Response to the Recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in its Report on the Processing of Refugee Claims  

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October 2nd, 1998

Mr. John Williams
Chairperson
Standing Committee on Public Accounts
115 Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Williams:

Thank you for your Committee's report, The Processing of Refugee Claims. I found the report to be a balanced analysis of the Auditor General's recommendations and a valuable contribution in identifying concerns with the refugee determination process. The Government supports all of the Committee's recommendations and specific initiatives are underway to respond to many of them. Others may need to be addressed in the context of the comprehensive legislative review now under way.

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Immigration and Refugee Board have worked closely to develop strategies which will improve efficiency in refugee claims processing. From the information provided in our responses to several of the recommendations, you will note that progress has been made in dealing with some of the challenges facing the refugee determination system. I am discussing with my Cabinet colleagues the possibility of other changes to the refugee determination system.

A detailed response to the Standing Committee's recommendations is attached. I commend the work of the Committee and look forward to your continued contributions to the important responsibility of extending Canada's protection to those who need it.

Sincerely,

Lucienne Robillard

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Recommendation #1

That the Department of Citizenship and Immigration develop a strategy to make the initial examination of claims more rigorous to ensure that eligibility criteria are met. This strategy must include targets and implementation deadlines.

Response

The purpose of the eligibility criteria is to promptly disqualify from the refugee determination process persons who do not deserve or do not need Canada's protection. Decisions concerning eligibility are made by the Department on the basis of information gathered during interviews or contained in questionnaires completed by claimants. All claimants are photographed and their fingerprints are sent to the RCMP. A claimant's background is checked to determine whether he or she has a criminal record in Canada or has had prior contact with the Department.

In all cases, the information is obtained before an eligibility decision is rendered. Many claimants do not present either identification or travel documents. CIC must therefore base many of its decisions on uncorroborated information. Verification of this information is difficult. On the one hand, it depends on co-operation from foreign authorities and the availability of the information sought. On the other hand, the Department must take all possible measures to ensure that the safety of claimants and their families is not jeopardized. Background checks also create further delays in processing the claims.

Various ways of improving the quality of information collected are currently being studied. CIC is considering the possibility of conducting a security review of all claimants as soon as they arrive in Canada. This information could then be used by senior officers to review decisions in cases where false representations have been made. The Department is also negotiating an agreement with the IRB to collect and share information obtained from claimants. The purpose of the agreement is to standardize the type of information gathered and to improve the current data transmission procedure. CIC is involved in a project to completely revise the duties performed at ports of entry. One of the components of this project is the enforcement of a national policy to standardize and rationalize the processing of claimants at ports of entry. These various projects will be implemented over the next year. The Department also intends to undertake negotiations with certain countries frequently used by claimants to come to Canada, in order to obtain more information on the status of claimants in these countries.

Recommendation #2

That the Government of Canada assign a priority to negotiation of responsibility sharing agreements with countries considered to be safe third countries.

Response

The Government agrees that bilateral responsibility sharing agreements with safe third countries should be negotiated on a priority basis.

The challenge of negotiating successfully agreements however is illustrated in our attempts to conclude such an agreement with the United States. After intense discussions for three years, negotiations were suspended in December 1997 largely as a result of priority given by the U.S. government to implementing new legislation and managing litigation subsequently brought against it. In the past, opposition from advocacy groups in both countries, changes to the American refugee determination system and the need to ascertain the compatibility of both systems have all affected the pace of negotiations.

We will continue to examine the full range of options available under current legislation, including opportunities for bilateral agreements with countries other than the United States. Consultations between Canada and the United States on effective measures to address the movement of refugees across their shared border will also continue in the context of ongoing cooperation to manage the border more effectively.

Recommendation #3

That the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Immigration and Refugee Board develop a strategy to put in place the information systems needed to address gaps identified by the Auditor General. This strategy must include an evaluation of costs and expected benefits as well as targets and implementation deadlines.

Response

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) are committed to working together to support more effective management of the ministerial portfolio. As the Auditor General indicated in his report, the groundwork has been laid for progress in this area with the December 1996 Administrative Framework Agreement (AFA).

On November 18, 1997, the Department and the Board signed a sub-agreement under the AFA on electronic information sharing. The Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) calls for an interface between the Department's Field Operations Support System (FOSS) and the Board's Adjudication Tracking System (ATS) to be completed by the end of December 1998. It also stipulates that an interface between FOSS and the IRB's System for the Tracking of Appellants and Refugees (STAR) be completed by the end of March 1999.

The ISA will allow refugee claims, appeals, and requests for inquiries to the Adjudication Division to be referred automatically from CIC to the IRB, and will allow decisions to be transferred automatically from the IRB to CIC.

