Corporate initiatives
Departmental highlights
See this infographic to find our service highlights for this past year and learn how we are improving our services.
Strategic outcomes
Our four strategic outcomes describe the long-term results that the Department’s programs are designed to achieve.
Immigration plan
Every year, the Government of Canada tables in Parliament a plan for the number of immigrants that will be admitted into Canada the following year. In setting this immigration plan, the government considers the country’s economic needs as well as our family reunification and humanitarian goals.
Biometrics
Biometrics is the measurement of unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints and facial features, for the purpose of verifying identity with a high level of certainty.
Beginning in 2013, certain foreign nationals seeking visas to enter Canada will be required to give their fingerprints and have their photograph taken as part of their application.
Three-year plan for transfer payment programs
The main objective of the three-year plan for transfer payment programs is to provide applicants, recipients, parliamentarians and other stakeholders with information essential to identifying planned departmental activities that might have an impact on specific programs of interest.
Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative
The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative aims to build on Canada’s private sponsorship model to promote and support the development of new community-based sponsorship programs in other countries.
Beyond the Border Action Plan
On February 4, 2011, the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the United States issued Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.
The Declaration established a new long-term partnership built upon a perimeter approach to security and economic competitiveness. This means working together, not just at the border, but beyond the border to enhance our security and accelerate the legitimate flow of people, goods and services.
Reducing citizenship processing times and backlogs
Recent changes to the Citizenship Act mean citizenship applications will take less time to process and the application backlog will be eliminated by 2015/16.