Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada assessments and artificial intelligence: (a) does the government use artificial intelligence in any way in relation to the assessments; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, (i) when did the department begin using artificial intelligence, (ii) what artificial intelligence programs are used, (iii) for what purpose is each program used; (c) how many government officials' positions related to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada assessments have been made redundant or unnecessary as a result of the use of artificial intelligence, in total and broken down by position; (d) how much money does the government estimate it saves each year by using artificial intelligence in relation to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada assessments; and (e) what safeguards are in place to ensure that applicants are not wrongly denied acceptance or eligibility due to mistakes made by artificial intelligence programs?

With regard to the statement made at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, on October 2, 2025, by Uyen Hoang, Director General, Citizenship Branch, at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, that “we do have a program called entry and exit, [...] there are mechanisms in place in order to know when an individual is leaving a country” and the fact that both the Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship and the Canada Border Services Agency have stated multiple times in answer to Order Paper Questions (such as Q-2214 and Q-2532 from the 44th Parliament) that the government does not track when people exit the country: (a) does such a program exist; (b) if yes in (a), what is the government’s explanation as to why the department and the agency provided false information to Parliament; (c) if yes in (a), when did the Clerk of the Privy Council become aware that false information was provided to Parliament; (d) if yes in (a), what disciplinary action will be taken by the Privy Council Office against the officials responsible for preparing this false information to Parliament; (e) if yes in (a), has the Privy Council Office done a complete review of all Order Paper Questions from the 44th Parliament to ensure that they are aware of all instances where this false information was provided to Parliament; (f) will the government be correcting the record by providing revised responses to Order Paper questions Q-2214 and Q-2532 from the 44th Parliament; and (g) is the government planning on issuing any type of apology to Canadians for the tabling of this false information, and, if so, how and when will the apology be delivered?

With regard to the statement made at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, on October 2, 2025, by Uyen Hoang, Director General, Citizenship Branch, at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, that “we do have a program called entry and exit, [...] there are mechanisms in place in order to know when an individual is leaving a country”: (a) what department, agency, police force or combination thereof, is responsible for this program; (b) when did this program come into effect; (c) from which countries does this program track exit and entry data; (d) from the start of the program, or the 2015-16 fiscal year, whichever is oldest, what is the annual level of funding for the program; (e) from the start of the program, or the 2015-16 fiscal year, whichever is oldest, how many full-time equivalents are assigned to work under the program umbrella; (f) how does the program collect exit numbers; (g) what companies are contracted or subcontracted to execute this program, and what is the value of the each contract awarded to contractors or subcontractors; (h) from the start of the program, or the 2015-16 fiscal year, whichever is oldest, and broken down by each border crossing and mode, how many people exited the country, and of those people, how many were (i) Canadians, (ii) non-Canadians; (i) what are the details of the non-Canadians who exited the country in (h)(ii), including (i) on which permits were they previously allowed entry into the country, (ii) which permits were no longer valid at the time of their exit; and (j) what percentage of temporary residents are identified as having overstayed their lawful period of entry in Canada?

With regard to the planned budgetary reductions for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency: (a) is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada moving forward with a Deficit Reduction Action Plan in 2024 and, if so, what it the targeted budget reduction for the Department in percentage and actual dollars broken down by (i) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (ii) province or territory; (b) what specific programs or services within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada are projected to experience reductions in funding as part of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan in 2024–25, 2025–26, and 2026–27, broken down by (i) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (ii) province or territory, (iii) full-time employee reduction; (c) how will the anticipated Deficit Reduction Action Plan affect processing times for applicants, broken down by each immigration stream, including the processing of study permits, work visas and travel visas; (d) what measures will Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada implement to ensure the Deficit Reduction Action Plan does not adversely impact service delivery standards for applicants and stakeholders, including settlement organizations; (e) what workforce adjustments or layoffs, if any, are planned within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to accommodate the Deficit Reduction Action Plan, and what impacts are anticipated on staffing levels or full-time employees and employee workloads, broken down by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region; (f) how does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada plan to engage with and communicate these changes to key stakeholders, including provinces, territories, settlement agencies and impacted applicants; (g) how much funding has been refocused away from the Canada Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in the federal government’s refocused spending initiative, broken down by year in these program areas, (i) border security and enforcement, (ii) customs and trade facilitation, (iii) traveller screening, (iv) citizenship and passport services, (v) refugee resettlement; and (h) what is funding that has been refocused away from Canada Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in the federal government’s refocused spending initiative being redirected toward, broken down by year?

With regard to proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, broken down by year since 2018: (a) how many refugee protection claim hearings occurred; (b) of the refugee protection claim hearings in (a), in how many cases did Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (i) appear in person, (ii) appear virtually, (iii) not appear at all, broken down by Immigration and Refugee Board division; (c) of the hearings in which Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not appear, how many and what percentage of total refugee protection claim hearings does this represent, broken down by Immigration and Refugee Board division; (d) in cases where Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not appear, how many claims were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected, (iii) withdrawn or abandoned; and (e) in cases where Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did appear, how many claims were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected, (iii) withdrawn or abandoned?