Audit of Operational Controls at
Ports of Entry (Based on the
1996 Tassé Report) – Final Report
2.3 Handling of Public Monies (Cost Recovery)
2.3.1 Background
Cost recovery for immigration processing has existed since 1986. The overall policy for cost recovery is found in the “Cost Recovery” Section of chapter 5 of the Reference Manual. The Financial Policy Manual also discusses the applicable aspects of finance (such as cashiers’ shortages and overages, and refund of revenue). This manual is on the CIC intranet (CIC Explore).
Since 1986, immigration employees have been using various types of equipment and systems to record the collection of monies from the public. Currently, SAP/POS—a “bolt-on” module—is being used in Canada to provide the necessary interface with SAP. Before 1999, the cash collection system (then called POS) was a stand-alone system, and all information had to be re-entered into the financial system.
Across the country, immigration employees have been trained to operate SAP/POS, and finance employees have been trained to operate SAP. Even though all employees have received training, the system is not problem free. At some ports of entry, finance employees are spending a large part of their time on cost recovery, beyond what their job descriptions would indicate. Occasionally, SAP is offline while undergoing maintenance, so employees at ports of entry have to issue manual official receipts, and then input these receipts into SAP/POS. We also noted that, on occasion, the system is “slow” in printing out SAP/POS receipts for clients, so employees have to issue a manual official receipt. Additionally, since immigration officers may perform cost recovery transactions infrequently, errors occur.
Appendix B provides cost recovery revenues per site visited.
- Date Modified:
