The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses the Entry/Exit Program to collect accurate and objective data about travellers and to evaluate and process immigration applications.
The Program allows the government to:
verify residency requirements in support of applications for grants of citizenship (CIT) or permanent resident cards
verify if a temporary residence applicant may have previously overstayed their allowable period of admission in Canada
assist in an investigation of an individual’s entitlement to a Canadian travel document
verify that sponsors are residing in Canada
verify the residency of spouses and partners under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class
verify whether or not a refugee claimant entered Canada using their travel documents and
support investigations of possible fraud in relation to immigration, citizenship, and passport/travel document programs
The Customs Act allows the CBSA to collect entry and exit data on all travellers for all modes of travel, excluding marine and rail exits. In accordance with the IRCC-CBSA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the sharing of information between the two departments for the administration and enforcement of IRPA is considered consistent use, under the Privacy Act, paragraph 8(2)(a).
IRCC officers may not disclose entry and exit information unless it is necessary for the administration of the IRPA and covered by existing MOUs or similar agreements. However, any disclosure not specifically covered by an existing agreement must be governed by CBSA, as the owner of the data.