Ottawa, 22 November 2011—Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) need to do a much better job of managing the health, safety and security risks associated with determining admissibility before issuing a visa, says John Wiersema, Interim Auditor General of Canada, in his Report tabled today in the House of Commons.
“Visa officers are responsible for deciding whether to grant or refuse a visa to enter Canada,” said Mr. Wiersema. “The system lacks basic elements to ensure that they get the right information to make those decisions.”
The audit found that many of the indicators visa officers use to identify high-risk applicants have not been reviewed in years. It also found that many CBSA analysts who provide security advice to visa officers have not received the necessary training, and their work is rarely reviewed. As well, there was no evidence that mandatory checks were completed.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada needs a better strategy to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Medical screening for danger to public health has focused on syphilis and tuberculosis for the past 50 years, even though health professionals in Canada are currently required to report 56 diseases.
The audit also found that where quality assurance practices exist, they focus on decisions to refuse a visa. In cases where applicants are found admissible, the quality of decisions is rarely reviewed. This means that CIC and CBSA don’t know if a visa was issued to someone who was in fact inadmissible.
“We’ve been reporting some of these problems with visas for 20 years, and I find it disturbing that fundamental weaknesses still exist,” said Mr. Wiersema. “It’s time that CIC and CBSA work together to resolve them.”
- 30 -
The chapter “Issuing Visas” is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.
