Neil Yeates, the former Deputy Minister of Canada Immigration, released a report underlining several inefficiencies inside the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department. In the report, Yeates disclosed several issues, and IRCC’s decision-making board structure was among the notable ones. He cites that the department’s structure is one of the challenges encountered when running the department efficiently. 

According to Yeates, the IRCC panel often has more than the necessary 8-12 members. This makes it challenging to have strategic discussions and may make meetings time-consuming. 

Furthermore, he described various steps that the department must take to enhance its functioning. These include:

• Realigning the organizational structure necessitates a significant shift to a business line-based model.
• Reforming the governance system; and
• Enforcing a more robust management system, particularly emphasizing planning and reporting methods.

According to Yeates, adjusting the committee structure and decision-making process could aid IRCC in enhancing its efficiency. Also, this will enable it to satisfy the increasing demands of its services.

Present Structure of IRCC’s Decision-Making Board As of June 2023

The Yeates’ Report illustrates the IRCC’s decision-making board structure as of June this year. It’s broadly categorized into the following three sections discussed below:

• Operational Governance committees
• Corporate Governance committees
• Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister Associate committees

Operational Governance Committees

IRCC’s Operational Governance Committees manage the decisions that influence the everyday operations of the department. 

Four independent panels work under this section, i.e., The Digital Transformation Program Board, The Issues Management Committee, the Corporate Committee, and the Finance Committee. Each Committee has its own schedule or pattern of meetings. 

The Digital Transformation Program Board gathers every six weeks to talk about IRCC’s progress on digital transformation and other transformation efforts. The Committee reports to the Transformation Committee, which is a part of IRCC’s Corporate Governance section.

The Issues Management Committee gathers for a discussion on a bi-weekly basis. It works at the senior management level and makes decisions around problems concerning the policy, program, and operational objectives.

The Corporate and Finance committee also assembles on a bi-weekly basis. They discuss financial and management excellence as well as accountability. It offers risk-based strategic advice, allowing the department to make effective decisions. Both committees provide reports to the Executive Committee at the corporate governance level.

Additionally, there is a “look ahead” Committee that meets on a weekly basis. It functions as a platform for the sharing of information within the department. 

Corporate Governance committees

IRCC’s Corporate Governance Committee includes three committees: The Transformation Committee, The Executive Committee, and The Minister-Deputy Minister Committee.

The Transformation Committee is responsible for providing department-wide leadership. It assists IRCC in achieving its transformation vision, goals, and results. The Digital Transformation Program Board contributes to it in part.

The Executive Committee is responsible for making decisions concerning department-wide issues. It meets on a weekly basis and is also accountable for determining priorities and supplying high-level strategic direction.

Moreover, this Committee also functions as a pre-brief committee for ministerial briefings whenever necessary.

The Minister-Deputy Minister Committee is the third Committee at this Corporate Governance level. It offers urgent updates in accordance with the IRCC’s mandate commitments. Additionally, it functions as a decision-making platform for critical issues and trending subjects.

Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister Associate committees

The third section of IRCC’s Decision-Making Board is the Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister Associate committees. In this section, there are four individual committees that function to enhance IRCC’s efficiency.

These are the Departmental Audit Committee, the Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee, the National Security Committee, and the Legal Issues Management Committee. 

The Departmental Audit Committee is responsible for providing suggestions and objective advice on IRCC’s departmental results framework, program inventory, and risk management. This includes methods for accountability and departmental auditing.

The second Committee under this is the Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee. It assesses and estimates the IRCC program’s performance, aiming to improve the results of the program.

The National Security Committee strives to solidify the department’s understanding of security issues that may affect IRCC. Also, It helps determine the priorities concerning matters of national security. 

The fourth Committee under this section is the Legal Issues Management Committee. It collaborates with the Deputy Minister and IRCC’s Associate Deputy Minister to handle legal matters and the costs associated with them. This concerns the issues that may arise as a result of policies, processes, operations, and current litigation.

What are the suggestions highlighted in Yeates Report concerning IRCC’s Decision-Making Board?

In his report, Yeates cited that the structure of IRCC’s Committee is hindering the decision-making efficiency of the department. This is because many committees and departments are dependent on each other. 

He suggests that restructuring IRCC’s committees can be helpful. For instance, he suggests the Executive Committee may take responsibility for finance and corporate services, and the Issues Management Committee must be dissolved. He further recommends the establishment of a new Committee for operations. The Deputy Minister’s Office should head the new Operations Committee. 

Additionally, Yeates recommends that the number of committee members should be strictly limited to 12.