Audit of the Immigration Program at the Canadian Mission in Port-au-Prince

1.0 Introduction

The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) risk-based audit plan for 2009-2012 provides for audits of missions abroad. The Immigration Program at the Canadian High Commission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti was selected for audit in consultation with the International Region (IR) at CIC National Headquarters (NHQ). The on-site fieldwork was conducted from November 9 to 13, 2009.

1.1 Background

1.1.1 Operations

CIC recruits, selects and processes applications from foreign nationals who want to come to Canada temporarily or permanently and who will stimulate economic growth and enrich and strengthen the social and cultural fabric of Canadian society. Responsibility for those tasks lies with the Operations Sector, which is divided into domestic and overseas operations. Overseas operations fall under the responsibility of the IR and its network of visa offices (or missions) abroad.

There are three categories of visa offices or missions abroad: regional program centres (RPCs), full-service centres (FSCs), and satellites and specialized offices. RPCs and full-service centres both deliver the full range of immigration services for the countries they serve, but RPCs also oversee satellite offices. Satellites and specialized program offices do not deliver the full range of immigration services.

The Port-au-Prince mission is an FSC. According to IR data, the mission has 20 FTEs as follows:

• 4 Canada-Based Officers (CBOs) including 1 Migration Integrity Officer (MIO)
• 3 Locally Engaged Program (LEP) Officers
• 13 locally engaged staff (LES)

Appendix A presents the mission’s organizational chart. 

As an FSC, Port-au-Prince processes the full range of immigration applications from residents of the Dominican Republic, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Martin.

Appendix B sets out a summary of the mission’s statistics for 2009, 2008 and 2007.

1.1.2 Environmental Context

Mission management identified the following challenges relating to the operating environment:

• Political instability – Haiti has a long history of political turmoil which continues today.
• Economic division – The country is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, and the poverty serves as a push factor for many Haitians to leave the country.
• High level of corruption – Haiti is recognized by international organizations as having a high level of corruption.
• Personal security – Personal security continues to be a concern locally, requiring tightened security for mission operations.
• High incidence of fraud – The Immigration Program has seen high levels of fraud, in particular involving false identity documents.
• Office constraints - As the office continues to process cases, office space is becoming scarcer.
• Natural disasters – Subsequent to our on-site visit but while we were drafting our audit, the country experienced an earthquake with catastrophic repercussions for the country and the Canadian mission.

1.1.3 Haitian Operations Subsequent to the Audit

On January 12, 2010, a major magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. The epicentre of the earthquake was near the town of Léogâne, 25 km west-southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The quake caused widespread catastrophic damage throughout the southern part of Haiti, particularly in Léogâne, Jacmel, Port-au-Prince, and their surrounding areas, and resulted in many severe injuries and lost lives.

Along with the severe damage to many homes, government buildings, schools, churches, banks, supermarkets, hotels as well as the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince sustained significant damage during the earthquake rendering many parts of the compound unusable. Embassy staff were required to work from other locations in the compound, creating challenges, particularly after significant numbers of Canadian evacuees were temporarily housed on the embassy grounds while they awaited repatriation. To this day, parts of the chancery remain off limits, reducing available workspace. Moreover, many departments, including CIC, have increased the number staff working at the Embassy since the earthquake. As a result, workspace continues to be far from optimal.

Since the earthquake, staff have been working tirelessly to meet the basic needs of colleagues and Canadians in need of evacuation as a result of the crisis.  Canada has implemented special immigration measures for those who self-identify as being directly and significantly affected by the earthquake, emphasizing family reunification and adoptions.  Mission staff are now working under considerable pressure to reunite Canadians with close family members in Haiti whom they have sponsored.

Due to these pressures and unusual working conditions, the Immigration Program is generally not in a position to promptly address any issues not related to the immediate processing of these cases, including the issues raised in this audit.  However, management has pointed out that some actions had already been taken prior to the natural disaster on January 12 to address some of the audit observations and that, as the mission returns to normal operations, it will endeavour to implement any outstanding recommendations resulting from the audit.

1.2 Audit Objectives

The audit objectives were to assess the adequacy of the mission’s:

• governance framework  for administering the Immigration Program;
• risk management processes and practices for supporting the program’s objectives; and
• internal control framework governing operational, administrative and financial activities.

1.3 Audit Risk Assessment

On the basis of reviews and analysis during the planning phase and applicable elements of the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Management Accountability Framework (MAF) and CIC’s Core Management Controls Framework, the following key risks were identified:

• Governance framework – There are risks that governance structures and processes may not be clearly defined, and results and performance not properly reported upon.
• Risk management processes and practices – There are risks that critical events that could impact on the delivery of the Immigration Program have not been identified and appropriately assessed and mitigated.
• Internal control framework – There are risks that due diligence is not being exercised in the operational and administrative controls used to deliver the Immigration Program.

1.4 Audit Criteria

The audit criteria were based on applicable Treasury Board and CIC legislation, policies and directives. See Appendix C for the detailed criteria.

1.5 Audit Scope

The audit covered operations at the Canadian mission in Port-au-Prince only. It covered all significant aspects of CIC operations at the mission, including the full range of immigrant and non-immigrant program activities and the associated financial and administrative components typically found in a full-service centre. The audit examined activities of the mission from July 1, 2008, to the end of the on-site examination period on November 13, 2009.

1.6 Audit Methodology

The audit covered three lines of enquiry:

• governance framework;
• risk management processes and practices; and
• internal control framework.

As part of our examination of the governance framework and risk-management processes and practices, we interviewed Immigration Program staff and other mission staff with links to immigration operations, reviewed documents, observed processes, documented controls, tested information, and reviewed samples of management files to test for compliance.

As part of our examination of the internal control framework, we examined controls over application processing, CAIPS, controlled documents, cost recovery, and travel and hospitality expenditures.

For our examination of application processing, we examined all decisions related to permanent resident determination travel documents, temporary resident and permanent resident cases and temporary resident permits finalized from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, to test compliance with decision-making authorities. We also interviewed Immigration Program staff and other mission staff with links to immigration operations, reviewed documentation, observed processes and documented controls. We also examined a judgmental sample of 5 permanent resident determination travel documents, 20 temporary resident cases and 20 permanent resident cases that were finalized from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, to assess compliance with legislation and regulations, and with the policy requirements of each case. We determined the sample size based on processing volumes at the mission. Individual sample cases were selected randomly and were reviewed in order to validate findings from the interviews, reviews of documents and observations of procedures.

In examining other internal controls, we interviewed Immigration Program staff and other mission staff with links to immigration operations, reviewed documentation, observed processes, and documented controls. Specifically, we examined CAIPS user profiles, tested CAIPS inventory controls, tested a sample of transactions involving the office's inventory of controlled documents, examined cost-recovery revenue controls, and reviewed a sample of travel and hospitality claims to assess the effectiveness of the controls in place.

As part of this process, we also discussed our preliminary observations with the Head of Mission while we were on site.

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