Auditor General’s Report – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) Governor in Council Appointment Process

The Governor in Council (GIC) appointment process was the subject of Chapter 2 of the Auditor General’s Status Report, tabled in the House of Commons on March 31, 2009.

The report, which follows up on earlier audits undertaken in 1997 and 2001, examines the GIC appointment process at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) and elsewhere in government.

The audit indicates that the shortfall in the IRB member complement has had a significant impact on the Board’s capacity to hear and decide cases, and has contributed to the growth of an exceptionally large pending inventory.

The report also notes that the IRB consistently followed established procedures to assess GIC candidates, and the Chairperson recommended qualified candidates to the Minister on a regular basis in his capacity as Chair of the Selection Advisory Board.  In addition, the audit highlights the importance placed by the IRB on the assessment of member performance, referring in particular to the Board’s performance evaluation process for sitting members.

This evaluation process provides the basis for reappointment recommendations to the Minister, and in all cases examined by the Auditor General the IRB was found to have completed evaluations and made recommendations at least six months prior to the end of the member’s mandate. Despite this, the audit found that a large number of members whose mandate was not renewed following a positive recommendation were only informed after their term had expired.

Among the recommendations made by the Auditor General, the report calls on the government and the IRB to work together to determine an appropriate complement of members or other strategy to deal with the inventory of unresolved refugee claims and immigration appeals. In this regard, the IRB has been developing a proposal for additional resources to address both the pending inventory and the sustained increase in intake.

The IRB supports the report’s findings and recommendations in relation to its operations, and looks forward to working with the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to develop strategies to address the growing inventory.

In this regard, I am very pleased with the appointments and reappointments announced by the government in recent months. The Board currently stands at close to 90 percent of its full GIC member complement

To view the full report, please visit the Web site of the Office of the Auditor General.

Brian Goodman
Chairperson