Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada systematically withholds access to certain personal information in its Global Case Management System

The OPC investigated a complaint against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) regarding its systematic practice of withholding access to certain personal information in its Global Case Management System (GCMS). IRCC's policy was to retrieve and process only a "Short Form" GCMS Report in response to access requests, even when individuals requested their entire file or specific content found in the "Long Form." The OPC found that the "History Section" of the GCMS file, which is part of the Long Form, contained the complainant's personal information and that IRCC's practice contravened Section 12 of the Privacy Act. While IRCC eventually provided the complainant with the requested Long Form, it did not agree to update its procedures to systematically retrieve and process the Long Form for all future requests. Consequently, the OPC found the complaint well-founded but not resolved, as IRCC had not committed to addressing the systemic issue.