A new federal government documents sheds more light on how Canada believes its immigration system will be impacted after the corona virus pandemic. Canada (IRCC) is expecting a significant surge in immigration applications once global travel restrictions begin to ease.
This is revealed in a new document that is publicly available on aย federal government website.
The purpose of the document is to find a vendor that can help Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) modernize how it processes immigration applications.
Canadaโs special immigration measures during COVID-19
The document notes that the corona-virus pandemic has impacted IRCCโs operations.
Canada has implemented travel restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. And federal government employees in Canada and abroad are adhering to strict social distancing and remote working measures.
Nonetheless, IRCC continues to do its best to fulfill its mandate to temporary foreign workers, international students, visitors, permanent residents and Canadian citizens. IRCC has introduced many special measures to support application processing for foreign nationals during this time.
On the other hand, many IRCC processing and contact centers have been shut down or are operating at significantly reduced capacity. This has severely limited IRCCโs ability to process applications.
How IRCC is looking to improve application processing
Once IRCCโs operations return to normal, the department expects it will have significantly different policies, procedures, and digital solutions. In order to handle the post-corona-virus spike in applications that it is expecting.
IRCC, for example, would like to utilize digital processes whenever possible to minimize the need for in-person or paper-processes. This would not only protect the safety of IRCC and the public. But could also result in more efficient and faster application processing.
As such, IRCC is looking for a vendor to support its modernization efforts in the following ways:
- Develop tools and technologies to rapidly increase IRCCโs operational capacity so it can handle current manual application processing challenges and the anticipated surge in applications
- Develop digital tools to address new social distancing requirements by reducing the need for in-person meetings.
- Identify digital technology solutions for IRCCโs case management system
- Identify how to automate certain processes so that immigration agents can focus more of their time on complex immigration applications
- Incorporate data analytics solutions to provide insights on operational volumes and processing capacities.
- Develop strategies to strengthen IRCCโs cyber-security
Canada remains committed to welcoming immigrants, workers, students, and visitors
Under Canadaโs currentย Immigration Levels Plan 2020-2022. The country is seeking to welcome over one million immigrants in the coming 3 years.
The coronavirus pandemic has slowed immigration to Canada in 2020. Butย immigration minister Marco Mendicinoย says Canada remains committed to welcoming immigration to supporting its economy. In addition, Canada is still holdingย Express Entryย andย Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)ย draws at the moment. Plus also processingย studyย andย workย permits, andย enabling immediate familyย to enter the country.
It is highly likely that Canada will see a major spike in permanent and temporary resident arrivals once the global health situation improves. Prior to the start of the pandemic, Canada was welcoming record numbers ofย immigrants,ย foreign workersย andย international students.
By seeking to modernize its processes through the use of technology. IRCC should be in a stronger position to welcome even more foreigners once the pandemic/ crisis is over.
Canadaโs special immigration measures during COVID-19
The Canadian Government notes that the corona-virus pandemic has impacted IRCCโs operations.
Canada has implemented travel restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. And federal government employees in Canada and abroad are adhering to strict social distancing and remote working measures.
Nonetheless, IRCC continues to do its best to fulfill its mandate to temporary foreign workers, international students, visitors, permanent residents and Canadian citizens. IRCC has introduced many special measures to support application processing for foreign nationals during this time.
How IRCC is looking to improve application processing
Once IRCCโs operations return to normal, the department expects it will have significantly different policies, procedures, and digital solutions. This will help to handle the post-corona-virus spike in applications that it is expecting.
IRCC is seeking to be aggressive by developing new strategies, processes, and digital systems to enable it to better fulfil its mandate.
IRCC, for example, would like to utilize digital processes whenever possible to minimize the need for in-person or paper-processes. This would not only protect the safety of IRCC and the public, but could also result in more efficient and faster application processing.
As such, IRCC is looking for a vendor to support its modernization efforts in the following ways:
- Develop tools and technologies to rapidly increase IRCCโs operational capacity so it can handle current manual application processing challenges and the anticipated surge in applications
- Develop digital tools to address new social distancing requirements by reducing the need for in-person meetings through digital solutions (e.g., online citizenship testing, and visa and citizenship applications)
- Identify digital technology solutions for IRCCโs case management system
- Identify how to automate certain processes so that immigration agents can focus more of their time on complex immigration applications
- Incorporate data analytics solutions to provide insights on operational volumes and processing capacities. So that IRCC can effectively respond to changes in Canada and abroad
- Develop strategies to strengthen IRCCโs cybersecurity
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