At present, IRB systems report progress only after the fact. The Board is developing proposals for a new case management system that would allow IRB managers to measure progress as it occurs. It would also allow them to analyze case inventories to achieve optimal use of resources. This new system would replace both STAR and ATS, providing a single source of information for case histories that may span both systems.

CIC is currently developing a National Case Management (NCM) system that will provide the basis for a new integrated information database for the Department. This will be a significant improvement over the current situation where several disjointed regional systems provide local information but are not linked, and are thus unable to provide an overall national perspective on activities. This should impose a fairly high degree of discipline in the recording and management of client data.

Phase 1 of NCM is targeted towards the processing of cases in the enforcement and war crimes stream. This initial phase is scheduled for implementation in the first half of 1999 in the major enforcement centres in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. Query capability will be provided to all domestic sites by mid-1999. Over the next five years, it is intended that NCM will be expanded to incorporate the capability of the FOSS system. Interface with the IRB systems will also be ensured to enable both systems to have reciprocal access. Prior to proceeding with the NCM project, the Y2000 implications were analyzed and it was determined that this development work could be completed in conjunction with our Y2000 commitments.

Recommendation #4

That the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Immigration and Refugee Board provide information on their activities related to refugee status determination in their annual Performance Reports. This information must be based on a set of clearly articulated performance measures and emphasize results rather than process.

Response

The shared objective of the Department and the Board is to provide Canadians with working arrangements that contribute to the protection needs of persons in Canada as efficiently and effectively as possible. The Annual Report to Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board provides a list of key results and outcomes that the Department and the Board expect to achieve with taxpayer dollars. Based on this list, both CIC and the Board will prepare their annual Performance Reports, with increased focus on results, as required.

Over the past few years the Department and the Board have worked closely to develop a more integrated management approach to the portfolio. Key initiatives include an MOU on Information Exchange signed by CIC and the IRB in November 1995, the Administrative Framework Agreement signed in December 1996, an Information Sharing Agreement on information technology harmonization signed in November 1997 along with a Priorities Co-ordination Agreement to establish common priorities for case processing. These new working arrangements are helping the Department and the Board to consult and co-operate more closely. They will also enhance data collection capacity so that the Department and the Board may monitor cases as they progress through the refugee determination system.

The Board will continue to report on case management initiatives and on the results achieved through a range of performance measures: for example, the number of cases finalized, processing times, the cost per case, the age and size of inventory, consistency in decision-making and the number of decisions set aside by the Federal Court. Moreover, the Board is committed to reducing its processing times for refugee claims. With a steady complement of members, and a yearly intake of 25,000 referrals from the Department, the Board is committed to reducing its average processing time to eight months by 2000-2001, with an inventory of 19,000 cases.To that end, it has recently set itself new, more detailed performance expectations, against which it is now monitoring its processing times. To further improve the timeliness of the determination process, members are being actively encouraged to render decisions orally at the conclusion of hearings. It is the goal of the Board to have oral decisions become the norm.

For its part, the Department will continue to report on its activities related to refugee status determination, including measures introduced in 1997 to promote faster and better targeted decision-making in the reviews available to failed refugee claimants. These measures have reduced by 60% the number of persons receiving a risk review, allowing the Department to focus its attention on the most deserving cases. At the same time the Department is ensuring that persons have an opportunity to seek review if they believe their personal safety would be at risk if removed. In addition, the Department will report on benefits provided under the Interim Federal Health Care Program to assist refugee claimants and refugees who are not included under any provincial health coverage measures.

The Department and the Board will continue to review their performance measures and indicators to identify any changes needed to provide Parliamentarians, within the capability of available information systems, with the most meaningful measures of results obtained.

Recommendation #5

That the government increase the length of appointments when it renews the terms of members of the Immigration and Refugee Board. In particular, the government should take past performance into consideration when it re-appoints members for longer terms.

Response

As pointed out by the Auditor General, short-term appointments, combined with high turnover among members, have a direct impact on IRB productivity. New members require extensive training and up to 12 months experience to be able to process claims at expected levels of productivity.

Over the past years, there have been significant improvements to increase the terms of new members in order to fully benefit from their experience and expertise. In 1996, only 21% of new mandates were for periods of three years and up. In 1997, 75% of new mandates were for periods of three years and up. In 1998, for the period January to May, 96% of new mandates were for periods of at least three years. The average length of renewals in 1996, in 1997 and in 1998 (year-to-date) was three years.

Recommendation #6

That the Board actively explore ways in which to increase the number of hearings that are held with one member present.

