Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) considerations: Guidelines for note-taking
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
General guidelines for note-taking (decisions and interviews)
Stand-alone humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) application decisions will be rendered using the national H&C template.
Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) request decisions will be rendered without the national template.
In both cases, notes must show that all must reflect that the totality of the submissions and evidence has been considered.
In addition, the national template is not required for interview notes.
Notes should represent a complete record of all actions taken in the case. Any notes that appear in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) should be accurate and consistent with what appears in the file and should not undermine or contradict the written decision.
Officers may use point form for most case notes, but sometimes it will be necessary to prepare more detailed notes. Some examples of situations that may require more complete notes are as follows:
- strong reactions by the applicant at the interview
- interference from others present at the interview
- issues that are crucial to the decision and considered particularly important
- procedural fairness measures are taken
- Be clear and concise
-
- use clear and simple language and avoid jargon
- use complete words
- avoid extraneous comments
- Be objective
-
- record the facts
- avoid including personal opinions and interpreting facts based on unfounded assumptions
- Organize notes with explanatory headings so readers can follow the case history
-
- examples of explanatory headings include
- file review
- representation
- interview
- pending or outstanding information
- decision
- examples of explanatory headings include
- Record notes at the first available opportunity
-
- record notes during and/or after any interaction with the client (whether by phone, in person or virtually) to make sure that they are clear and accurate
- when required, revisions should be done as soon as possible
- keep drafts and final copies on file
- Take notes during the interview
-
- specify the start and finish times
- indicate who was present
- if an interpreter was used, include the name of the interpreter and their relationship to the applicant, the language of interpretation, whether the language was translated into English or French, and the instructions given to the interpreter
- make it clear who said what
- point out the tone of the interview (for example, was the applicant angry or upset?)
- if the interviewing officer stepped away during the interview, record this and provide an explanation
See also recording the interview.
Note: It is important to include page numbers and the total number of pages at the bottom of each page (for example: 1/6, 2/6, ... 6/6). This helps to ensure that pages are not missing.
- GCMS notes should include
-
- a summary of correspondence and communication
- the contents of all non-routine correspondence and/or the form numbers of routine correspondence sent
- the date the note is added to the file and the note-taker’s initials