Using technology responsibly

We’re working to be a leader in using automated and advanced analytics technologies responsibly. We developed our approach to align with or exceed Government of Canada best practices, including the Directive on Automated Decision-Making. All automated and advanced analytics models we use are reviewed and assessed often to ensure they are functioning well and meeting the needs of our clients and officers.

Before we explore any technology to support one of our services, we assess the needs specific to that service. This includes the benefits and impacts for clients, as well as the integrity of our immigration system and the safety and security of Canadians.

A team of experts, including officers who process applications and privacy, legal and policy experts, is involved throughout the process of developing and using these tools. Changes to tools that help with processing applications only happen with human oversight, testing and approval.

Discrimination or bias

Identifying and mitigating potential bias or discriminatory impacts is always a critical focus as we design, develop and implement technologies.

Every aspect of our tools is scrutinized for possible bias or discrimination, from rules used in processing and sorting applications, to how information is displayed for decision makers.

We also conduct a Gender-Based Analysis Plus assessment on tools that support decision making, and monitor the performance of our tools to identify any potential unintended impacts, including impacts on groups protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Privacy

We use information collected from past applications to develop the advanced analytics and automation tools we use. If you’re applying now or have applied in the past, we may use the information in your application or supporting information to design or improve our tools. Our collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information is described in our personal information banks.

The tools are developed and used in accordance with relevant legislation, including

• the Privacy Act
• the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• the Canadian Human Rights Act
• the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

The tools only use personal information that is relevant and needed for the application process. This includes information from our law enforcement partners as part of formal information-sharing arrangements and agreements.

We conduct privacy assessments on our tools following Treasury Board policies and directives.

Privacy will remain a central priority as we expand our use of advanced analytics and automation.

Performance

We test all tools before launch and keep monitoring their results regularly after launch. This ensures they continue to perform as intended.

We also perform or contract studies to assess how the tools are able to help reduce the amount of time it takes to process an application.