Response

The IRB continues to encourage the use of single-member hearings as a means of increasing productivity and thereby reducing the inventory of claims. The most recent figures available indicate that single-member hearings accounted for 30% of all full hearing decisions in the final quarter of 1997-98. This is an increase from 21% for fiscal year 1996-97. This trend will enable the IRB to achieve significant efficiency gains in the months to come.

It should be understood, however, that under current legislation the use of single-member panels is contingent on the consent of the claimant. Therefore, the potential for significant increase in the use of such panels remains somewhat limited.

Recommendation #7

That the Immigration and Refugee Board review its staffing requirements in order to determine the increased efficiencies that would be produced through the appointment of additional members beyond its current complement.

Response

The Government agrees with the recommendation that the IRB review the efficiencies that would be produced through the appointment of additional members beyond the Board's current complement.

The December 1997 Report of the Auditor General expressed concern over the size of the backlog of refugee claims and the resulting lengthy processing times. In 1995-96, the pending caseload of refugee claims increased sharply. Although this increase occurred in all regions, it was particularly acute at the Board's Montreal office.

Recent member appointments have resulted in a significant increase in the member complement in the Refugee Division, most notably in the Montreal office, where the complement was increased by ten members as of April 1998. The IRB welcomes these appointments as a positive step toward dealing with the backlog of refugee claims.

Funding has been approved in 1998-99 to support this increase of ten members in Montreal. Furthermore, the IRB has been authorized to access additional funding to support resources for up to ten more members should the Government decide to increase the member complement again.

The IRB regularly reviews the Refugee Division's member complement against its workload. Recent changes to the Government's business planning process will provide an appropriate framework to address workload pressures in the future.

Recommendation #8

That the Department of Citizenship and Immigration make specific reference to actions taken and the results obtained under its comprehensive removals strategy in its Performance Report for the period ending 31 March 1998, and annually thereafter.

Response

The Government notes that the recommendation flows from the Auditor General's finding that the Department has difficulty in carrying out removals, and from the Department's response that a comprehensive strategy to increase removals has been developed. It reflects the need for information about the strategy so that an informed evaluation of its effectiveness can be made.

The annual Departmental Performance Report is a public document which describes the Department's performance expectations for each of its business lines and outlines the key results flowing from the performance expectations in the fiscal year under review. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada Performance Report for the period ending March 31, 1997, contained a section on removals. This section, located under the Managing Access to Canada business line, reported on the number of persons removed from Canada in 1996 and described some elements of the Department's strategy to increase removals.

The Government recognizes that the effectiveness of the removals strategy can only be evaluated accurately if more comprehensive information about the implementation of the strategy's constituent elements is provided.

Accordingly, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration agrees to make specific reference in its Performance Report for fiscal year 1997-98, and annually thereafter, to actions taken and results obtained under its comprehensive removals strategy. However, some elements of the removals strategy are sensitive in terms of international relations (e.g. using available leverages to persuade certain countries to accept back their nationals) and therefore publicity may be counter-productive and impact negatively on effectiveness. Therefore, where warranted, the references to such elements in the strategy will be limited.

Recommendation #9

That the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Immigration and Refugee Board together develop a strategic plan to manage the transition period between the current refugee claims processing system and any new system that may be implemented. Such a plan should aim, among other things, to limit any negative effect upon efficiency and effectiveness that such a transition may produce.

Response

The Government notes that the Auditor General has recommended a thorough review of the system and agrees that if fundamental changes are made, a strategic plan must ensure both the fairness and the efficiency of the transitional period between the present and any modified refugee determination system.

Should the Government decide to make changes to the present system, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Immigration and Refugee Board will develop a strategic plan for any interim period.

Recommendation #10

That the government create a mechanism for monitoring the overall progress of refugee claims and reporting interdepartmental performance in claims processing to Parliament.

Response

The committee recommendation proposes the creation of a mechanism to report progress and performance in the refugee stream. As the processing of refugee claims involves the effort of a number of departments working independently and in concert according to their particular mandates, it seems clear that no individual department would be able to provide all the data needed. Further, each department holds responsibility for a different aspect of the overall refugee process and this raises issues relating to accountability.

Other departments and agencies play important roles in the refugee determination process and each is accountable for its own policies and programs. CIC has the lead responsibility for the policy and program framework for the refugee determination system and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is accountable to Parliament for the CIC-IRB portfolio and related mandates.

CIC is committed to building on its present monitoring mechanisms and the better use of existing reporting vehicles, specifically, the annual Departmental Performance Reports of CIC and the IRB to report on interdepartmental performance.

  

October 1998