Question Period Note: Client Service

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is committed to providing best-in-class client service.

PROPOSED RESPONSE:
• IRCC is committed to delivering quality client service across its global network by making sure our programs and services are efficient, clear and easy to use.
• IRCC understands that continuous improvement of how we deliver service to clients is important for a world-class immigration system as we continue to welcome historic numbers of newcomers.
• IRCC continually looks for ways to improve services based on insights gathered through direct feedback - from client satisfaction surveys, to usability testing, and user centred research.
• IRCC is transforming the way it works to serve our clients more quickly, to communicate with them clearly and often, and to make sure our processes are efficient and easy to use.
• IRCC has also improved processing capacity, while continuing to focus on leveraging technology, streamlining processes, and enhancing policies to achieve greater efficiencies and service.
If pressed:
• Over the next five years, IRCC is undergoing a business transformation to modernize the Department’s suite of programs and services to significantly improve client services through its Digital Platform Modernization programme.
• IRCC’s Client Support Centre continues to support clients by email and telephone. Federal Budget investments have allowed IRCC to stabilize resources at the Client Support Centre on a permanent basis, improve tools and technology aimed at ensuring timely client support, and maintain priority operations, such as for the Ministerial Centre for Members of Parliament and Senators. It also provides dedicated crisis lines for Afghanistan, Ukraine, and a new line to support measures for Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
• To help clients and their representatives easily track the status of their application information online, IRCC has implemented the application status trackers for multiple lines of business. Clients who have submitted applications in citizenship, family class, Express Entry, and temporary resident visa, study permit and work permit programs, now have access to this tracker. In October 2023, Members of Parliament and Senator offices also gained access to the application status tracker to better assist their constituents with their immigration applications.

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) operates a vast service delivery network, engaging with millions of clients across Canada and around the globe every year.
• Providing excellent client service ensures that Canada continues to remain globally competitive in attracting visitors, students, skilled workers and new Canadians, who directly contribute to our overall economic, cultural and social prosperity.
• IRCC’s Client Support Centre is open Monday to Friday from 6:30 am to 7 pm ET, ensuring coverage from 8 am to 4 pm from coast to coast to provide direct and personalized response to client enquiries through email and telephone, including in response to humanitarian crises.
• On December 21, 2023, a dedicated crisis line was introduced to support new measures for Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip and the CSC answered 2,218 calls from December 21, 2023 to January 11, 2024.
• As more people come to Canada, client enquiries continue to rise. IRCC is looking to the future to transform the way we work and find better ways to serve our clients more quickly, to communicate with them clearly and often, to modernize tools and increase clients’ options to self-serve.
• IRCC regularly engages with clients on how to improve their experience with us and uses a number of data sources to gain a comprehensive understanding from the client’s perspective, including: annual client experience surveys; usability testing with clients; client-focused research projects; client enquiry type and volume reporting; web traffic trends; direct client feedback sent through the online client feedback webform; and others. Recent surveys show client satisfaction increases when processing times and application status updates are transparent and accurate.
If pressed on what the Department has done to improve client experience:
IRCC has continued to accelerate its modernization efforts and deliver timely client service improvements. For example:
• IRCC implemented the use of automation at IRCC’s Client Support Centre to support faster uploading of documents received via webform, ensuring that processing offices receive clients’ documents in a timely manner to support their decision-making processes.
• In December 2023, IRCC introduced a refreshed, modernized online self-assessment tool to make it easier for clients to find programs that best suit their needs.
• In October 2023, IRCC provided Members of Parliament and Senator offices with self-serve access to case status information in order to better support their needs. This follows the 2022 implementation of an appointment system for them to contact the Ministerial Centre for Members of Parliament and Senators, ensuring reliable and consistent access to IRCC.
• IRCC is taking steps to improve operational transparency and reduce the need for clients to send enquiries to the Client Support Centre or make ATIP requests to get information about their file:
o As a first step, IRCC has started proactively releasing officer decision notes to some temporary resident visa (TRV) applicants to improve clarity on reasons for refusals. This work will be expanded through the Digital Platform Modernization initiative.
o IRCC is also working on providing clients with more clear and concise correspondences, starting with the Temporary Residence business line refusal letters, to ensure clients better understand the requirements and status of their application. The next line of business for this project is Study Permits. Based on current schedules, we anticipate clients would begin seeing the enhanced Student Permit refusal, with updated grounds for refusal, starting in Fall 2024.

• IRCC’s Client Support Centre is continuing efforts to improve performance to support clients by email and telephone:
o From January 1 to December 31, 2023, the Client Support Centre responded to 4.66M enquiries by phone and email, including enquiries received by the Ministerial Centre for Members of Parliament and Senators and the dedicated crisis lines for Afghanistan, Ukraine, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza This was an increase of 684k (17%) compared to the same period in 2022.
o The Client Support Centre call answer rate increased to 31% from January to December 2023, compared to 12% in 2022.
o IRCC is continuing to look for ways to better keep pace with the growing demand for client services, including modernizing tools and increasing clients’ options to self-serve.

If pressed on the Department’s plans to address processing issues and better communicate processing times:
• IRCC has been taking action to reduce the backlogs of applications within its inventories including:; reviewing and improving its processes to eliminate steps, and using technologies to support its employees and speed up processing.
• IRCCs goal is to process 80% of applications within service standards which allows for expected delays in very complex cases or when more information is required from clients before finalizing their files. As of November 30, 2023, 57% of all applications in IRCC’s inventory were within service standards.
• IRCC continues to work toward reducing backlogs and improving processing times for all lines of business, while balancing its response to ongoing international crises and increasing levels of application intake. Some categories of applications are seeing an overall improvement to processing times, such as applications for certain Family Class clients, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Workers and Citizenship Grants. However, improvements have been incremental as inventories of older cases are processed and various innovations and digital improvements have been gradually introduced, all while respecting targets set by Cabinet for immigration levels and other initiatives.

• IRCC is using advanced analytics and automated technologies to automate certain tasks and activities so decision-makers can spend less time on routine clerical tasks, and more time on reviewing complex applications and making final decisions.
• While the benefits of using technology may help some clients get decisions on their applications sooner, it is important to note that the complexity of an application will always be a key factor in how long it takes for it to be processed.
• By implementing technology-based solutions and streamlining processes, improving policy, re-examining risk tolerance and collaborating with provincial/territorial and other partners, inventories across the majority of business lines have decreased. IRCC continues to make progress in reducing application backlogs and increasing the number of applications processed within service standards.
If pressed on the Department’s future plans to improve client experience, IRCC plans to:
• Under the Digital Platform Modernization Programme, IRCC is working to modernize the Department’s suite of programs and services, including the way they are managed and delivered, to better meet the changing needs and expectations of clients through Digital Platform Modernization
• IRCC has already begun work to introduce a new modern online account to provide the tools and capabilities for a more seamless client experience via a single digital ‘front-door’. Once implemented, it will enable personalized services to clients and replacing outdated and/or standalone client-facing portals and tools. This new account will begin roll-out to a subset of clients in Winter 2024.
• In the meantime, IRCC, continues to consult clients via surveys and usability testing to ensure that their feedback drives service improvements and transformation.

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