for the original processing decision.
With regard to complex cases, IRCC already has a number of pathways in place that clients can and do access such as the Immigration Appeal Division, Federal Court, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (for security partner-related complaints).

CIMM has published three reports in the last two years on IRCC operations related decision-making and client outcomes:
- Immigration in the Times of COVID-19: Issues and Challenges (May 2021 and re-tabled in February 2022)
- Differential Treatment in Recruitment and Acceptance Rates of Foreign Students in Quebec and in the Rest Of Canada (May 2022)
- Promoting Fairness in Canadian Immigration Decisions (November 2022)
All three reports contained recommendations for IRCC to implement an Ombudsperson Office in order to provide greater oversight of operations and policies, as well as review complaints related to racism.
The most recent Government Response, tabled in September 2022, was to the report on Differential Treatment of Foreign Students. In that Response, IRCC committed to exploring the feasibility of establishing an Ombudsperson Office. The Department will be conducting a review of the issues raised by the Committee and the potential scope of the office, in light of existing mechanisms to address complaints, contest an IRCC decision, as well as initiatives currently underway at IRCC to identify and address systemic inequities that can lead to unequal outcomes.
The Government Response to the November 2022 report on Promoting Fairness in Canadian Immigration Decisions will be tabled before the end of the fiscal year.