SSC and IRCC achieve major IT upgrade for better service to Canadians

Last fall, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) successfully upgraded its systems to move from 1 legacy data centre into 2 state-of-the-art enterprise data centres (EDC).

Together, teams across IRCC and Shared Services Canada (SSC) co-designed a robust new IT architecture for IRCC. This upgrade is part of the government’s broader push to retire aging systems and move toward innovative, modern networks—delivering future-ready digital solutions for Canadians. This move will reduce operational costs, increase reliability, reduce outages, increase security and is greener.

A bold new IT architecture designed for the future

This transformation wasn’t just about upgrading and switching data centres—it was about rethinking how the system works as a whole. While it may have seemed like a simple “lift and shift” to some, it actually required a complete overhaul of the underlying architecture. This was necessary to meet modern needs and support the growing demands of IRCC. By leveraging modern hosting systems and the EDCs’ improved facilities, IRCC now benefits from a high-performance, integrated system that combines data warehousing and advanced analytics.

This upgrade allows for more complex data queries, meaning IRCC can now quickly analyze large volumes of information and identify trends or issues that were harder to spot before. For example, when processing immigration or citizenship applications, the system can now cross-reference vast amounts of data in real-time. With this improved capability, IRCC can respond more efficiently to changing demands, streamline services and provide better data-driven services to those who need them most.

The result? Faster, stronger and more reliable IT systems that enhance public service delivery, ensuring Canadians can rely on secure and robust digital services.

Marie-Josée Dorion, IRCC’s Chief Information Officer, reflected on the teamwork that made this effort possible:

“The critical infrastructure was successfully updated on an aggressive schedule to address the end of support for the existing platform. Delivered under budget, it now provides reliable access to data for organizational business and decision support.”

Like replacing a jet engine—mid-flight

The scale of this achievement is hard to overstate. SSC and IRCC coordinated across 11 specialized technical teams to ensure that every aspect of this large-scale redesign was carefully planned and executed, with no disruption to IRCC’s critical services. The project was completed without a single critical outage, showcasing the reliability of SSC’s IT systems—systems that millions of Canadians depend on every day.

Proactive planning for a smooth transition

To mitigate risks and ensure operational resilience, SSC took creative steps to secure spare back-up systems to be available for spare parts, if needed.

“When our SSC colleagues reached out to ask if we could help with transporting and storing back-up equipment, we were more than happy to step in. We knew how important it was to make everything run smoothly for IRCC, and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could to support the team during this transition.”

Luckily, the back-up equipment was not needed, but this level of strategic planning allowed the teams to ride the wave of uncertainty and bring this complex redesign to a calm and collected close. These additional measures reinforced the ability to adapt to potential hardware failures throughout the transition.

Mission accomplished: Enhancing services together

The project concluded with the successful deployment of 4 state-of-the-art solutions across multiple EDCs, maintaining service continuity without a hitch.

This achievement underscores the strength of collaboration between SSC and IRCC in tackling complex technological challenges and delivering results that make a difference.

Congratulations to all the dedicated teams who made this ambitious modernization project a success!

For an inside look at the Government of Canada’s EDCs, check out our behind-the-scenes video.