Readout
The Government of Canada is committed to providing secure, reliable, and easy-to-use services for immigrants, newcomers, refugees, and Canadian citizens.
The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Digital Government, and the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, met with stakeholders on July 27 to discuss improving digital tools for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital service delivery in all sectors, and this virtual roundtable focussed on how the government can design and deliver better digital services for immigrants, newcomers, and refugees.
Attendees included stakeholders from the private and public sectors, and discussions centred around designing better digital platforms for permanent resident confirmations, online citizenship tests, and visa applications. They also discussed working with intermediaries to ensure digital tools are designed with the needs of newcomers at the forefront and with accessibility built in from the start.
These invaluable discussions will help shape the vision for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) digital transformation to better meet the needs of immigrants, refugees, and newcomers to Canada. Improved digital tools, such as a Global Case Management System, will allow IRCC to pivot towards digital solutions and to transform the Canadian immigration system with a totally new, state-of-the-art digital platform.
Ultimately, this will contribute to IRCC's long-term goal of transforming into a truly digital organization by building on progress to date and enabling true modernization, innovation and transformation in service delivery-all with the desired output of reducing application processing times, improving tools for officers, enhancing the user experience for clients, and improving value for Canadians.
Quick Facts
- Budget 2021 outlines an ambitious next phase for Canada's digital transformation, with over $2.5 billion in proposed investments in the highest impact services, like benefits, taxes and immigration, and over $1 billion of that amount in proposed investments dedicated to establishing a coordinated and informed centralized approach to this government-wide transformation effort.
- Budget 2021 promises $428.9 million over 5 years, with $398.5 million in remaining amortization, starting in 2021‒22, to develop and deliver an enterprise-wide digital immigration platform that would gradually replace the legacy Global Case Management System. This will enable improved application processing and support for applicants, beginning in 2023.
