IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Author: Al Parsai, LL.M, RCIC-IRB

Last Updated On: July 25, 2022

IRCC stands for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. You may know this organization as CIC or rather Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The government of Canada changed the name to IRCC in 2015. It is good to know that IRCC is responsible for the following activities.

Setting policies and procedures for immigration to Canada
Reviewing immigration applications and making decisions on them
Issuing permanent resident visas and cards
Setting policies and procedures for temporary residency (e.g. TRV, TRP, Study Permit, Work Permit)
Reviewing temporary residency applications and making decisions on them
Dealing with refugee applications inside and outside Canada
Reviewing citizenship applications and granting citizenship
Issuing passports and other travel documents (e.g. travel documents for refugees)

Organizations Close to IRCC

CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) – This organization is the policing force for immigration. It also provides lawyers for IRCC when someone files a lawsuit (Judicial Review) against the Minister.
IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada) – This organization is an administrative tribunal (similar to a court). It makes decisions on matters such as inadmissibility to Canada or refugee applications in Canada.
CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) – CSIS is the Canadian spying agency. They help with the security screening of immigration and visa applicants.
Many other organizations such as RCMP (the federal police of Canada) or Global Affairs Canada (the department of foreign affairs)

The IRCC Website

The old IRCC website was www.cic.gc.ca. You may still have some pages of the IRCC on the old website. The new website is part of canada.ca. The following links lead you to the IRCC website.

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Al Parsai, LL.M, RCIC-IRB

Al Parsai is a distinguished Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (L3 RCIC-IRB – Unrestricted Practice) hailing from vibrant Toronto, Canada. Al's academic achievements include an esteemed role as an adjunct professor at prestigious Queen's University Law School and Ashton College, as well as a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from York University (Osgood Hall Law School). A respected member of CICC, Al's insights are further enriched by his experience as the dynamic CEO of Parsai Immigration Services. Guiding thousands of applicants from over 55 countries through the immigration process since 2011, Al's articles offer a wealth of invaluable knowledge for readers.