In the report tabled before the Parliament by the Information Commissioner of Canada on May 26, 2021, it was observed:
“MyAccount portal provides little information on the status of the processing of an application, and correspondence outlining the results of an immigration application provides minimal information on the basis of the decision made by IRCC.”
Access at Issue: Challenging the Status Quo; Special Report to Parliament, pg. 8
Prospective immigrants therefore resort to filing access to information requests to obtain the information (GCMS notes) about their application.
The number of pages in the GCMS notes range between 20-300 or more. IRCC officials responsible for the access to information and privacy (ATIP) program have to review all these pages for possible exemptions before they can be released. This is the most labor intensive work of the ATIP process. To address this issue, IRCC was recommended to consider “pre-ATIPing immigration application files as they are created,” providing a more abridged version of the GCMS notes, which would only contain the most relevant information, listing the processing details and the current status of an application. CBSA shared the format of the abridged version in May end with the frequent requestors, and started releasing it in response to the ATIP requests in early June, 2021.
UPDATE: IRCC has started releasing the new format of the GCMS notes from June 18, 2021.
Does the new format contain all the relevant information?
The new format of the GCMS notes has all the relevant information that a prospective immigrant is looking for. The new format is structured as follows:
The new abridged format removes the guess work and all the unnecessary pages, and provides the relevant information within 5-15 pages, which most applicants are looking for. The only draw back is that the new format does not include all the calculations, correspondences sent to and from IRCC, outgoing and incoming requests, and the details about the application processing history. However, most applicant would not need this anyway, and for those who need it, can request the older format.
How does the new format of GCMS notes look like?
Can the older format of the GCMS notes be requested?
Yes, the older format of the GCMS notes can still be request, however when placing the request for the GCMS notes it will have to be specifically requested. CBSA has started releasing the new format in early June, and IRCC started releasing the new format on June 18, 2021.
TRACKING THE APPLICATION – GCMS notes accurately inform as to which stage the application is at or why your application was refused. To accurate track your application through order your GCMS / CBSA / CSIS notes online.
DISCLAIMER: Our website contains general legal information. The legal information is not advice and should not be treated as such. The legal information on our website is provided without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Further, we do not warrant or represent that the legal information on this website: will be constantly available, or available at all; or is true, accurate, complete, current or non-misleading. No lawyer-client, solicitor-client or attorney-client relationship shall be created through the use of our website.
