Summary of the Evaluation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Division 9/National Security Inadmissibility Initiative
About the Program
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is the primary federal legislation regulating immigration to Canada. Within IRPA, Division 9 provides statutory authority that allows for the use and protection of classified or otherwise non-disclosable information in immigration proceedings. These proceedings including security certificates before the Federal Court (section 77); admissibility proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), detention reviews and appeals before the Immigration Appeals Division (section 86); and judicial review proceedings and related appeals before the Federal Court (section 87).
The Initiative is a combination of the activities of nine federal partners including Public Safety Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Justice Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Courts Administration Service and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.What We Examined
The purpose of the evaluation was to examine the governance and performance of the Initiative from 2015-16 to 2018-19. Relevance was not examined as the continuing need for the Initiative was clearly laid out in recent initiative renewal documents.
- Overall, the Initiative’s horizontal governance was perceived as effective with regards to collaboration, coordination and sharing of classified information between partners.
- The Division 9 Initiative has facilitated the sharing and protection of classified or otherwise non-disclosable information related to inadmissible non-citizens in all relevant immigration proceedings; there are still challenges with using all available information.
- Division 9 has contributed to mitigating threats to national security. The Initiative supports enforcement measures and risk management of existing security certificate cases.
- There continues to be fair representation of subjects through a Charter-complaint process. The Division 9 Initiative has enabled Canada to respect international human rights and Charter obligations in inadmissibility cases.
- The current performance measurement strategy was developed as part of the Initiative funding renewal, and while not fully implemented during the evaluation period, concerns regarding the validity of the indicators were raised.
- The Division 9 Initiative is delivered in an effective manner, given the complexity and number of current cases.
- Gender Based Analysis Plus has been taken into account during the design and implementation of the Initiative.
Recommendations
Led by the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the National and Cyber Security Branch, Public Safety Canada, in collaboration with all partners should:
- Explore options for a common secure platform to allow for classified information sharing;
- Review the indicators included in the Performance Measurement Strategy and consider developing mechanisms to regularly collect and report on performance data.
The Initiative is a combination of the activities of nine federal partners including Public Safety Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Justice Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Courts Administration Service and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
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