MAY 0 22015 I I and Citoyannel? 9t Immigration Canada Canada F-87 2048 Deputy Minister Sous-mlnistre SECRET MEMORANDUM TO THE MINISTER APRIL 2016 UPDATE: ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENT FOR INFORMATION SUMMARY . The Department continues to monitor the implementation of the requirement and will provide you with updates in the leachup to September 30, 2016, when the requirement will be enforced overseas through the Interactive Advance Passenger Information system being implemented by the Canada Border Services Agency. . Uptake: As of April 20, 2016, the Department has issued over 700,000 eTAs. The weekly volume of applications received is steadily increasing, and is currently at about 57,000. Total uptake is currently in the range of what was projected, but this will need to be regularly monitored and assessed. . Results of public policy: You approved a public policy to allow for a leniency period through to September 29, 2016. During this period, eTA?required travellers who arrive at ports of entry by air without an can enter Canada, provided they are not otherwise inadmissible. Since March 15, 2016, over 60% of eTA-required travellers arriving at Canadian airports had an To encourage future compliance with the requirement, Border Services Of?cers are distributing tear sheets to non-compliant eTA?required travellers to inform them that the requirement is now mandatory. The Department will continue to monitor rates of compliance with a View to progressively reducing the rate of non-compliance during the leniency period. . Communications, outreach and engagement: The advertising campaign ended on March 31, 2016, and resulted in just under a million visits to the website over the six weeks of the campaign. In total, there have been more than 4.2 million visits to web content from August 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. The Department is pursuing funding optiOns for additional advertising, including a request to the'Treasury Board Secretariat to re?pro?le funds from ?scal 15/16 to 16/17, and will continue to engage stakeholders and partners to promote awareness about the new requirement. Challenges . Canadian dual citizens and overseas passport application volumes: There was an increase of approximately 10% in Canadian passport applications processed abroad from January to March 2016 when compared to the ?rst three months of 201 5. It is unlikely that this increase is solely attributable to the roll?out of however, as missions continue to see an increased volume of enquiries relating to citizenship and passports, the Department is working with Global Affairs Canada to determine how best to address the increased workload. This includes an IRCC allocation of funds to help increase Global Affairs Canada passport processing capacity at missions through training and the assignment of temporary duty of?cers to reduce backlogs. Canada "Liv SEERE 1 Document requirements for Canadian citizens and permanent residents: Canadian citizens (including dual nationals) and permanent residents do not require and cannot obtain an To ensure they are aware of the need to travel using a Canadian passport or permanent resident card, the Department and missions abroad continue to post information about this on web and social media channels. The Department will also be sending a second round of emails to Canadian permanent residents to inform them that they must travel using documents. Permanent resident card processing efficiencies: In March 2016, the Department was asked to put forward short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to ensure the permanent resident cardmeets the needs of clients, partner departments, and industry partners. Because of operational changes that have been made since that time, the current processing time, as of April 15, 2016, for Phase 1 cards IS 51 days, which 13 within the 61 -day service standard. The current processing time for Phase 2 cards 13 92 days. Funds are being allocated to further reduce Phase 2 processing times to 70 days or less. Urgent requests for permanent resident cards are being processed in 10 days. system issues: The Department is actively working to address all technical issues raised during the March 15- September 2016 leniency period Such issues include the fact that the system cannot ?nalize applications when the client indicates that they are of a third-sex designation, that the application form continues to time out quickly for many clients, that some language on the application form IS net clear for sorne clients, and that the system is erroneously not issuing eTAs to some eligible clients Client Support: The Department continues to work with the Canada Border Services Agency to explore additional client support options, including possible call centre support. Next steps: The e'l?A project bene?ts from an extensive grivernance strucmre?, which has resulted most recently 1n a number of Associate Deputy Minister-level meetings between the Department and the Canada Border Services Agency, with a view to identifying and resolving and Interactive Advance Passenger Information system implementation issues. The next meeting is scheduled for May 3. We will continue to keep you apprised of the key implementation' lssues and how they are being addressed. Anita Biguzs A0651 545_2-000002