IRCC, Deputy Minister, Transition Binder, 2024 - Case Management Branch

Mandate

• The mandate of Case Management Branch (CMB) is to provide direction, support, and decision-making with regards to complex, high-profile, sensitive and/or contentious immigration, citizenship and passport cases as well as conduct large-scale investigations and employer compliance inspections.

Roles and Responsibilities

• CMB’s mandate is unique in that the branch collaborates with internal and external stakeholders on cases that impact all of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) lines of business.
• While CMB is not the functional authority on any one line of business, the branch provides case-specific guidance to decision makers across IRCC’s networks on complex and high profile cases with the intention of resolving them. This can sometimes result in CMB taking carriage of a case.
• CMB also provides case specific support to the senior management and the Minister’s office on decision making for high-profile, sensitive and/or contentious cases through briefing, stakeholder engagement and subject matter expertise.
• CMB supports senior management and the Minister’s Office to explore and exercise available policy and legislative tools on key cases of interest to ensure that Canada’s immigration system is aligned with broader departmental, and whole-of-government priorities.
• While CMB is not considered a processing office, the branch is responsible for decision making on multiple complex business lines. This includes but is not limited to:
  • Danger opinions;
  • Restricted pre-removal risk assessments;
  • Discretionary grants of citizenship;
  • Citizenship revocations;
  • Citizenship proofs;
  • Humanitarian and Compassionate permanent resident (PR) applications for cases with serious inadmissibilities;
  • Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs) for cases with serious inadmissibilities; and
  • Decisions on certain immigration, citizenship and passport cases with national security concerns.
• CMB also conducts employer compliance inspections under the International Mobility Program and large-scale investigations into fraud across all IRCC lines of business.

Key Issues

• There are a multitude of complex issues involving cases across the department that are currently being addressed by CMB. Some of these issues include:
  • Since the Designation of the Iranian Regime, CMB has collaborated with the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) to conduct a multi-phase review of temporary resident (TR) and PR visa holders who may have been senior officials in the Iranian regime during the prescribed time period. Administrative actions have been taken on all known cases of concern to ensure the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are held accountable for their crimes and are not provided safe haven in Canada.
  • [Redacted]
  • Since the passing of Bill S-8 on June 22, 2023, CMB has been working to identify and track individuals who are sanctioned for Human or International Rights violations who are now inadmissible to Canada as a result of the Bill. CMB has reviewed over 2,993 individuals currently sanctioned under the Special Economic Measures Act and taken administrative action on all known cases with an immigration nexus to Canada.
  • [Redacted]
  • CMB regularly meets with stakeholders who represent the families of victims of PS752 regarding enquiries on what can be done for individuals who were not eligible to apply for permanent residence under the previous and current public policies. CMB supports the Minister’s decision on how to proceed with facilitation for these cases.
  • CMB is engaged in the cases of Canadian Extremist Travelers in Northeastern Syria. These are individuals with a nexus to Canada who have travelled abroad to support terrorist organizations, in this case, mainly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. CMB has played a broad role in this file, as it has touched the immigration, citizenship and travel document lines of business.
  • CMB is engaged with Public Safety portfolio partners (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and CBSA) and GAC to identify persons and organizations involved in Foreign Interference with a view of disrupting the hostile foreign state activities through whatever administrative or criminal penalties could be leveraged.

Key Messages

• CMB plays a critical role in identifying risks and threats to IRCC’s program integrity, and providing expert advice and mitigation strategies on how to address these issues through guidance, investigations, and case interventions.
• CMB houses significant expertise in handling some of the most complex and high-profile cases within the department, often working dynamically to find creative solutions under tight timelines.