OGGO – 53.6 – McKinsey’s Work on AI and Chinook – June 5, 2023

IRCC`S Response to a Request for Information Made by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on February 15, 2023

Question

Ms. Jenny Kwan: I only have limited time. 
I want to ask this question: Was McKinsey involved in the AI development for IRCC? Were they involved in the Chinook development?

Hon. Sean Fraser: I'll again defer to my deputy. I'm not familiar with any role they may have had specifically with those tools.
Deputy, if you're able to provide any response, that would be great.

Ms. Christiane Fox: Yes, definitely as part of the work that they did in a second contract, they were looking at road maps and efficiencies in the system. Part of that was Chinook, which is a bulk processing tool. That was part of the digital transformation.
I think we can speak to some very specific—

Ms. Jenny Kwan: Thank you.
I wonder if the deputy can table to the committee specifically the work that McKinsey did related to AI development, as well as Chinook? We were told at CIMM that Chinook was done in-house. This is clearly not the case then, if McKinsey was involved.

Ms. Christiane Fox: It was in-house.

The Chair: I'm sorry, can I interrupt, Ms. Kwan?
I'm not going to put words in your mouth, but are you seeking the will of the committee to ask that these documents be tabled?

Ms. Jenny Kwan: Yes, I am.

The Chair: If so, do I have my colleagues' approval?

Ms. Jenny Kwan: If I may, for all of the documents that I've requested throughout the entire proceedings, could I have the committee's support in requesting and receiving those documents for the committee's review?

Ms. Christiane Fox: Mr. Chair, can I just clarify that definitely Chinook was developed in-house? Bulk processing, AI and looking at efficiencies were part of the McKinsey work.

Ms. Jenny Kwan: I think the deputy would also recognize, too, that there were a lot of issues of discrimination related to AI and Chinook.

Response

Digital Strategy, Services and Innovation (DSSI)

The Chinook tool was initially developed by IRCC Operations sector in 2018 as an Excel based tool to help simplify and streamline the processing of Temporary Resident applications while managing workload distribution.

The Chinook tool is not a decision making tool nor is it an artificial intelligence engine.  Chinook is a tool that improves processing efficiency by extracting and displaying data in a simplified way that streamlines the process navigation and the application review. Chinook also allows officers to view and complete tasks for multiple applications at once, further increasing efficiency.

In early 2020, the Digital Lab Team under IRCC Transformation Branch identified a suite of digital opportunities to improve the temporary residence program, including  improvement to Chinook. The improved version included automation of administrative steps to reduce manual actions and improve linkages with internal IRCC system (GCMS). 

McKinsey & Co involvement was limited to strategic advice and coaching to identify digital opportunities and a digital transformation roadmap. McKinsey & Company did not assist in any artificial intelligence work at IRCC.