COW – Digital Modernization – June 9, 2025
Key Facts and Figures
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is in the midst of a digital transformation, and has already achieved results for our clients. For example since launching a new online account:
- Over 51k clients have used it to apply for a visitor visa.
- Over 6.7k Canadians have used it to apply online for an adult passport renewal, the first time an online channel has been available for passports.
- IRCC is requesting increased funding of $134.8M through the 2025–2026 Main Estimates to advance the Department’s digital platform modernization efforts to roll out the new account to more clients, beginning rolling out new client enquiry management tools, piloting digital visas, and beginning end-to-end transformation of Express Entry and visitor programs.
Key Messages
- A fast, agile and reliable immigration system is critical to Canada’s ability to meet the changing needs and expectations of clients, and to support the delivery of efficient and effective government services.
- Over the coming years, IRCC is undergoing a significant business transformation to fundamentally change the way it delivers services. This end-to-end digital transformation will be delivered through IRCC’s Digital Platform Modernization (DPM) programme.
- We have already begun delivering on this modernization, with a new online account launched in 2024 initially for a subset of clients but which will eventually be rolled out to all IRCC clients.
- Since launching, over 51k people have used the new account to apply to visit Canada.
- In December 2024, the account was opened for a subset of clients looking to renew their adult passports, representing the first online channel for Canadian passports. Since that time, over 9k Canadians have benefited from online passport applications.
- Over the coming year, more passport clients and additional client groups will be onboarded to the new account, taking advantage of single-window access to IRCC services that are easier to use, more intuitive, and with more self-serve options.
- Feedback received from clients using the new online account has been very positive and we continue to implement enhancements based on usability testing, demonstrating our commitment to being agile and responsive to feedback.
- In addition to the new online account, IRCC is getting ready to launch a new client enquiry management system that will make it easier to ask client support questions and faster to get answers.
- In the coming months, IRCC will also be piloting digital visas, to help inform future work to move toward fully digital documents so clients don’t have to wait to get documents in the mail once their visa or permit has been approved.
- While we continue to roll out new digital approaches to improve the client experience, we are also undergoing back-office transformation to deliver greater program integrity, faster technical implementation of policy changes, new efficiencies and better productivity through automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and greater overall technical stability. New capabilities to transform how we deliver permanent economic programs as well as visitor and electronic travel authorization programs are expected to begin rolling out in the coming year, and then eventually expand to other lines of business.
Supplementary Information
- DPM is IRCC’s key initiative to bring efficiencies and increased operational productivity through new tools and automation, including the use of AI.
- Once complete, DPM will result in a new service delivery model with redesigned, efficient business processes and new digital technology platforms that leverage automation and AI, resulting in improved government services that ensure Canadians, industry, clients and partners can reap the full benefits of Canada’s immigration programs.
- The first project of DPM, a new online account is being rolled out in an iterative manner to client groups, expanding over time, delivering incremental benefits and new features to clients along the way.
- The ability to renew passports online is providing eligible applicants a convenient and accessible way to renew their passport and eliminate the sometimes challenging endeavor of having to visit a physical office to complete the renewal.
- In parallel to the implementation of the new online account, IRCC has recently completed its final major procurement for a new Case Management Platform that will eventually replace the Department’s current Global Case Management System. This allows us to begin the work to improve the efficiency of how we process applications with a digital first approach, starting with select economic permanent resident programs and the temporary resident visitor program.
- The incremental funding being sought through 2025–2026 Main Estimates is $134.8M. The total DPM funding for 2025–2026 totals $172.1M ($86.4M—for Tranche 1 projects including online account, client enquiries tools, and digital visa pilot; $85.7M—for Tranche 2 projects including Express Entry programs and the visitor program).
- Tranche 1 will enable IRCC to fully embed and implement the Client Experience Platform. This will be achieved through continued implementation of a new online experience for all IRCC clients, improved client enquiries management, and piloting digital visas.
- Tranche 2 will enable IRCC to modernize Permanent Resident Express Entry and Temporary Resident Visitor programs end-to-end. Tranche 2 will increase employee productivity, reduce departmental technical debt and improve program integrity.