Canada’s immigration department has published its first-ever AI strategy

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has published its first-ever AI strategy.

The strategy sets out guiding principles and objectives, identifies opportunities, and provides a framework for categorizing AI use cases.

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According to the published strategy, IRCC aims to implement AI in ways that are

• Human-centered and accountable;
• Transparent and explainable;
• Fair and equitable;
• Secure and privacy-processing; and
• Valid and reliable.

Potential outcomes identified by the department include reducing processing times for applications and improving anti-fraud measures—for example, using computer vision for real-time fraud detection.

The strategy also sets out IRCC's framework for categorizing AI use cases, the classifications “everyday,” “program,” and “experimental.”

“Everyday” use of AI refers to "administrative tasks not part of the decision-making process," such as summarizing documents, triaging applications, and responding to client inquiries.

“Program” means using AI "to inform program operations," including tasks such as data analysis, as well providing decision makers with assessments and recommended options, for example, "flagging straightforward, low‑risk files for expedited officer decision."

IRCC claims that refusals will always continue to be based on the judgment of human officers, as “tools do not refuse or recommend refusing any applications”.

“Experimentation” use cases include sophisticated analytics to inform program decision-making, such as “modelling immigration flows and forecasting impacts on Canada’s economy."

IRCC emphasizes that experimental use cases do not include “looking to adopt fully autonomous AI.” “AI systems never run autonomously. They are supervised to ensure they’re running as expected and comply with the relevant frameworks, guidelines, and laws,” according to the strategy.

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