Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced the introduction of new automated tools to assist processing of Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and work permit extensions. This is the first step to move to using artificial intelligence within the immigration department.
Earlier this year in a press conference, former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Sean Fraser, spoke to the widespread use of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and automated tools within the immigration department. Maintaining that a human being was still responsible for final decision making, Minister Fraser cited massive gains in both productivity and a higher approval rate for applicants.
These new tools do have limits to their oversight. For example, while automated measures can automatically approve the eligibility of an applicant, they cannot refuse, nor recommend the refusal of an application. Applications that have not had their eligibility automatically approved may still receive manual approval from an IRCC officer.
Additionally, officers also have the ability to overturn decisions made by automated tools. This is an important measure and key to the immigration department’s commitment to using technology responsibly for the benefit of immigration clients.
While it is hoped that these new immigration tools will aid IRCC in processing applications in a timelier manner, it remains too early to conclude this definitively.
