The Information Commissioner of Canada published results of an investigation into systemic issues in IRCC's handling of access to information requests.
Canada’s information commissioner is calling on the immigration department to improve communication with clients.
As it is, the only way to see the status of your application or understand why your application for permanent residence was denied is to file an access to information request, more commonly known as an ATIP. This can be a lengthy process that is not available to people living outside of Canada, who consequently have to get a representative to file on their behalf.
Canada’s access to information received 116,928 ATIP requests in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, an increase of 42 per cent compared to the previous fiscal year.
The increase in requests resulted in 670 per cent more complaints to the commissioner’s office in the fiscal year starting in 2019, as compared to 2018. On any given year, IRCC has more ATIP requests than any other department, which typically means there are already a high number of complaints. However, the stark increase spurred the commissioner to launch an investigation.
The Information Commissioner of Canada published its findings in a special report. It confirmed that the high volume of ATIP requests are a function of IRCC not providing the information through other means. Furthermore, the ATIP system is not the most efficient way for immigration candidates to get the information they need.
At the top of the list of recommendation priorities, the commissioner recommended IRCC should decrease the need for people to fill out ATIP requests and make the information that clients are seeking more easy to access. IRCC says changes related to this recommendation could be coming as early as Q3 2021.
“The transformation includes improving the My Account portal, introducing push notifications and enhancing generic content on IRCC’s website,” the report says.
IRCC is also considering implementing a new Temporary Resident Refusal letter in the coming months. The letters would include more details about why applications were refused. The goal would be to reduce the need for clients to submit ATIP requests to learn why their application was refused.
IRCC strategies
The report summarizes IRCC’s strategies to improve client service. The immigration department has already started implementing short-term workflow solutions to address the situation while permanent measures are still being developed.
Furthermore improvements to the online request form have reduced the number of errors in submissions from 30 per cent of requests to between 10 and 15 per cent.
IRCC has also set up an ATIP Modernization team to find solutions to the growing number of access to information requests.
