Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
First I'd like to introduce my colleagues at the table. Hy Braiter is senior ADM, service delivery, responsible for integrity for the last year. Onno Kremers is director general of integrity.
We appreciate this opportunity to speak to you today about the integrity of the social insurance number. We believe the committee's invitation is timely, given the progress we have made on the recommendations of the Auditor General's 2002 report, and the 2003 report of this committee, on the management of the social insurance number program.
Overall, our objective is to establish a world-class system to manage the social insurance number. Such a system must have accountability built in throughout the process, be rigorous, contain accurate information, and ensure that Canadians can easily and securely get access to their benefits.
Responsibility for the management of the SIN is now with Service Canada, which is committed to improving the delivery of programs and services to Canadians. Service Canada is working with a growing number of federal departments, provinces and territories to move the one-stop service approach forward. Progress we have made with SIN is at the forefront of this approach. At the same time, we are committed to maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of Canadians' information.
We are accountable to our clients and to all Canadian taxpayers for our results. In fact, being accountable and reporting to Canadians annually on our performance is enshrined in our Service Canada charter. We believe that the progress we have made since 2003 is very significant in enhancing the integrity of the SIN process and the register itself.
To ensure accountability and transparency, we have initiated a review by an independent audit firm of the integrity of the SIN and the social insurance register. As well, this review will validate that both the SIN and the SIR are well positioned to fulfill their role as a foundation for the integrity of Service Canada's programs and services. We expect the results during the course of this summer and would welcome the opportunity to share these with the committee. We are working closely with the Auditor General on this review as part of their audit of the program.
Similarly, we recognize that we need to regularly report on our progress. This is what we have done through our annual reporting to Parliament using regular departmental reports on plans and priorities, and performance reports. In addition, we submitted a progress report to this committee in 2003, and annual updates to the Auditor General in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
We take the management of the SIN seriously and have made significant progress to ensure rigour in the entire SIN process: rigour in issuing a social insurance number to the right individual, rigour in monitoring the use of that number, and rigour in ensuring the highest level of integrity in the social insurance register.
We issue more than one million social insurance numbers a year. In keeping with Service Canada's commitments, we have re-engineered the entire process for issuing a social insurance number from end to end, introducing rigorous controls while improving the service to the client. We call the new service SIN Rapid Access.
Our improved SIN application service requires that all our front-line staff have training and certification in identity management. The process requires a face-to-face rigorous review of the applicant's identity and documentation before staff can take an application. Our new SIN Rapid Access process also supports staff with tools they need to make decisions and referrals on high-risk clients to our investigators. Furthermore, automation of the process reduces errors in data capture.
Clients can now apply and receive a SIN in person in one visit, versus a wait of three to six weeks. This makes a big difference to people entering the workforce or receiving other benefits. The service is currently operating in 193 of Service Canada's centres in every region of the country and will be fully operational in all Service Canada centres this fall.
We have also tightened our proof of identity processes that provide assurance that we have the right client. We now accept only original birth certificates and original immigration documents. Gone are the multiple documents we used to accept, such as baptismal certificates.
Underpinning the new SIN issuance process is a robust SIN/SIR quality assurance system which consists of rigorous controls that guide each step of issuing new SINs. This is yet another move to ensure our processes are robust so we know the information in the SIR is accurate.
More significantly, we are encouraging more rigorous and consistent use of the SIN through a SIN code of practice. It will provide guidance to all SIN users to safeguard the security and privacy of the SIN, and it will provide practical guidance and tools to assist in doing this. The code is designed for all SIN users: individuals, employers, the private sector, SIN partners, and Service Canada employees. We are currently undertaking a broad engagement strategy on the code with various consumer, employer, private sector, and government stakeholder groups. Following this, we hope to officially launch the code this fall.
As part of this process, we would welcome the committee's views. If you'd like, we can table a copy of the draft code with you.
Mr. Chairman, having accurate information in the social insurance registry is a critical requirement to Service Canada's objective to bring this important register up to world-class levels. To this end, we have reduced the variance between the number of living SIN holders and the size of the Canadian population to about 700,000 today. We have certified the accuracy of millions of SIR records by flagging them as deceased, dormant, or unusable; for instance, by eliminating those 900-series SINs that have expired. The 900-series belongs to people who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents; for example, temporary workers or foreign students.
There are legitimate reasons why the number of SINs issued exceeds the total Canadian population. For example, there are Canadians who are living, studying, or working abroad, or foreign workers who have legitimate SINs but are no longer residing in Canada and are still eligible for CPP benefits. Also, there are Canadian pensioners who have decided to live abroad.
Our automated linkages with other government departments, such as Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency, and with provinces and territories for historical and ongoing, timely birth/death data will continue to enhance the accuracy of the SIR.
As recommended by this committee and the Auditor General, we have successfully negotiated agreements with New Brunswick, Ontario, and British Columbia so that we can validate documents automatically and electronically at their source. This means that when we receive an application for a SIN, we can automatically validate with the issuing province that this is a legitimate birth certificate, thus increasing the accuracy of the SIR.
These agreements currently cover approximately 54% of Canada's population. We are actively pursuing agreements with the remaining provinces and territories and hope to have most of these in place over the course of the next year. As you know, we already have secure links with Citizenship and Immigration so we can accurately identify 100% of permanent and temporary residents.
Finally, we are currently undertaking a benchmarking exercise to define levels of accuracy and completeness and set key performance indicators for the SIR using best practices from around the world, including those of the U.S. Social Security Administration. The results of this exercise will assist us in further improving the accuracy of the SIR.
In closing, the progress we have made in improving the integrity of the SIN program enables the service transformation that is at the heart of Service Canada: enhancing the accessibility of services to Canadians. We envisage issuing SINs to Canadians when they need them so that they can receive the easy-to-access services they are entitled to—when a newborn arrives in the family, when a newcomer arrives in the country, and when a young person needs one for work. At the same time, when someone dies, we will automatically deactivate the SIN and proactively provide survivors' benefits.
Just to give one example of how this is unfolding, through our links with vital events agencies, we are piloting an initiative in eight hospitals in Ontario that will offer a SIN at the same time as a birth is registered. Today, a parent cannot get a SIN, or a passport for that matter, without a birth certificate. Without a SIN, a parent cannot apply for a Canada learning bond or an educational savings grant. The SIN at birth offers parents the opportunity to combine three separate processes--birth registration, birth certificate application, and application for a SIN--all in one electronic process. We expect to roll out this service in all hospitals in Ontario early this fall, and in British Columbia too. In short, this is a fundamental shift in the way service is provided to Canadians, while enhancing the integrity of the process.
Thank you. We will be happy to address your questions or comments on what we've been doing to protect the integrity of the SIN and to provide better service to Canadians.
