Operating context

Annually, through its key lines of business, IRCC interacts with millions of individuals, including those seeking temporary or permanent resident entry into Canada and subsequently settling into Canadian society, and those pursuing Canadian citizenship. The Department is also responsible for passport services in support of individuals seeking to obtain or renew a Canadian passport or other travel document such as a certificate of identity or a refugee travel document.

IRCC works to facilitate the legitimate entry of visitors, economic immigrants, sponsored family members and those seeking protection in Canada, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians. The Department balances competing pressures, notably: responding to domestic labour market demands and an increasingly mobile work force; contributing to overall economic growth; and addressing efforts to streamline service delivery and enhance the client experience, while responding to increasingly complex safety and security challenges. In addition, to ensure the successful integration of newcomers into the Canadian economy and society, IRCC engages regularly and extensively with federal partners, provinces and territories, as well as other stakeholders on a variety of key immigration-related topics, such as immigration levels planning, economic immigration, and settlement and integration of newcomers, including refugees and protected persons.

IRCC has established a wide-ranging transformation agenda that is based on optimizing current operations and building a foundation that sustains a new culture and way of working. This transformation is aimed at augmenting the client experience by improving processing times, generating simpler and clearer processes and reducing inventories.

In recent years, the Department has experienced significant increases in some of its most important lines of business as many around the world seek to enter Canada temporarily or permanently, and as increasing numbers of eligible permanent residents seek to become Canadian citizens. IRCC’s challenge is to effectively manage these requests to enter and remain in Canada, while working with stakeholders to ensure that newcomers have the best opportunities to succeed and that the Canadian economy and society reap the benefits of newcomer success.