Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment (iCARE)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is responsible for promoting the integration of individuals into Canadian society in order to help build a stronger and more cohesive Canada. CIC’s Settlement Program contributes to this objective by helping newcomers better participate in Canadian life.

Settlement outcomes are presently captured in CIC’s Immigration Contribution Accountability Measurement System (iCAMS). This system is expected to be phased out with the introduction of iCARE, a new platform designed to support the delivery of settlement services, and the measurement of service activities and outcomes. iCARE is expected to allow for the expansion of CIC’s reporting capabilities and the refinement of statistical reporting measures.

Federal institutions are required to undertake an assessment of the privacy impacts associated with the development or design of new programs or services involving personal information. The iCARE Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) fulfills the requirement to conduct a PIA under the TBS Directive on Privacy Impact Assessments. It also meets the requirements of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as set out in Expectations: A Guide for Submitting Privacy Impact Assessments.

The iCARE PIA examined CIC’s introduction of a new web-based platform to capture settlement program data from its service providers. The PIA served to proactively manage and mitigate potential risks to newcomer’s personal information in relation to settlement programming activities. The PIA was initiated in the early phases of project planning.

Critical recommendations resulting from the PIA process were evaluated and addressed by management over the course of the initiative’s development and implementation.

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