Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 04

30 / Canadian Government Executive // July/August 2018 POLICY BY GRANT DUCKWORTH C anada’s international reputation for welcoming and integrating newcomers is unparalleled. At a time when much of the world seems intent on pulling itself apart over disputes around immigration and placing formidable barriers in the path of newcomers, Canada is raising its immi- gration levels. In November 2017, Ahmed D. Hussen, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the replacement of annual processing targets with a three-year roll- out plan designed to attract one million immigrants by 2020. Canada’s revised immigration target is moderately higher than the current intake, but modest in comparison to the annual target of 450,000 newcomers recommend- ed by the government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. Moreover, the cur- rent debate about target levels serves as a distraction from the greater challenge fac- ing IRCC officials – ensuring that policy de- velopment is both efficient and effective. Canada achieves very little in the long-run if the “cost” of reaching a 450,000 milestone is a disproportionate rise in immigration application fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking. IMMIGRATION 2.0: WHAT ROLE WILL CITIES PLAY? Optimizing the immigration advantage In a competitive global environment characterized by uncertainty and unpre- dictability, the economic imperative to direct the flow of knowledge, networked relationships, and entrepreneurship to Canada remains intense. Optimizing the long-term dividends of the global migration phenomenon de- mands a holistic understanding of sys- temic forces that drive large-scale cross- border movements, the structural barriers that foreign governments erect to limit or displace human mobility, and more effec- tive engagement and knowledge sharing with networked migrant communities. The international pressure to dismantle structural barriers to cross-border move- ments is particularly acute among devel- oped countries challenged by an aging demographic. The international respect that Canada has traditionally enjoyed as a preferred migration destination stems largely from its effective management of demand and supply-side drivers. Geography has also worked to Canada’s “immigration advan- tage.” But the world is rapidly changing, and Canada’s migration management re- gime will have to learn how to adapt ac- cordingly. Meeting these challenges will require agility, risk-taking, foresight and the capacity to scale-up those capabilities in the near-term. In many ways, the hard work is just be- ginning. Immigration 2.0 Large-scale mobility networks connect more ideas, people, and places than at any time in history. According to the United Nations International Migration Report 2017, 258 million people (3.4 per cent of the total population) reside outside their country of birth. This figure represents an increase of 49 per cent since 2000. 1 Meanwhile, international tourist arrivals reached 1.32 billion in 2017, a 7 per cent rise over the previous year. 2 This year, Canada and the Netherlands will partner with the World Economic Forum (WEF) on a scalable trusted-traveler pilot pro- gram based on a smartphone app and a biometrically-protected profile that pas- sengers show at border-crossings. 3 These facilitative technologies will help ease the friction of global travel, projected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. As the primary point of contact for mil- lions of foreign travelers, skilled workers, international students, permanent immi- grants, refugee applicants, and Canadian passport holders (since July 2013), IRCC is strategically placed to leverage public- facing information and communication platforms. Data analytics and visualiza- tion software will soon be indispensable because of the way in which they enable government analysts to see the dynamic interplay of seemingly unrelated risk fac- tors, and managers to better understand the impact of their decisions. With more sophisticated business intel- ligence solutions available at lower costs, Canada should be able to facilitate the travel of low-risk persons from high-risk countries with a less cumbersome visa ap- plication process. In theory, IRCC should be able to build a full-service delivery in- frastructure which allows newcomers to collect their immigration, identity, health, education, and employment records upon arrival at a Canadian port of entry. The digital transformation of the work- place and the structural configuration of the federal bureaucracy is no longer a futuristic fantasy. The proliferation of en- crypted communications on mobile plat- forms provides the opportunity to pivot away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a “mass customization” business model.