Is Computer Software at fault?
Since March 2018, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been using a tool called ‘Chinook’ to process applications. By 2020, the refusal rate was 53 per cent, even though there was a drop in application rates during the pandemic. It has recently come to light that the use of this software was not disclosed to applicants.
The use of this tool has become public during recent court proceedings, particularly in the Abigail Ocran case – a woman from Ghana who was refused a study permit. When she received her refusal letter, she noticed something odd in the response – two contradictory reasons and language that seemed inhuman. After Ocran decided to challenge her refusal in court, the government disclosed their use of the program. According to testimony in court, Chinook was created as a way around the “significant delays” IRCC officers face when using the federal department’s official secure web portal.
Unfortunately, Ocran is not alone. Many lawyers say that they have noticed an increase of similar cases – permits refused without a valid reason and mistakes a human would have caught if they had read the application thoroughly.
How does it work?
An applicant’s information is extracted into a spreadsheet with information such as name, age, the purpose of travel and previous travel history. Each spreadsheet is assigned to an officer and allows them to use “batch processes”. After an application is evaluated, the officer is offered a window to record the decision by clicking on the decision column. In case of denial, they can also choose to be given a note with a reason for denial.
Andie Daponte, IRCC’s director of international-network optimization and modernization, said Chinook collects immigration files and allows officers to “flag” what they consider high- or low-risk immigration applications. Because Chinook’s use is optional, he could not confirm how many IRCC officers were using it, or which version. According to The Logic, Daponte also said that the use of the tool increased the processing volume by as much as 35%. However, the question is – does a higher volume of processing applications mean reading fewer applicants’ files?
After further investigation, it seems that the officers that use the tool, do not save its reports. Instead, they copy-paste the reasons or risk indicators and flag words into the Global Case Management System- Immigration Canada’s internal processing system- and use the language the tool suggests to them.
As of now, the IRCC has not disclosed what criteria Chinook uses to suggest language for refusal letters and we are yet to find out if it’s more important to process the applications in time, or appropriately.
