As this story shows, most federal access-to-information requests go to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. In fact, a full 80 per cent of all access requests received by the federal government are destined for that department.
IRCC communicates with prospective immigrants infrequently at best, and its refusal letters don’t go into much detail about why an application was rejected. In response, immigration applicants, their lawyers and consultants have all learned – or, rather, been unintentionally incentivized by the government – to file access requests for their immigration files when something goes wrong, an application seems to have stalled out or when they simply need an update.
In fact, these filings have so overwhelmed the department that they now account for 99 per cent of all requests received by IRCC.
Many immigration applicants seeking answers in their case files (or, to use the insider term, “GCMS notes,” short for IRCC’s internal software, the Global Case Management System) aren’t eligible to file federal access-to-information requests, however. Only citizens, permanent residents and other individuals or corporations currently in Canada are eligible to file federal access requests. Instead, these applicants often turn to lawyers, consultants or websites that can file the request on their behalf. All of these charge fees for access request services.
But there is another, cheaper way.
Since 2022, anyone in the world, including people with no affiliation with Canada, can file a request under the Privacy Act. Unlike access requests, privacy requests are free, though you’ll have to provide a copy of government-issued identification, such as a passport.
Follow the steps below to file your own request for GCMS notes. You will need your immigration file number, your unique client identifier and a scan or photo of valid government-issued identification.
Step 1: First, visit IRCC’s online requests portal.
Step 2: Click through until you arrive at a page with several fields you need to fill in. Select “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada” from the dropdown menu. Enter your contact information, then click “Continue.”
Step 3: On the next page, select “Privacy Act.” For language, select “As is,” and for types of records, select “Immigration/Citizenship Records.” Fill in most of the requested information, except for the final, larger text box.
Step 4: Under “What type of record would you like to request?,” select the type of document or application you’re seeking files on. Most types of records requests, including those for temporary residence or permanent residence files, will show you an additional dropdown. If that’s the case, select “Status Update of File.” Once that’s done, you may be asked for your immigration file number – if so, type that in, too.
Step 5: Fill out the letter generator to create your own request letter, then copy the text and paste it into the box. (Since you’re filing this request online, you can leave the FOI officer address field blank.) Click “Continue.”
Step 6: On the next page, upload a photo or scan of your government-issued identification (such as your passport). Click “Continue.”
Step 7: Review your information one last time, check the box certifying the information is correct, then hit “Continue.”
That’s it! Your request is complete.