Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Immigrants need more info access: watchdog

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 25 May, 2021 09:57 AM
  • Immigrants need more info access: watchdog

The federal information watchdog says the Immigration Department needs to provide easier access to information for immigration applicants seeking more than a bare-bones outline of their files.

In a new report today, information commissioner Caroline Maynard is calling for readier transparency as aspiring Canadians frequently have to resort to requests under the Access to Information Act.

Maynard says the recurring complaint to her office revolves around a lack of available information on details such as application status or the reasoning behind decisions, which can be hard to obtain through the department's online account portal.

The report says the Immigration Department received about 117,000 access-to-information requests in 2019-20 — nearly three times more than all other federal institutions combined — and became the target of the highest number of complaints to the information commissioner's office.

Maynard is calling on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to provide more timely responses to the requests as well as broader measures to reduce the need for those demands in the first place.

The department says it plans to modernize its digital platform in the next two to three years and launch a review that could result in more details about why an application was denied, all with a view to greater information for would-be residents.

MORE National ARTICLES

No slowing of toxic drug deaths in March: coroner

No slowing of toxic drug deaths in March: coroner
The deaths also mark the third consecutive month that more than five people died every day from illicit drug use in the province.

No slowing of toxic drug deaths in March: coroner

Canadian PPE makers team up to lobby government

Canadian PPE makers team up to lobby government
The group says it plans to work with the federal and provincial governments, health experts and suppliers to deliver safe and accessible medical masks for local and export markets.

Canadian PPE makers team up to lobby government

Police warn of six overdose deaths in Surrey, B.C.

Police warn of six overdose deaths in Surrey, B.C.
Police say between April 21 and April 27, they responded to the separate deaths believed to be caused by drug toxicity.

Police warn of six overdose deaths in Surrey, B.C.

841 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

841 COVID19 cases for Wednesday
Hospitalizations are going up again in BC. There are 515 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

841 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

Marine debris cleanup to get $9.5 million in B.C.

Marine debris cleanup to get $9.5 million in B.C.
Four projects will share the funding to clean up 1,200 kilometres of coastline and more than 100 derelict vessels.

Marine debris cleanup to get $9.5 million in B.C.

B.C. court rejects Indigenous petition on pipeline

B.C. court rejects Indigenous petition on pipeline
Their lawyers argued in part that the office did not meaningfully address the findings of the 2019 report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls when it approved the extension.

B.C. court rejects Indigenous petition on pipeline