Review of the Handling of Public
Money Project — Final Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Handling of Public Money (HPM) project was implemented as a new way of collecting and controlling fees for processing citizenship and immigration applications at case processing centres (CPCs) in Mississauga, Sydney and Vegreville. It was introduced at CPC Mississauga in October 1997, followed by CPC Vegreville in April 1998 and CPC Sydney in June 1998. The goal of the HPM project was to develop and implement an automated system integrated with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) systems to facilitate the collection and control of fees through the use of outside partners, thereby creating a common repository for all citizenship and immigration revenues.

A review examined how the HPM project is working. This report recommends ways to improve the project’s effectiveness, based on the review’s findings. The scope of the review included an assessment of HPM-related activities at the three CPCs in Sydney, Mississauga and Vegreville, as well as Headquarters (HQ) responsibilities in this area. Also, the review followed up the recommendations of the 1998 review report of the HPM pilot project at CPC Mississauga.

Overall benefits of the HPM project identified in the review include the following:

  • funds management and application processing are more efficient;
  • payment processing is effective;
  • management information is provided to the CPCs so that they can post and track cost recovery transactions;
  • HQ gets access to financial management information quickly;
  • a common repository for all CPC public money revenues is created;
  • the security of employees working at the processing centres is increased, because application fees are no longer accepted at the centres;
  • HQ is satisfied with the service provided by the National Bank of Canada (NBC); and
  • pilot implementation problems have been dealt with and continuous information technology modifications are occurring to improve the system.

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While the report discusses areas for improvement, these suggestions should be viewed in the context of a project that has undergone many positive improvements since its inception. However, a number of issues need to be addressed before the project can achieve all the objectives envisioned at its inception. Therefore, based on the information collected and analysed, the recommendations are in support of these continuous improvements to HPM.

The findings and recommendations of the review are structured into six topics in the report. For a detailed description of the findings and recommendations, please see section 4.0.

Here are the recommendations of the review.

Efficiency of Payment Processing

Recommendation 1

It is recommended that the Departmental Delivery Network (DDN), in consultation with the CPCs and the Finance and Administration Branch (F&A), (a) clearly outline the policy indicating when an application should be treated as out of status; and (b) develop procedures to be disseminated to CPC Vegreville.

Recommendation 2

It is recommended that, in order to eliminate any misinformation about HPM among CPC staff, DDN (in consultation with the CPCs) and F&A prepare a handbook outlining the process and procedures relating to HPM (such as HPM rationale, flow of HPM receipt information and its impact on the CPCs, acceptable payment procedures and ways to deal with exceptions to HPM).

Effectiveness of Payment Processing

Recommendation 3

It is recommended that a communication strategy be developed and implemented outlining the procedures HQ should follow to contact CPC staff quickly regarding system problems and possible processing delays.

Recommendation 4

It is recommended that F&A and DDN (in consultation with the CPCs) discuss with the Information Management and Technologies Branch (IMTB) system oriented modifications to the CPC system and the Citizenship Registration System (CRS), to simplify the process of sending a refund to the correct address and payer and to upgrade CRS to capture who paid the fees (since this feature exists in the CPC system). To ensure consistency, when a change is proposed—for example, with regard to how a receipt is handled—it is recommended that both CPC and CRS system teams work together to ensure the same process and therefore the same service is available to the clientele.

Workability of the System

Recommendation 5

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Recommendation 6

It is recommended that HQ prepare a memo reminding local CIC offices and visa offices abroad of the Department’s policy and procedures regarding the processing of HPM receipts and applications.

Recommendation 7

It is recommended that the Department implement the use of the Internet to (a) download an HPM receipt and (b) permit HPM payments.

National Bank of Canada and Other Financial Institutions

Recommendation 8

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Recommendation 9

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Federal Institutions Using a Similar Payment Process (Department of Fisheries and Oceans)

Recommendation 10

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Pilot Follow-Up

Recommendation 11

It is recommended that, in order to ensure that a client’s name and address are written on the back of the HPM receipt, instructions be printed in a larger font in the application kit and printed on the front of the HPM receipt.

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