LANG – Status of Operations, Programs and Services – March 28, 2022
Key messages
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) operations continue to be affected by pandemic-related challenges such as capacity limits at work sites and travel restrictions.
Within Canada, processing continues for all lines of business with 100% of IRCC offices and service providers open, but with capacity limits. The vast majority of staff continue to work remotely.
Overseas, 98% of our missions are open, 99% of our visa application centres are open and offering biometrics collection, and 98% of panel physicians’ clinics are open to the public and offering Immigration Medical Exams.
Despite challenges, IRCC continues to make great strides, including making close to 507,000 final decisions for permanent residence applications in 2021, thanks to a combination of remote and on-site delivery and processing innovations.
Supplementary messages
Status of IRCC offices and service providers in Canada
All IRCC offices and service providers are open, but are limited to up to 30% in-person capacity for both employees and clients.
Of more than 500 service providers under the Settlement Program, critical in-person services for vulnerable newcomer populations continue to remain open (e.g. setting up medical appointments, mental health or gender-based violence supports), with other services being delivered remotely.
Status of IRCC offices and service providers abroad
Overseas, most IRCC offices and service providers are open, but some with limited in-person capacity due to local restrictions.
As of January 31, 2022, 161 of 162 (99%) visa application centres are open to the public offering biometrics collection, among other services. This includes 34 visa application centres that are fully open, while 127 are able to offer partial services only (reduced hours and/or limited services).
As visa application centres reopen, IRCC closely monitors client behaviour, inventory backlogs, capacity, and local restrictions to ensure resumption of good quality and prompt client service.
The vast majority of panel physicians’ clinics are now open to the public, with (563 out of 577 or 98%) currently offering Immigration Medical Exams.
Office closures and restrictions are assessed regularly. IRCC continues to follow public health guidance and our top priority continues to be the health and safety of Canadians, employees and our clients.
Business resumption
The pandemic presented challenges to the Department to receive and process applications submitted by mail, conduct in-person services such as client interviews, biometrics collection, validation of supporting and identity documents to support the finalization of applications. Some of those services cannot be done remotely, and those services have resumed.
IRCC has equipped its officers with the tools to support remote processing where possible, reinstating most of our operational capacity both in Canada and abroad.
IRCC has modernized its operations to ensure the majority of work can be done remotely by employees, and that clients can access services without having to come physically to one of our offices, when possible.
For example, clients can now access many services and information remotely through the IRCC website, web forms, and tools such as MyAccount.
On May 10, 2021, IRCC launched the Citizenship Case Status Tracker to support Citizenship clients in finding information on their application status. Since its launch, IRCC has seen an uptake in registrations of 450,000 new accounts and recorded 10 million logins.
On February 3, 2022, IRCC introduced a new Permanent Residence Case Tracker for family class spousal, common-law, and dependent clients, allowing them to easily track the status of their application information online. IRCC plans to launch additional application status tools for other lines of business in the future.
Our business resumption strategy ensures engagement with clients, employees, unions, the Occupational Health and Safety Committee, service providers and other stakeholders such as Global Affairs Canada that is responsible for safety in the workplace at Canadian diplomatic missions abroad.
Our pandemic response includes a cross-Canada monitoring system that captures pandemic conditions and their impact in different regions and offices.
The Department has established a protocol for responding to in-office cases of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to ensure the health and safety of employees and clients.
If pressed:
No known cases of COVID-19 have been caused through transmission at an IRCC office.
