IRCC’s Plan to Fight Racism – The 2021 to 2024 version!

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) came up with an Anti-Racism Strategy for 2021 to 2024 after racism was found within the department. During the first few months of 2022, IRCC employees were asked for their ideas about where the Strategy should go.

First, IRCC’s Strategy makes broad suggestions about how the new Strategy differs from the first one. Second, IRCC also lays out the five pillars of the action plan for the Strategy. According to the IRCC, each pillar points to a stream of work that needs to be done as soon as possible.

Pillar 1: Ensure Leadership Accountability

This pillar is about ensuring there are formal ways to hold people accountable so that anti-racism goals can be reached. The goal is to ensure that anti-racism work is a permanent part of IRCC and that senior management is accountable for results.

Pillar 2: Equitable Workplace

This pillar is about how to manage people in a way that makes the workplace a place where everyone feels welcome and valued. The goal is to make it easier for racialized employees to move up in their careers and to make sure that everyone feels welcome at work.

Pillar 3: Policy and Program Design

This pillar is directly about fixing the racism and bias that are built into IRCC’s policies and programs. The goal is to figure out what biases and holes are in the current policies and programs and improve the way anti-racist policies and programs are made.

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Pillar 4: Service Delivery

This pillar is about addressing racism and bias that is built into IRCC’s policies and programs and how they work with applicants and outside partners. The goal is to figure out how racism and bias affect how the program is run.

Pillar 5: Data and Research

This pillar is about gathering strong evidence to back up work against racism. The goal is to make more information about government-wide standards available to help with anti-racism analysis.