Information & Ethics committee  I think that's where we're headed with the online access to people's own case requests. The more that we can put up and have available so that someone can go into their own MyCIC account, log in, and check the status of their case, the more this is going to be of assistance. Ther

Information & Ethics committee  At the moment, the immigration consultants—the third parties, the representatives—charge for those requests. If we were to permit anybody around the planet to make these requests, they would lose that business method, if I can put it like that. In many cases, immigration consulta

Information & Ethics committee  Our situation is very similar. We benefit, if you will, from the fact that the case processing is much more straightforward than processing the complex files that we have. We know that we will have growth every year of probably 16% to 20%. We've done analysis of what this means,

Information & Ethics committee  It could be huge. This is the issue, isn't it? We process literally millions of applications every year. If all of those people abroad had the right to access that information, we wouldn't be looking at 40,000 requests a year, we would be looking at many more than that. We would

Information & Ethics committee  Ninety-five per cent of requests come from people who are asking questions about their application to immigrate or a visa. For example, someone may be wondering what stage their spouse's file has reached. Is the file at the end of the process? Most of the requests have to do with

Information & Ethics committee  It depends. If the information was submitted in hard copy, it's not accessible electronically. However, people who have submitted their documents more recently in electronic format can check. The delays can sometimes be a few months, such as in the case of an immigration process

Information & Ethics committee  It is interesting to note that half of the complaints the commissioner has received are from one individual. We can see that some people are satisfied with the current format. Their problems are resolved, and this format meets their needs. Therefore, the number of complaints may

Information & Ethics committee  The more complete our electronic files are, the easier the task becomes. If people scan their documents and add them to the case management system, it is much easier for those working here in Ottawa, in ATIP management, to have access to the information at all times. It may appe

Information & Ethics committee  Since my answer will be technical, I will use English. We have a global case management system that manages all of our cases. Literally millions of files are input into that process right from the beginning. The client will appear, apply, and fill out the basic information forms

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. We are also very pleased to be joining you this morning. My name is Stephanie Beck. As the chair has said, I'm the assistant deputy minister of corporate services, so among other things, ATIP is in my portfolio. My director general responsible fo

Official Languages committee  We spend around $120 million on language training, but we don't track by country of origin, for instance. I couldn't tell you how much is spent on Syrian refugees or indeed on citizens from another country.

Official Languages committee  As I mentioned earlier, we will be using our embassies and high commissions abroad more and more. You will see in the future that we will leverage ministerial travel. For instance, when he was in India, we made use of the opportunities that he had to reach out to the communities.

Official Languages committee  I'm sorry, I don't think we would have that number with us, but we can get back to you. There are regular meetings with all of the provinces and territories, but he would also meet with them not only in groups but bilaterally.

Official Languages committee  Okay. Thank you.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for the question. The way that we bring in refugees, which is the case with the children, their parents, and their families from Syria, is through a process that is different from the one for economic immigrants or family immigration. The initial selection is not based