Canada is spending up to $25 million on a new app to allow those subject to immigration enforcement conditions to report to authorities without attending in person.
The ReportIn app, whose algorithms are being kept secret, will according to a tender published in April be downloadable on a smart phone and be a biometrics solution to verify the identity of travelers crossing the Canadian border.
Use of the app, which will rely on Amazon Web Services (AWS), is to be voluntary and users will not be tracked constantly, notes the Canada Border Services Agency.
However, a user’s location will be collected when they report to the border services agency and when he or she fails to comply with applicable immigration conditions.
The CBSA is hoping this will allow them to more easily locate at least some of the roughly 2,000 people who are ordered to leave the country every year.
Canada started collecting biometric data from applicants for temporary residence from within the country on Feb. 23 last year after suspending this activity for three years ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
to restore their status as a student, worker or visitor;
a work or study permit;
a visitor visa, or;
a temporary resident permit.
There are exemptions to the need to provide biometrics and these include:
Canadian citizens, citizenship applicants (including passport applicants), or existing permanent residents;
visa-exempt nationals coming to Canada to visit only;
children under the age of 14;
applicants over the age of 79 (there is no upper age exemption for asylum claimants);
heads of state and heads of government;
applicants who qualify for or hold a diplomatic or official visa;
American visa holders transiting through Canada;
refugee claimants or protected persons who have already provided biometrics and are applying for a study or work permit, and;
temporary resident applicants who have already provided biometrics in support of a permanent resident application that is still in progress.
On July 15, 2020, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) put in place the temporary policy, now reversed, of exempting those who were applying for temporary residence in Canada from within the country from providing biometrics when Canada closed biometric collection locations across Canada due to public health restrictions due to Covid-19.
Families Pay A Maximum Of $170 In Biometric Data Fees
“Temporary residence applicants can give their biometrics at one of over 70 Service Canada Centre collection sites across Canada,” the IRCC noted last year. “Applicants must book an appointment before visiting a biometrics collection site.”
An individual applicant has to pay $85 in biometrics fees but family members applying at the same time are looking at a total fee of $170 for the family and groups of three or more performing artists and their staff who apply for work permits at the same time need to pay only $255.
There is no fee to give biometrics for a transit visa.
“Biometrics are your fingerprints and photo,” notes the IRCC on its website. “We collect your biometrics so we can confirm your identity. This information is also used to help assess your application.”
Unless exempt, applicants need to give their fingerprints and a photo when they apply for:
temporary residence (except US nationals);
permanent residence;
to extend a stay in Canada, unless from a visa-exempt country, or;
refugee or asylum status.
“After you give your biometrics, your fingerprints and photo will be encrypted and sent electronically to a secure Government of Canada database,” notes the IRCC.
“Encryption stops anyone from accessing the information unless they’re given access.”
The Canadian government does share biometric information with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) whose officers check fingerprints in biometric data against the fingerprint records of:
“We may also share your biometrics information with other law enforcement agencies in Canada to enforce any Canadian or provincial law or Canadian government institutions or foreign governments according to Canada’s privacy laws,” notes the IRCC.
“Your fingerprints and photo may also be shared with the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in a way that respects privacy laws, civil liberties, and human rights (including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms).”
