Canada is seeking a more user-friendly platform to access Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) services by investing $85.4 million.
“Procuring this new client platform is an important step in our efforts to build a stronger immigration system for Canada for years to come,” said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
“It will be key to providing clients with a simpler, more consistent, intuitive and transparent experience as they embark on one of the most significant changes in their lives.”
The investment by the federal government consists of two contracts, one for $10.5 million to Salesforce Canada Corp., and another $74.9 million contract to Accenture Inc., a systems integrator.
The work on the new platform is expected to start later this summer with an initial rollout to the first group of participants this autumn.
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“Our government is procuring what is needed to continually improve how we deliver programs and services,” said Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek.
“Completion of this competitive procurement process for the client experience platform marks an important step towards better meeting the needs of Canadians and clients of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.”
Under the terms of the two deals, Salesforce, a software-as-a-service publisher, will provide the core technology, licensing, support and maintenance for the platform in a five-year contract with an option for the deal to be renewed for as much as 15 more years.
Accenture is to provide services as needed to support configurations, customizations and implementation of the new platform over two years with an option to extend the contract for an additional five years.
Ottawa Looking To Also Invest In A Case Management Platform Next Year
Canada’s First Nations are expected to benefit from Accenture’s commitment to set aside 15.1 per cent of the contract’s annual value for indigenous participation.
In addition to the costs which may arise if the options to extend the contracts are exercised, the federal government is also looking to invest more money into the IRCC’s online processing capabilities with a separate procurement process for a case management platform to complement the client experience platform and manage application processing.
That contract is expected to be handed out next spring.
In a statement, Public Services attributed the need for this new client experience platform and its accompanying case management platform to the much-higher levels of immigration to Canada
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“Canada continues to receive unprecedented interest from people around the world who want to come here to work, study and build lives with their families,” the government noted in that statement.
“To improve that experience, the government of Canada is modernizing its immigration platform to help ensure Canada remains a destination of choice.”
In its 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan, Ottawa has set its immigration target for 2023 at 465,000 new permanent residents. The country is also to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024 and another 500,000 in 2025.
That’s a total of 1.45 million immigrants to Canada over the coming three years.