CIMM – Modernizing Canada’s Immigration System  – April 22, 2026

Key Messages

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) operates a vast service delivery network, engaging with millions of clients across Canada and around the globe.
• IRCC is committed to delivering modern client-centric services that are more efficient, transparent and easy to use. A strong digitally-enabled immigration system is critical to attract global talent and ensure Canada’s long-term success.
• New digital technologies are transforming IRCC’s services by simplifying online application processes, enhancing clients’ access to real-time application status, increasing operational efficiency, and strengthening program integrity and border protections.

Key Facts and Figures

• IRCC is committed to improving our services and continually uses client feedback from diverse sources, including user-testing and surveys, to identify challenges and develop service innovations that enhance the client experience.
• IRCC is leveraging advanced analytics and automation to improve operational efficiency and reduce client wait times, all while maintaining high standards of service, integrity and transparency. New tools and technologies are continuously reviewed to ensure they are working as intended, and without the introduction of unintended bias, while ensuring accessibility.
• IRCC has a departmental artificial intelligence (AI) strategy that is aligned with Government of Canada AI strategy. Our approach makes sure we’re using AI in a way that is both responsible and transparent. We have formal governance within IRCC on how and where AI can be used, and all of our algorithmic impact assessments are published on Canada.ca.
• IRCC’s digital transformation has already achieved results for our clients, with a new online account being rolled out in stages. As of February 28, 2026:
  • Over 132K clients have used it to apply for a visitor visa.
  • Over 112K Canadians have used it to apply for an adult passport renewal, the first time an online channel has been available for passports.
• Clients who have used the new online account report a high level of satisfaction with it (88% satisfaction for temporary resident visa clients and 82% satisfaction for passport renewal clients as of December 2025). More clients using the new online account agree that information about their application status is clear, compared to those who checked their application status prior to the new account.
• Incremental funding of $112M is being sought through the 2026–2027 Main Estimates to continue to advance the Department’s modernization efforts.
• The 2025 results of IRCC’s annual client satisfaction survey^{Footnote 1} generally show high overall client satisfaction rates across most services. However, clients identified three key areas for improvement: faster processing times, clearer updates on application status and refusals, and proactive communication about delays.

Modernizing Services at IRCC

• IRCC is modernizing how it delivers its services.
• The Digital Platform Modernization programme is transforming how we do business, leveraging new tools and technologies that will help IRCC deliver significant benefits for clients, employees, partners, and all Canadians:
  • A new online account for clients is already being rolled out initially to certain visitors and adult passport renewal clients, which will eventually become the single-window to all IRCC services, offering clients easier to use services, a fully digital experience with more self-serve options, and access to real-time application status information.
  • New client support tools are being rolled out that will provide employees with a 360 degree profile of clients, to help them respond to client enquiries more efficiently and effectively across all support channels, increasing client satisfaction.
  • A digital visa pilot, completed in February 2026, successfully tested the issuance and verification of digital temporary resident visas with a select cohort of travellers from Morocco. Digital immigration documents have the potential to streamline IRCC’s operations, reduce wait times for clients, and improve verification and security. Lessons learned from the pilot will shape how IRCC will deliver digital immigration documents in the future.
  • And finally, new streamlined and digitally-enabled processes rolled out on cloud-based technology will allow the Department to more nimbly make policy changes, meet immigration targets, reduce backlogs, and protect the integrity of the immigration system.
• At the same time as we are transforming, we continue to make iterative improvements to our services, for example, launching improvements to our online processing times tool in October 2025 to show better estimates of how long processing will take, as well as where an application is in the immigration queue.
• As of July 2025, IRCC has been automatically releasing officer decision notes following temporary resident application refusals (excluding electronic travel authorization and temporary resident permit). This provides individuals whose applications are refused in most temporary resident lines of business with more information about the reasons for refusal. Officer decision notes will be available to additional client groups in phases over time. Since August 2025, the rate of Access to Information and Privacy requests post-application refusal has decreased by 68% for this client group compared to the previous year, reflecting the benefits of making it easier for clients to access and understand application decisions.

Access to the Client Support Centre

• The Department is currently meeting (up until February 28, 2026) the service standard of responding to 80% email inquiries within three days, up from 21% last fiscal year. We have achieved an answer rate of 50% for callers requesting to speak to an agent, up from 39% last fiscal year.
• From April 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026, IRCC’s Client Support Centre received over 8.2M inquiries across all service channels, including clients who accessed information independently through the automated phone system.
• Significant improvements in service standard adherence across channels continues to take place, due to streamlined processing (e.g., enhanced use of AI), and optimization of resources. By using staff more flexibly across phone and email channels, IRCC is responding to clients more quickly and reducing the need for follow-ups or repeat calls. These improvements have also helped lower overall inquiry volumes compared to last year.