Review of the Immigration Control
Officer Network – Final Report
3.8 Support to Airlines
ICOs provide varied support to airlines, including responses to telephone inquiries, for which ICOs are continually on call. Often, these requests are made when passengers are boarding and airline employees have questions concerning the appropriateness of the travel documentation or need guidance on how to deal with a particular situation. Therefore, there is a need for immediate response. In most, if not all, locations, this requires the ICO to be on call before, during and after the boarding of flights of interest. As well as technical questions, the ICOs also receive questions requiring access to the Field Operations Support System (FOSS). In some cases, ICOs have been required to go immediately to the airport to address the situation.
A number of issues arise as a result of this service. First, the airlines expect an ICO to be available to answer questions about inadmissible passengers during the airlines’ hours of operation (that is, at flight times). Therefore, the ICO must be available for long periods of time, many of which are beyond the ICO’s office hours. The situation varies significantly by location. This demand on ICOs is very difficult from a personal standpoint, as they face constant disruption of their personal time.
Second, (section removed).
Recent changes to the FSO agreement raise questions as to how expensive a potential “stand by” might be. Discussions are currently under way to define key terms in the agreement. Depending on the outcome of these discussions, the provision of this service may lead to significant increases in the cost of the overall ICO Network.
Consideration should be given to providing a 24-hour service centre with a toll-free number staffed by qualified personnel. This centre would allow for better service to the airlines. The concept is similar to that of the Immigration Warrant Response Centre.
The concept could be enhanced if consideration was given to forming this call service centre in partnership with other countries (such as (section removed)). Doing so could reduce the individual costs while maintaining a high service level to the airlines. Such an approach also reflects the fact that many calls made to the ICOs concern documentation from other countries, rather than Canadian travel documentation. The call centre would have a greater capacity to provide information to clients. This option needs to be assessed not only from a cost-benefit perspective but also from a local user perspective. For example, airline employees in some countries may be reluctant to use such a system. As indicated in some of our interviews, airline employees often prefer to call someone they know who is familiar with the airport and surrounding circumstances.
Recommendation 11
The Enforcement Branch should consider the use of a call centre approach to provide support to the airlines. This study should involve the airlines, ICOs and IR, and could consist of partnerships with other countries.
Management Response
Management agrees that an international call centre would be an ideal solution, but it would be difficult and expensive to implement. Management agrees that new, pragmatic strategies need to be developed to counter the expectation that ICOs will be on call around the clock.
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