IRCC refusals are becoming more transparent

by Michael Scott

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are moving towards providing more transparency to their refusal decisions. The major change being introduced is to provide “officer decision notes” in the refusal letter. How many have wondered what things were actually factored into refusals, which often appear with a bare refusal that the submission has failed to persuade the refusing officer. Effective 29 July 2025 the department has moved towards transparency by including the rationale applied in the case. Currently, the refusal notes were only available for temporary resident applications.

The application refusals are currently available for applications, including extensions, for Temporary Resident Visas (TRV) including Electronic Travel Authorizations (eTAs), and Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs). The refusal decisions are also included with visitor records, study permits, and work permit. IRCC is working towards extending this practice to more applications over time. The question is: will users ask to access the additional information available from IRCC?

The intention of IRCC is to add the officer decision notes to the refusal letters themselves. Applicants will no longer be responsible for requesting officer notes through the freedom of information mechanism or through Global Case Management System (GCMS) notes from the department.

At this time, GCMS notes are available via an Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request. The GCMS notes are the most detailed information on IRCC’s decision making process available to applicants. The GCMS are official records kept by IRCC about an immigration application providing information about how the department collected information on clients and contains officer observations, focusing on the potential issues with your submission. IRCC and the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) are generally required to respond to a request within 30 days but can request additional time based on the complexity of the case.

The ATIP request for the GCMS notes can be made by Canadian citizens, or permanent residents or persons who are living inside Canada. Applicants who reside outside the country can authorize a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and provide them with a signed consent form. It is important for potential users to understand that they cannot request case notes until an application submission has officially been received with the issuance of an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) letter. At this time many look forward to reading the new refusal letters, which should include more information with the GCMS notes about the officer’s reason for refusing the submission. But in the absence of this step, we still have the ATIP. The only question we need to ask is how complete the feedback is.

Michael Scott is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC, R525678) who has 30 years of experience with Immigration Canada and the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. He currently works as a licensed consultant with Immigration Connexion International Ltd. Contact him at 204-691-1166 or 204-227-0292. E-mail: mscott.ici@gmail.com.