IRCC has released its first official plan explaining how it intends to use artificial intelligence in Canada’s immigration system.
The strategy outlines basic rules for using AI and groups its future applications into clear categories. The department says any AI tool must be accountable, transparent, fair, secure, and reliable.
What AI Will Actually Do
IRCC says AI will mainly support officers, not replace them. The goal is to make processing faster and strengthen fraud detection. For example, technology like computer vision could help identify suspicious documents more quickly.
The department divides AI use into three levels:
Everyday use includes simple administrative tasks such as summarizing documents, organizing files, or helping respond to client questions. These tools are not part of final decisions.
Program use involves analyzing data and helping officers review applications. For instance, AI may flag low-risk files so they can be processed more quickly. However, only human officers can approve or refuse applications.
Experimental use refers to advanced analysis, such as predicting immigration trends or studying economic impacts. IRCC says it is not adopting fully autonomous systems and that all AI tools will remain supervised.
This marks the first time IRCC has formally set out how AI will fit into Canada’s immigration process, with an emphasis on human oversight and legal compliance.
