The legislated time frame for processing a request under the Access to Information Act is 30 calendar days. Here is an example of what happens in 30 days. Even a routine request takes as much as 9 days as per the information below.
How long does it really take to process a GCMS request?
In reality it takes IRCC far less time to process a GCMS request. Internal documents obtained from IRCC reveal some details as to how IRCC processes requests. Below are some Q&A’s between the IRCC processing team and IT staff. These questions were asked by the IT staff in order to automate some processing tasks. Have a look. You will see that these tasks take only minutes to complete!
You will see below that IRCC makes mention of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3; these are classifications given to GCMS requests based on the level of complexity and effort involved in processing a request.
So, why does it take so long to process a GCMS request?
It boils down to having the capacity to process requests.
With finite resources and an ever-growing demand for GCMS notes at IRCC, deadlines are not always met. Mitigation measures are being put in place, but it will take time for it to play out.
