CIMM – 12.5 Statistics of Calls and Emails Received from Afghans – February 8, 2023

Question

Ms. Jenny Kwan: I'd also like to ask you this. To what extent has IRCC processed the emails that Afghans were directed to send to the government? How many of those emails have received a response? I don't mean the standard automatic response.

Ms. Caroline Xavier: […] with regard to Afghanistan, we have a dedicated service channel where people are able to call and also send emails. I do not have those stats with me at this point, but I can definitely follow up and share the statistics with you. We do track the number of calls received. There's a very high percentage answer rate to individuals' calls and emails. They're all acknowledged and responded to.

Response

Since August 2021, clients outside Canada can reach Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

(IRCC) via a dedicated service channel on questions regarding the humanitarian programs to resettle Afghans outside of Afghanistan, and/or on reuniting Afghan nationals with their families in Canada.

All incoming emails related to the situation in Afghanistan directed to the dedicated service channel receive an initial acknowledgement of receipt (i.e. standard automatic response), which is meant as a safeguard for clients to know that their email was transmitted successfully to us. 

Between August 11, 2021, and March 31, 2022, IRCC has received a total of 342,116 emails through the dedicated service channel and responded to 376,892 emails (excluding acknowledgement of receipt) related to the situation in Afghanistan. The number of responses includes enquiries received at the dedicated service channel and through other Departmental channels (e.g. redirected from the regular IRCC web form, visa offices). As of March 31, 2022, 664 emails were pending a reply.