Has anybody tried to generate processing times histogram?
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So, finally a reply after 40 days:
Thank you for your interest in our data.
We have reviewed your data request and unfortunately, due to resource limitations, the data is not readily available.
We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.
Anybody with experience on how to get processing time data through an ATIP request?
Or maybe it is worth it to involve press to put the pressure on the IRCC stats department?
Thank you for your interest in our data.
We have reviewed your data request and unfortunately, due to resource limitations, the data is not readily available.
We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.
Anybody with experience on how to get processing time data through an ATIP request?
Or maybe it is worth it to involve press to put the pressure on the IRCC stats department?
Overall: research government open data website information and, in particular, the completed Access to Information requests. Anyone's experience with obtaining "processing time data" will show up in those results. Of course it will require a lot of homework to find it.
Clarification: It is worthwhile clearly distinguishing the ATIP requests citizenship applicants make, to obtain copies of GCMS records in regards to their own applications, in contrast to the Access to Information procedure to obtain government information generally. Obviously, this topic is about the latter, about composing an Access to Information request that will result in the government providing copies of records containing information regarding timelines in processing citizenship applications. Not so easy a task as many might apprehend.
Caveat: access to government "information" is actually limited to obtaining a copy of (or access to inspect) existing government records. Thus, for example, unless the government itself has digested and collated a dataset, and is maintaining that dataset, even information that could be be easily compiled from data will not be provided. So the first step in effectively searching for and obtaining government information is researching what sort of records the government creates and keeps, and getting thoroughly acquainted with the specific nomenclature employed by the respective government agency. A great deal of trial and error is typically involved in an effort to find the particular records which will contain the information being sought.
There is a shortcut: researching completed request summaries.
Almost all completed requests for processing time data (and any other internal information), for IRCC (including citizenship) are accessible through the open government data website, which is here https://open.canada.ca/en (then follow links), and the list of completed requests in particular, which is here https://open.canada.ca/en/access-to-information and here too follow links. So, if anyone has made a request for processing time data, you should be able to find a summary of that request, a notation as to the number of records produced, and a reference number that will facilitate obtaining a copy of the records produced.
But navigating this information, just trying to find those requests which are at all relevant, is demanding work. Yeah, homework, homework, and more homework.
The completed request information can be useful in multiple ways. Obviously, if you can find a request for the information you are looking for, in particular, the procedure for obtaining a copy of the completed request is faster and simpler than making an original request. But the summaries themselves can be useful as examples or even templates for making requests (there are, however, far more examples of requests that fail, so illustrating how not to go about this).
My experience is dated, nearly a decade since I was engaged in making original requests. Since then my research beyond what is published online has rode on the backs of completed requests made by others; and of course even when I was most intensely engaged, during the Harper era and when my application for citizenship was in the pipeline, I also relied extensively on reviewing the lists of completed requests and obtaining copies of the most relevant. This might link to the list of completed requests for IRCC, nearly four thousand records. If that link does not work, there is a link to the "Completed Access to Information Requests" webpage here (this one should link) and at that page one can use the built in filter to just list those completed by IRCC.
The list can be useful in multiple ways, but it is so large it is a lot of work just to navigate and research it. There are, for example, currently 3948 records listed. There are additional filters or tools that can be used, some search functionality, but it can be time-consuming and hard work just figuring out what works in terms of narrowing down the results to allow reasonable review.
There is also an excel spreadsheet (follow links at webpages noted above) containing summaries of completed requests, which is massive (160685 entries), but this can be downloaded which could facilitate sorting, selecting, and organizing, to find those most relevant. Noting, for example, this includes entries for requests over the course of more than the last decade (probably those I made years ago are among those listed), and for many government agencies, but once downloaded sorting and selecting only more recent entries is relatively manageable, and then sort and select among those to focus on more relevant content.
Disclaimer: Utilizing the government's Access to Information procedures to obtain internal information maintained by the Canadian government can be a monumental work-intensive time-consuming task, at least to the extent a researcher is looking for information below the surface of what the government organizes for presentation to the public.
While having nothing to do with immigration or citizenship, an illustration of how complex, difficult, and time-consuming it can be to pursue government records in relation to basically just one subject, the Star investigative reporter Kevin Donovan recounts much of his effort, taking years of making requests, revising and refining requests, and repeatedly going to the courts for recourse, in regards to the criminal investigation of what is called the "Billionaire Murders." Donovan's efforts are described in the course of his many stories published in the Star, his book about this, and in a documentary film. Again, while not at all related to citizenship application processing or information held by IRCC, Donovan's account of the process obtaining access to information is itself a compelling narrative apart from subject of his investigative reporting itself. Spoiler alert: even for well-heeled, experienced investigative reporters with the prowess of a publishing entity like The Star behind and supporting them, the Access to Information process is a long and arduous haul.
Happy Hunting.
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Here are some resource that you might find useful:
https://www.secretcanada.com/
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/secret-canada/
(archive) https://archive.is/5F5eP
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/article-secret-canada-the-blackhole-of-canadas-immigration-system/
(archive) https://archive.is/4ZGeG
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-freedom-of-information-laws/
(archive) https://archive.is/Lj1ke
It's arduous work getting IRCC to respond to ATIPS... I asked for information about the architecture and design of the IRCC tracker and why it is constantly behind GCMS by 48-72h... I got nothing out of the ATIP response. Most of it was redacted *sigh*
My post here: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/atip-citizenship-tracker-architecture.809189/
Good luck and be persistent! It will help us all and hopefully improve the system!
https://www.secretcanada.com/
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/secret-canada/
(archive) https://archive.is/5F5eP
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/article-secret-canada-the-blackhole-of-canadas-immigration-system/
(archive) https://archive.is/4ZGeG
(paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-freedom-of-information-laws/
(archive) https://archive.is/Lj1ke
It's arduous work getting IRCC to respond to ATIPS... I asked for information about the architecture and design of the IRCC tracker and why it is constantly behind GCMS by 48-72h... I got nothing out of the ATIP response. Most of it was redacted *sigh*
My post here: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/atip-citizenship-tracker-architecture.809189/
Good luck and be persistent! It will help us all and hopefully improve the system!
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Thanks!
I am also wondering how much influence on these issues we could have as voters or future voters for those who are not citizens yet. Is IRCC untouchable, or is there some way we could vote for someone to fix it? Would MP's office be interested in any of our feedback? They probably see a lot of these problems first hand, and yet there doesn't seem to be much improvement.
