On March 14, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada cancelled all citizenship ceremonies, tests and re-tests until further notice.
The Department implemented a new approach to continue processing applications during COVID-19 restrictions, such as the use of virtual processing to respond to urgent cases.
IRCC began holding virtual citizenship ceremonies in April, beginning with individuals and families who had contacted the Department noting an urgent need, due to employment requirements, for example.
As of November 4, 2020, IRCC has sworn in or affirmed over 43,000 clients in over 8,700 virtual ceremonies.
A recent client satisfaction survey confirmed that 98% of clients were satisfied with their virtual ceremony; 95% also said the virtual ceremony was special.
IRCC recently began administering the knowledge test for clients who have an urgent need, using videoconferencing tools. This is done on a one-on-one basis, while a longer term solution is being developed to process large volumes of clients.
Supplementary messages
Citizenship grant
Before the pandemic, citizenship tests and ceremonies were held in-person in group events in offices throughout the country.
The Department recognizes the impact COVID-19 has had on operations.
Since the beginning of COVID-19, the Department has been working on innovative ways of processing citizenship grant applications with the objective of eventually moving most clients through the citizenship application continuum without needing in-person interactions with the Department. This includes the introduction of more paperless processes for application assessment, the development of an online test solution (currently underway) and the move towards virtual program integrity interviews where possible.
As a result, over 43,000 clients have taken the oath between April 1, 2020, and November 4, 2020.
An online survey to measure client satisfaction with the video oath ceremonies was conducted between September 9, 2020, and October 7, 2020.
The survey results showed that 98% of survey respondents satisfied with the video oath ceremony and 95% said that the virtual ceremony was special to them.
The Department has also started administering the knowledge test for clients requesting urgent processing using videoconferencing technology. Clients who have signaled an urgent need are prioritized based on the following criteria:
need for citizenship status for employment purposes or education purposes
essential travel
compassionate grounds (for example: health reasons)
The cancellation of citizenship events is having a considerable impact on overall processing times, which has increased to 16 months before the pandemic, despite our ministerial commitment to process applications in 12 months.
Citizenship certificates (proof of citizenship)
While the Department scaled down its operations due to COVID-19 in the Grants line of business, urgent proofs (certificates) of citizenship continued to be processed for repatriation efforts within two business days.
Between April 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020, over 14,000 proofs of citizenship were issued. This is possible given there is no requirement to appear in person for this process.
Supporting facts and figures
Number of new citizens in fiscal year 2019-2020 – 247,700
As of November 1, 2020, there were over 243,000 applications in the citizenship grant inventory.
Background
Business resumption plan
The Department has developed a Business Resumption Plan for the Citizenship Program. The plan includes a list of measures for the strategic resumption of service during and post physical distancing.
The Department has implemented new approaches to continue processing clients during COVID-19 restrictions, such as the use of videoconferencing technology to conduct virtual oath ceremonies. This approach has enabled IRCC to successfully deplete the ceremony ready inventory, and resume other citizenship services in order to continue processing activities.
The Department has also started administering the knowledge test for clients requesting urgent processing using videoconferencing technology. Clients who have signaled an urgent need are prioritized based on the following criteria:
need for citizenship status for employment purposes or education purposes;
essential travel; or
compassionate grounds (for example: health reasons).
Electronic knowledge test
In the next few weeks, the Department will put in place an online platform for taking citizenship tests.
Over the next few months, as the system is tested, IRCC will invite a limited number of clients who are eligible to take the online citizenship test. IRCC will contact clients on a first-in, first-served basis.
An important aspect of holding online tests is the verification of applicants’ identities, which is important to the integrity of the program, especially in an online environment. Measures will be in place to confirm each applicant’s identity by capturing a photo of their ID, their face and by taking static photos (non-biometric) during the test.
