Reform of the Ministry of Immigration
The efficiency of the agency can be even higher and it is undergoing changes to do so.
Canada is a country with a very loyal immigration policy, and therefore the burden on the department responsible for it is considerable. The constant flow of arrivals has prompted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)...no, not to curtail the pace of admissions, but to reform the department!
Previous IRCC Deputy Minister Neil Yeates has produced a report on how the department can become more efficient and effective. He concluded that in its current format, the department is only able to cope with the workload due to the dedication of its staff, but that their work can and should be optimized. Yeates also cites two reasons for the problems: the significant growth of the ministry itself without structural changes, and the difficult global environment.
IRCC will now be organized in a business-like manner — with a clear division of sectors of responsibility. Among them, the following areas are envisaged:
- asylum and refugees resettlement;
- citizenship and passports;
- finance unit;
- information service;
- client service, innovation, and chief digital officer;
- communication;
- corporate services;
- economic, family and social migration;
- International relations and crisis response;
- migration integrity;
- service delivery;
- settlement integration and francophone affairs;
- strategic policy.
Particular emphasis is being placed on a new direction — the creation of a full-fledged unit that will be dedicated to rapid response to crisis situations, such as in Ukraine in 2022, Afghanistan in 2021 or Israel now.
What else should help the ministry according to Yeates (besides restructuring)?
- digitalization (funds have already been allocated for modernization);
- analyzing the effectiveness of remote, office and hybrid work;
- analyzing current immigration policy — and its impact on Canada;
- working with risks — studying the political situation in different countries, the impact of the climate crisis, and so on;
- analyzing the division of responsibilities between IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Time will tell how the department's reforms will affect immigration programs — and we'll continue to keep you updated with the latest information.
