Having no ombudsperson at IRCC implies that there are systemic problems in the department, and that its officers are making arbitrary decisions at their own discretion. You have just pointed out that those officers believe they are in a better position than students or universities to say whether a study request is credible or not. Why is it up to an IRCC officer to do that?
Right now, we are forced to litigate everything and many cases end up in federal court to try to reverse those decisions. Aggrieved applicants are also turning to MPs. You know that almost 70% of the cases you receive in your constituency offices are immigration related. There is a lack of democratic transparency.
The creation of an ombudsperson—to carry over a request that was previously made in 2021—will allow decisions to be reviewed, the number of files that end up in constituency offices to be reduced, reports to be routinely analyzed, and transparency to be provided to the public, both Canadian and foreign...