It could depend on the specific program. Because of the types of documents they would need for the various programs, I'm not sure you could have a consistent verification program across government. It should be up to the program managers to determine the most appropriate verification, but certainly the use of the social insurance number should be clear across government; there should not be the inconsistencies that we have found in our audit.
On February 14th, 2007. See this statement in context.