The immigration department of the Canadian government recently made significant adjustments in response to the results of an official investigation. Improving IRCC’s (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) operational effectiveness is the aim of these changes.
In a recent research, Neil Yeates, one of the IRCC’s deputy ministers, made recommendations for raising the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. Yeate was brought in by the IRCC to evaluate how successfully its organizational design allows it to accomplish its goals.
The Deputy Minister serves as the highest civil officer within the department. In their nonpolitical role, they often oversee various aspects of departmental management, such as personnel and financial management, as well as the execution of plans and strategies.
The minister of the department, Marc Miller, communicates with Christiane Fox, who is currently serving as the deputy minister of the IRCC. Marc Miller is responsible for implementing the government’s elected mandate.

IRCC Adopts a Business-Line Model

Among the modifications made last week was the reorganization of the department across the following sectors: Citizenship & Passport.

• Chief Financial Officer
• Asylum & Refugee Resettlement
• Chief Information Officer
• Client Service, Chief Digital Officer, & Innovation
• Corporate Services
• Communications
• Migration Integrity
• Service Delivery
• Economic, Social, & Family Migration
• Settlement Integration & Francophone Affairs
• Strategic Policy
• International Affairs & Crisis Response

Fox confirms Yeates’ claim that Canada’s immigration agency is increasingly business-oriented. It means IRCC workers will be dispersed among several clients and ready to adapt to global changes.
The new International Affairs & Crisis Response Sector helps IRCC plan for humanitarian catastrophes and develop a response. Also, IRCC handles refugee resettlement projects like Ukraine last year and Syrian and Afghanistan recently. Fox also emphasizes the importance of IRCC adopting a client-focused approach that includes applicants’ experiences into its choices.
Yeates offers some suggestions in four domains: management systems, organizational structure, culture, and governance.
Here are the highlights of his recommendations:

Organizational Structure Suggestions

• IRCC must shift to a business-line organization.
• IRCC should build emergency and crisis management guidelines that identify Assistant Deputy Ministers as leaders in a variety of scenarios.

Governance Suggestions

• The executive community must take over responsibility for finance and corporate services, absorbing the functions of the Corporate Finance Committee; and a new Operations Committee, chaired by the Deputy Minister’s office, must be formed to take over the functions of the Issues Management Committee.
• The split of responsibilities between CBSA and IRCC under IRPA should be reviewed to rationalize and streamline tasks as well as accountability.
• The membership of these committees should be evaluated as part of the reorganization approach.

Management System Suggestions

• A new planning and reporting framework should be led by the Deputy Minister.
• The department must create a three- to five-year strategic strategy.
• It must implement an annual planning cycle across all epartments, including HR, IT, Financial, and Program Plans.
• A quarterly reporting regime must be implemented.
• IRCC must establish connections with the department’s performance management efforts.

Culture Suggestions

• To determine if changes are needed to improve alignment with intended outcomes, conduct an Independent Regulatory Impact Assessment (IRPA).
• It is important to assess if the training given to employees handling the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) complies with the department’s stated strategy and philosophy. Include in the governance structure the opinions and suggestions of the several communities connected to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Contact Mr. Usman Khalil who is a IRCC licensed Immigration Advisor and Chartered Professional Accountant who can simplify your journey to Canada. Visit www.makimmigration.ca or email Mr. Usman at [email protected]