Review of the Immigration Control
Officer Network – Final Report

2.0 Immigration Control Officer Network

Before being designated as ICOs, the people in these positions were known as control and enforcement liaison officers (CELOs). The main aspects of a CELO’s work were as follows.

a) Acting as a liaison with host country authorities and travel companies on the following:
i. individual cases;
ii. fraudulent document issues;
iii. facilitators of illegal movements; and
iv. smugglers of human cargoes.

b) Acting as a liaison with diplomatic or consular representatives of other countries with a view to exchanging information on all aspects of immigration control and enforcement and on multilateral initiatives in this area.

c) Acting as a resource person for travel companies on the following:
i. documentation;
ii. information on Canadian regulations; and
iii. training of travel company personnel.

d) Gathering intelligence on document fraud, illegal migrant movements and trends, facilitators of illegal migrants, interceptions of illegal migrants, host country immigration control and travel document regulations, by using contacts established with travel companies and home country authorities.

e) Acting as an expert resource person on aspects of control and enforcement for area posts in the following manner.
i. Make regular area visits: During such visits, discuss with program managers, or heads of post, immigration control and enforcement-related developments; act as a liaison with area country authorities and travel companies; perform travel company training as required; and gather intelligence.
ii. Make emergency area visits, in the case of area emergencies, such as boat issues.

f) Monitoring multilateral initiatives (such as conferences and seminars) on immigration control and enforcement-related topics; as required, acting as Canada’s representative at multilateral meetings, in concert with CIC experts.

g) Acting as a liaison with other Canadian representatives (such as members of the RCMP) in countries of accreditation.

h) Reporting on all developments of interest in the following ways:
i. in regular quarterly reports;
ii. in special reports on any developments of interest; and
iii. in reports on all area visits.

As mentioned earlier, the ICO Network was established in 1989, following a Treasury Board submission, to obtain additional resources to address the increasing role of immigration control, enforcement liaison and intelligence functions at missions in all parts of the world. These resources were to help Canada deal with the following issues:

• an influx of illegal migrants and bogus refugee claimants into Canada, who often arrived without documentation or with fraudulent documents;
• the growth, under intense demographic pressures, of economically and socially disadvantaged Third World populations around the globe seeking places of residence in developed countries, including Canada;
• security problems accompanying the influx of illegal migrants and bogus refugee claimants into Canada; and
• the challenge of illegal migration, both as a foreign policy and as a domestic policy issue.

The ICO Network’s tasks are as follows:

• reduce the flow of illegal migrants and bogus refugee claimants into Canada;
• monitor and curtail activities of smugglers of illegal migrants and bogus refugee claimants into Canada;
• increase Canada’s capacity to interdict the movement of migrants who are security or criminal threats;
• supply reliable, up-to-date intelligence on illegal migrant movements around the globe, especially those movements that directly affect Canada;
• report on immigration control and enforcement-related initiatives abroad; and
• inform senior officials and ministers on important developments and trends.

Other tasks include promoting and enhancing international cooperation to combat illegal immigration; providing advice and assistance to airlines and local authorities; and gathering information for analysis and planning by immigration intelligence. In addition, ICOs act directly to effect interceptions of improperly documented travellers and to monitor organized smuggling networks.

The following lists the locations of the 38 ICOs and nine de facto ICOs:

Specific program funding has been received for ICO positions. However, historically, no specific funding has been received for ICO assistants, equipment and general support costs (such as accommodation). It is estimated that each ICO costs between $300,000 and $350,000 (depending on the location); salaries account for only a small share of the total.

Recently, Treasury Board approved additional funding for CIC to strengthen interdiction and intelligence.

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