Operations during COVID

​Key m​essages

• The Immigration and Refugee Board has responded well during this pandemic, appropriately balancing the health needs of staff and those who appear before the Board while at the same time providing access to justice.
• Although most in-person hearings were suspended in March because of the pandemic, the Immigration Division continued to hold detention reviews and some admissibility hearings where individuals were detained. 
• At the onset of the pandemic, the IRB adopted a business resumption strategy which included a range of initiatives to further enable remote operations, including remote hearings while returning employees to the workplace to resume in-person hearings, in line with public health guidance from federal, provincial and local authorities.
• Health and safety measures were put in place. The IRB sought an assessment from the Public Heath Agency of Canada, who assured us that our health and safety protocols offer robust measures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission on IRB premises.
• The Board began piloting remote hearings in June and began resuming in-person hearings across all Tribunals in July, once health and safety measures could be fully implemented.
• Following successful pilots this summer, the Board shifted its approach to conducting hearings such that remote hearings are now the default operating model for the duration of the pandemic, while recognizing that in-person hearings will still be necessary in some cases.
• Despite the pandemic, the IRB has already finalized more than 18,000 cases and remains committed to providing fair and efficient adjudication of refugee and immigration matters.

If pressed on the number of COVID cases on IRB Premises

• As of November 16, 2020, there have been 7 (5 employees and 2 from the public) confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the IRB's workspace (one in Ottawa; three in Montreal; and three in Toronto).
• In all instances, local health authorities were notified immediately and the IRB followed all advice provided. Local health agencies determined that there was a low-risk of transmission given the robust measures the IRB has put in place in consultation with stakeholders and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Background

Health and Safety Measures Put in Place

• In response to the pandemic, the IRB put in place extensive and rigorous Health and Safety measures at all IRB premises, which have represented major changes to our procedures.
• It is important to note that we developed these measures following guidance from the Public Health Agency of Canada, sought their review of our protocols, and that we continue to review and adjust as the situation evolves.
• The Board developed detailed health and safety protocols for each office:
• identifying the maximum occupancy for each floor of its buildings;
• establishing cleaning and hygiene practices;
• determining protocols for physical distancing in its hearing rooms and offices including the installation of plexi-glass; and,
• reviewing ventilation standards, including testing air quality in its buildings.
• Inside our buildings, physical distancing markers and increased sanitization were all quickly implemented. Hearing start times and breaks are being staggered and carefully monitored, and an increased complement of commissionaires is ensuring proper flow of people in the public spaces, hearing rooms, and elevators to ensure physical distancing.
• Hearing rooms are equipped with plexiglass barriers and are sanitized after each hearing. The IRB requires non-medical masks to be worn at all times in hearing rooms, including when testifying or providing submissions, subject to exemptions.
• The percentage of external air in the ventilation has been increased in our facilities, and high-quality filters are being used. There is also extra attention being given to ensure adherence to ventilation maintenance schedules.
• We know that the situation continues to change, we are therefore carefully monitoring emerging guidance and we remain ready to adapt our protocols. 

Contingency Planning

• The Board expects that the majority of its hearings will be held remotely for the remainder of the fiscal year as follows:
• Refugee Protection Division 70%
• Refugee Appeal Division 100%
• Immigration Division 100% of detention reviews
• Immigration Division 70% percent of admissibility hearings
• Immigration Appeal Division 85%

Workforce Availability and Costs of COVID

COVID Related Costs

• To date, the IRB has spent approximately $780k on COVID related costs.
• $425K (or just over half) on technology to equip employees at home
• $130K on office type of equipment (i.e. desk/chairs)
• $26K on Plexiglass
• $179k on PPE (including cough/sneeze guards, sanitization, cleaning/wipes, commissionaires)
• Approximately $20K on office type equipment to support claimants on site using remote technologies

Cost of Remote Hearings

• The IRB mostly leveraged existing Government of Canada software and tools to enable remote hearings, including in a Protected B environment.
• Costs to upgrade network infrastructure and to purchase Office 365 licenses were already planned for in FY 2020-21 as part of the IRB’s modernization of IT tools and systems. COVID required the acceleration of those plans, which SSC was able to accommodate. As such, no additional costs were incurred above what was planned.
• The only costs that could be attributed to remote hearings were part of the COVID response costs including a portion of the costs for technology to equip employees to work home ($425K), a portion of the costs for office type of equipment ($130k), and additional costs for office type equipment to support claimants on site using remote technologies ($20K). 

Workforce Availability

• At the onset of the pandemic, approximately 22% of the workforce was on 699 leave given the limitations to work remotely in the first few months of the pandemic. With IT infrastructure investments (VPN) and the issuance of laptops (over 300), the IRB workforce available went from 78% (1265 FTEs) in May, to 87% in June (1420) to over 99% in October (1627.5 FTEs).
• At the end of October, approximately 10 FTEs were on 699 leave – half due to health/illness or family reasons and the other half due to specific technical or work limitations.

Supporting Facts and figures in the COVID Context

Finalizations

• The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) is expected to finalize approximately 35,000-40,000 claims, or up to 80% of its baseline target of 50,000 claims.
• The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) is expected to finalize approximately 9,000-10,000 appeals, or up to 75% of its baseline target of 13,500.
• The Immigration Division (ID) is expected to finalize approximately 8,000 detention reviews and 900 admissibility hearings, aligned with anticipated intake of cases.
• The Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) is expected to finalize approximately 2,400 appeals also aligned with anticipated intake.

COVID-19 Cases Related to the Board’s Operations

• As of November 16, 2020, there have been 7 (5 employees and 2 from the public) confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the IRB’s workspace (one in Ottawa; three in Montreal; and three in Toronto).
• In all instances, local health authorities were notified immediately and the IRB followed all advice provided. Local health agencies determined that there was a low-risk of transmission given the robust measures the IRB has put in place in consultation with stakeholders and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
• Thorough details concerning the health and safety measures in place in our buildings are available to the public on the IRB’s website.

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