Summary
This Operational Bulletin (OB) details the toles and responsibilities of the new Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). In particular, it specifies the manner in which officers will need to process overseas refugee applications. The details given in this Operational Bulletin (OB) apply to Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) and Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) cases as well.
Issue
The authorities are merging the functions of certain institutions into the new Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). This change will come into effect from April 01, 2017. The institutions that the authorities are merging into the new Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O) include:
- The Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W)
- The Centralised Processing Office in Vancouver (CPO-V) and,
- The Matching Centre in Ottawa
Background
Various organisational changes have taken place in the lead up to the creation of the new Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). In April 2012, the authorities had centralised the intake and in-Canada processing of the Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) sponsorship applications at the Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W). They took this step in order to improve:
- Inventory management
- Program integrity and,
- The quality control of the applications
Officers might need to refer to OB 405-B for additional details on these changes. In 2016, the authorities created the Centralised Processing Office in Vancouver (CPO-V) for providing temporary support to the Syrian refugee initiative.
In addition, the authorities created the Resettlement Operations Division (ROD) within the International Network in September 2016. The authorities did this as part of the modernisation initiative roll-out in the Operations sector that they had announced in June 2016. The authorities introduced these changes in an attempt to organise the sector in a better manner. At the same time, they hoped that these changes would bring higher levels of flexibility and efficiency in the manner in which the staff performed their work.
It is worth mentioning that the Resettlement Operations Division (ROD) oversees and coordinates refugee resettlement activities. This typically includes the following as well:
- The in-Canada sponsorship intake process
- The intake of referrals abroad and,
- The destining, the arrivals and coordination of various integration activities
With effect from April 01, 2017, the Resettlement Operations Division (ROD) will amalgamate the functions of the following institutions in the newly created Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O):
- The Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W)
- The Centralised Processing Office in Vancouver (CPO-V) and,
- The Matching Centre in Ottawa
This will not only ensure higher levels of flexibility in terms of program delivery. It will serve to better integrate the responsibilities of the new division as well.
The Roles and Responsibilities
Officers will process all Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) sponsorship applications at the newly created Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). This practice will come into effect from April 01, 2017. This effectively means that, as of April 01, 2017, applicants will need to send all new sponsorship applications:
- Via e-mail to INROCO-CORORI.IRCC@cic.gc.ca or,
- Via mail to:
- The Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa
- 365, Laurier Avenue West
- Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
It is worth mentioning that the following Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W), Matching Centre and pre-Notification of Arrival Transmission (NAT) mailboxes will also cease to exist as of April 01, 2017:
The staff at the Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W) will typically forward all Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) sponsorship applications received by e-mail or mail to the newly created Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). They will do this by March 31, 2017 to facilitate the processing of these applications. This procedure will continue to be in use for any applications that the Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W) receives until April 18, 2017.
After April 18, 2017, the staff will return all applications received at the Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W) to clients by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) local office in Winnipeg as undeliverable. Situations could arise where people re-submit these applications at the Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O). In this scenario, it is worth mentioning that the lock-in / received date will be the date the staff receive the application at the Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O), rather than at the Centralised Processing Office in Winnipeg (CPO-W).
With effect from April 01, 2017, the Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O) will be responsible for certain activities. These responsibilities typically include:
- Receiving and assessing all Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) sponsorship applications i.e. Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs), Groups of Five (G5) and Community Sponsors (CSs)
- Monitoring the limits of Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) caps under the global Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) cap in conjunction with the Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) Secretariat
- Creating Quebec destined cases in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for the missions to process
- Responding (with exceptions) to enquiries on case-specific follow-up requests for any files approved in Canada
- Processing the sponsorship applications for public policy programs
- Assessing and processing sponsorship withdrawals
- Processing forms to request adding dependents to active applications for resettlement to Canada
- Determining the final destinations for Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) cases – this includes issuing the Destination Matching Request (DMR)
- Issuing the pre-Notification of Arrival Transmission (NAT)
- Issuing the Notification of Arrival Transmission (NAT) for Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) and Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) cases
- Processing Visa Office-referred Refugee (VOR) and Blended Visa Office-referred Refugee (BVOR) sponsorship applications in addition to Joint Assistance Sponsorship (JAS) applications
- Managing the Blended Visa Office-referred Refugee (BVOR) and Joint Assistance Sponsorship (JAS) matching process with sponsors, local offices and the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP) and,
- Maintaining the Visa Office-referred Refugee (VOR), the Blended Visa Office-referred Refugee (BVOR) and the Joint Assistance Sponsorship (JAS) websites and coordinating matches with sponsors and the local Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offices
It is worth mentioning that the local Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offices will continue to be responsible for:
- Monitoring sponsors and sponsored refugees
- Providing assistance in finding sponsors for in-Canada Joint Assistance Sponsorship (JAS) cases
- Mediating between sponsors and clients in case there is a sponsorship breakdown or default
- Issuing Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage in accordance with existing local office procedures and in accordance with the procedures outlined in chapter IR 10, Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP)
- Issuing in-Canada immigration loans
- Managing post-arrival issues that are within the area of responsibility of the local Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offices
- Providing Notification of Arrival Transmission (NAT) information to Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs), Groups of Five (G5) and Community Sponsors (CSs)
- Initiating the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) income support for Visa Office-referred Refugee (VOR) and Blended Visa Office-referred Refugee (BVOR) cases – in accordance with the provisions specified in OB 512
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
