Formed 1994 Employees 7,000 Website www.cic.gc.ca | Jurisdiction Canada Minister responsible Ahmed Hussen | |
 | ||
Type Department responsible for
Citizenship
Immigration
Refugees | ||
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for issues dealing with immigration, refugees, and citizenship. The department was established in 1994 following a reorganization within the federal government, and was renamed from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to its current name with the swearing in of the 29th ministry in 2015.
Contents
History
Prior to 1994, immigration was placed under several ministries:
After the 2015 federal election and the swearing in of Justin Trudeau's 29th ministry in November 2015, the name was changed from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to its current name.
The current Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship is John McCallum.
On November 10 the Toronto Star reported that the website of the Department crashed when it was flooded with a large increase in traffic on United States presidential election, 2016 night. The increase in traffic was said to be 5 times larger than normal, and the percent of requests coming from the United States increased from the normal ten percent to fifty percent of all requests.
Presence
IRCC operates a large network of "Citizenship and Immigration Centres" throughout Canada and in an important number of embassies, high commissions and consulates abroad. Service Canada recently started to take over some of the domestic field operations of the department, while with its creation in 2003, the Canada Border Services Agency took over the control of enforcement and entry control at land borders and airports.
IRCC remains responsible for the establishment of policies and processing of permanent and temporary residence visa, refugee protection and citizenship applications.
Funding
IRCC helps immigrants and refugees settle in Canada by funding organizations like the Canadian Caregivers Association to provide newcomers with settlement programs. These organizations are called service provider organizations.
IRCC funds the following programs through service provider organizations:
The services provided under these programs include the following:
Related Legislation
Staffing
The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada department employs 7,000 staff. In 2006 the Canadian government reduced the landing fee per immigrant by 50%.
Current Citizenship and Immigration Structure
Citizenship Commission
The Citizenship Commission is responsible for Citizenship Judge and arms length body to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. The body's mandate is directed by the Citizenship Act.
The Commission is headed by a Senior Citizenship Judge and serves a 5-year term. The current head of the Commission is Renata Brum Bozzi (since 2013).
List of former Commission heads: