The issue of lost Canadians is a very important one. Some people dismiss it because they say it doesn't affect many, but those it does affect are profoundly affected. So that's why we took action very quickly to set up the hotline when I came into this position. We have people at the call centre who are dedicated to helping these people. We've set up special procedures to expedite how cases are assessed, how their status is determined.
You're right. We've got special case workers assigned to each case. We've notified the individuals who've been affected by the Taylor decision. We've made sure we contacted the ones who have been put on hold, so they aren't left in limbo. They would at least know why their situation wasn't being dealt with. We've addressed the provinces and territories and asked them to work with us to ensure that social benefits are not disrupted while these cases are under review. We've made special arrangements for individuals who are in this situation while their status is being determined. We've made special arrangements if they've needed to go out of the country on an emergency trip of some form or another. We've worked with our friends at the Canada Border Services Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs on these various issues.
That hasn't stopped. There is special information on our website, and we are now running paid advertisements. I have samples I can pass around. These are current newspapers. We're trying to reach out to people to tell them that if they're in these circumstances to contact us because we want to help. I have stood up in the House of Commons numerous times and encouraged MPs, if they are aware of cases or potential cases, to bring them forward to my office. We'd be more than happy to deal with them in an expedited fashion.
So we started right away, and I think part of the measure of the success of our initiatives is the fact that for years the active files number, if you like, was around 450 and now we've got that down to 285, 250 of which are attributable to the Taylor case.