The key point for me when it comes to the use of advanced analytics is really about making sure that we can process cases as efficiently as possible without compromising the integrity of the process. We want to ensure that every applicant gets a fair chance to make their application and have that application heard.
When we use advanced analytics, essentially what it does is that it identifies the simple cases that don't have any complexity. Think of somebody who has come and returned to Canada many times and has always followed the rules. The use of advanced analytics can identify that application and make sure it's dealt with by someone in the department who will be able to process it fairly quickly.
For situations that have complexities—maybe there was a security flag on a file, or maybe it involves factors that lead to somebody needing to take a deeper look—they will go through the ordinary assessment process and still benefit from an officer who has to go through all the application information.
It is essentially a sorting mechanism that has yielded, for non-complex cases, an 87% increase in efficiency.
If we're dealing with the non-complex cases, which are far more likely to be approved without having to go down and do a deeper analysis, it makes sense to me, because the people who are going into that side of the assessment are not being prejudiced. They're being treated more quickly.
To the extent that there are people who may have more complex cases, every single file still has to be reviewed and approved by a human being who works for IRCC, not a computer system. The system doesn't make recommendations. It doesn't make approvals or rejections, but it allows us, on those simpler cases, to deal with them in a more expeditious way.