Pilot Programs’ guideline creation is a must, as discussed during IRCCs internal audit. The department has asked to create transparent guidelines to establish pilot programs. This happened due to the internal audit that took place last year in March by the IRCCs branch of the Internal Audit and Accountability.
Pilot Programs’ guideline creation
11 pilot programs came into existence in April 2013. Additionally, out of all these programs, one program turned out permanent, and three are in transit to permanency. While the other three have been renewed, and the rest four are active pilots. Ministerial instructions led to the establishment of all programs, and these instructions are a part of the provision of IRPA. According to this provision, the immigration minister can instruct the immigration officers to support the Canadian government in achieving their immigration objectives.
The internal audit also involved interviews with at least 27 chief individuals from the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency. For instance, external stakeholders, senior management, and program employees. Moreover, some of these people also displayed their concern for the creation of guidelines. They believe that discarding or creating such guidelines is often a result of an urgent economic requirement or transitioning to other priorities. Furthermore, such measures are not taken to simply to adapt to an innovative approach toward immigration.
Audit’s chief findings
According to the chief findings of the audit, IRCC lacks a concrete definition related to Pilot Programs. Furthermore, there is no clear idea in terms of their objectives and development process. Currently, there is an absence of principles to determine whether a pilot program is worth the development or not. Moreover, establishing these pilot programs can only be possible through the IRPAs clause allowing the immigration minister to issue instructions for developing a new class of PRs. These permanent residents will further assist the government in accomplishing their economic aims.
Nature of Pilot Programs
According to IRPA, these pilot programs are temporary and can last a maximum of up to five years. They have the potential to issue invitations to around 2,750 candidates under the new economic pilot. Except for these points, there are no available existing guidelines for developing pilot programs.
There are many branches of IRCC which the concept of pilot programs, such as stakeholders and senior management. A few pilot programs could not become permanent due to the timeline of five years. On the other hand, the Atlantic Immigration Program succeeded in accomplishing its objectives. This means that they could retain social and economic immigrants in the specific area. In the case of such a successful program, it has more chances to gain permanency.
However, the lack of guidelines makes it more difficult to analyze the program’s success in terms of achieving its economic requirements. The audit also claims that there is no presence of a comprehensive list of IRCCs to track the chief metrics or recommendations of the pilot program. Moreover, there is no way to understand if a program ended or monitor the existing performance results and the risks involved.
Inaccuracy of Pilot Programs
During the interviews, a common concern regarding the pilot programs was that they tend to overlap with one another, specifically the ones leading to permanent residency.
Additionally, there is an underlying confusion related to streams of the Provincial Nominee Programs and the Start-Up Visa program, which started as a pilot program. Varied PNP streams apply to entrepreneurs, with the SUV introduced to usually attract start-up businesses. However, the eligible occupations under it tend to overlap with each other.
According to the finding of the audit, pilot programs tend to have an additional funding requirement, along with the need for more human potential. Consequently, these requirements lead to the non-funding of pilot programs.
The AIP is one such example of a popular program that didn’t receive any funding and remained reliant on the department’s potential. As a result, the workload of the employees multiplied. Hence, it was concluded that pilot programs have no concrete cost.
Also, the deadline to execute these pilot programs is indeed short compared to other programs to fulfill other economic requirements. Furthermore, the programs are under development. Hence, there are increased resources and staff required to make the program successful. The department also requires increased communication and better coordination with foreign stakeholders.
Per the audit’s observation, no prior analysis of the programs is present. This further makes it challenging to monitor the department’s capability to govern the main programs. Moreover, this implies that it is difficult to conclude the process through which the staff can carry out their routine tasks along with the pilot program.
Irregular training and a lack of quality assurance review led to a blurred perception of the department’s workload.
Pilot programs’ guideline creation and suggestions
Overall, the audit suggested the creation of transparent principles to analyze, supervise and evaluate the influence of pilot programs. According to reports, taking these measures is crucial for IRCC due to the ongoing rise in demand.
Surprisingly, IRCC successfully accomplished more than its target for PR admissions in 2022. The new immigration plan persists in welcoming 500,000 new permanent residents by 2025. Out of these admissions, 14,750 will be admitted to Canada through the economic class pilot programs.
Additionally, the Atlantic Immigration Program and the SUV have a target of receiving around 14,500 and 6,000 immigrants. Initially, both programs were pilot programs but later shifted to permanent pathways.
