Question Period Note: Client Service

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is committed to providing quality client service.

• IRCC is committed to delivering quality client service by making sure our programs and services are efficient, clear and easy to use.
• To meet this commitment, we are transforming the way we deliver services by simplifying how clients apply online, providing better application status information, and increasing options to self-serve.
• We know that public confidence in our immigration system depends on safeguards to maintain the health, safety, and security of Canadians, as well as our ability to protect IRCC clients against unintended bias and discrimination, while ensuring accessibility.

• 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.
• The Government of Canada is committed to providing a user-friendly and positive experience for everyone accessing our services. At IRCC, delivering a modern, efficient, fair, and transparent client experience that is both predictable and timely is essential. As we compete globally for talent, a strong immigration system enabled by client service is critical to Canada's long-term success.
• Service includes various aspects, and we have made progress in the following key areas:
Client Communication
• IRCC is redesigning key sections of the IRCC website to improve the client experience and simplify access to information about our programs and services.
• Through feedback acquired in client research, surveys, and complaints and comments submitted through IRCC’s online web form, the Department is listening to the evolving needs of our clients and Canadians. For example, leveraging the insights of client research, IRCC is striving to provide clients with better reassurance on the progress of their application by improving operational transparency and clients’ access to their personal information. This work, which is being enabled by a new single-window online account, will reduce the need for clients to reach out to IRCC’s Client Support Centre or make ATIP requests for information on their file.
• In July 2025, IRCC began proactively providing officer decision notes with refusal letters for certain applications. This makes it easier for clients to get access to their personal information, and supports IRCC’s commitment to providing greater transparency in how it delivers services.
• IRCC has also launched application status trackers for multiple programs so that clients can easily track the status of their application information online. This functionality is also being integrated into the new single-window online account.
• IRCC is also committed to enhancing transparency for new clients regarding application processing times. In May 2024, the Department began publishing on its website forward-looking processing times for select programs. Through ongoing testing and research with clients, IRCC is continually improving our online tools, ensuring clients can have access to clearer and more relevant information.
Client Research Informs Program and Policy Development
• IRCC actively engages with clients to identify challenges and barriers, to support research-based decisions that lead to a better client experience. We use various data sources to gain a comprehensive understanding from the client’s perspective, including client experience surveys, usability testing, client-focused research projects, client enquiry and volume reports, web traffic trends, direct feedback, and more. Recent research shows that a good client experience depends on clear and predictable processing times as well as timely application status updates.
• IRCC also conducts client surveys and research to ensure clients are aware of and benefitting from IRCC-funded settlement and resettlement services, which are delivered by third-party service provider organizations on behalf of the Department.
• The Department continues to analyze newcomer settlement outcomes to inform the design of the Settlement Program to ensure the right services are being provided to the right clients at the right time in their integration journey. The majority of clients surveyed agree that the services they received helped them in their settlement journeys.
• We are also focusing efforts on client feedback relating to accessibility barriers to ensure they are addressed as part of departmental modernization efforts.
Digital Transformation Efforts
• IRCC is transforming its service delivery model through the Digital Platform Modernization programme. This modernization effort is taking a phased approach, with the first part focused on the client experience, followed by new processes and tools for streamlined, efficient, and risk-focused end-to-end digital application processing.
• The roll-out of new capabilities is already underway, starting with a new single-window online account for clients. Initially rolled out to visitor clients, this account was made available to eligible adult Canadians seeking to renew their passports, representing the first time there is an online channel for passport applications. More client groups and features are being added to this account over the coming months.
• Through Digital Platform Modernization, IRCC is also collaborating with ESDC to introduce streamlined SIN issuance for eligible IRCC clients (aka SIN@Entry), through an integrated process that will provide clients with an option to request a SIN and view their SIN Confirmation Letter directly through their secure IRCC online account. This will make getting a SIN easier for clients, and significantly reduce in-person visits to Service Canada Centres.
• In the interim to full transformation, IRCC is using advanced analytics and automation to increase its capacity to respond to client enquiries faster. For example, IRCC’s Client Support Centre uses automation to support faster uploading of documents received via the IRCC Web form.
• IRCC also remains committed to improving access to its Client Support Centre. For example, the Client Support Centre maintained a call answer rate of 40% from January to July 2025 despite an increase in the number of clients requesting to speak to an agent compared to the same period in 2024.

• While overall client satisfaction continues to show an upward trend, recent survey results show satisfaction rates ranging from 72% to 94% across programs. We recognize these variations in satisfaction and the opportunities they present, and remain committed to continuously improving our services.
• To make sure we stay focused on the most important areas, we continuously gather insights from clients through surveys, usability testing, user-centred research as well as our online feedback tools.