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AI-Assisted Routing and Response for Ministerial Correspondence

Inform · Planning & Decision-making

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Correspondence submitted to a minister typically includes the sender's name, contact information, and personal details describing their situation or request.

Also collects about behaviour, which is anonymized data.

Run by
Shared Services Canada (SSC), Canadian Heritage (PCH)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

InformPlanning & Decision-making

This system automatically processes incoming ministerial correspondence requests, routes them to the appropriate subject matter experts within government, and drafts an initial response using generative AI. It was developed collaboratively between Shared Services Canada and Canadian Heritage as a proof-of-value project. The system currently handles correspondence sent to government ministers and assists federal employees in managing and responding to that mail. Members of the public who write to a minister may have their correspondence processed and initially responded to by this AI tool before any human review.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Correspondence submitted to a minister typically includes the sender's name, contact information, and personal details describing their situation or request.
About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • The content and subject matter of the correspondence request, which describes the issue or service the sender is raising with the minister.

Processing

Language Models
  • A generative AI language model is used to draft initial responses to ministerial correspondence. The specific model or vendor is not disclosed in the register entry.
Classification & Prediction
  • Classifies incoming correspondence by subject matter and predicted routing destination, assigning each request to the most appropriate subject matter expert or team.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • Classifies and routes incoming ministerial correspondence to the correct subject matter expert. The routing recommendation is made by the system; human staff make final decisions on handling.
Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • Drafts an initial response to the ministerial correspondence request using generative AI. Human review is expected before any response is sent, given the government context and proof-of-value status.

Outputs

A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • A routing recommendation directing the correspondence to the relevant subject matter expert within the government department.
Generated content
Anonymized data
  • An AI-drafted initial response to the ministerial correspondence, intended for human review before sending. The generated text addresses the subject of the request.

Run by

Shared Services Canada (SSC)
  • Shared Services Canada is the federal department responsible for developing and deploying this intelligent automation application for ministerial correspondence processing.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-SSC-SPC-007

Canadian Heritage (PCH)
  • Canadian Heritage collaborated with Shared Services Canada in the development of this proof-of-value tool and is a co-deployer of the ministerial correspondence system.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-SSC-SPC-007

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The Government of Canada is listed as the developer of this system, indicating in-house development rather than a commercial vendor.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-SSC-SPC-007

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Not available to me
  • Members of the public who submit ministerial correspondence do not have access to the AI-generated routing decisions or draft responses created about their correspondence. The register entry does not describe any public-facing access mechanism.
Available to the accountable organization
  • GC employees at Shared Services Canada and Canadian Heritage have access to the outputs and routing decisions produced by the system as part of their correspondence management workflow.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseMembers of the public who write to a minister have the right to be informed that an AI system is processing their correspondence and drafting initial responses. The register entry does not describe how or whether this disclosure is made to correspondents.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThe public can access the Government of Canada's AI Register entry for this system at the source URL. The entry provides a high-level description of the system's function but does not detail the underlying model, training data, or routing logic.

Risks and safeguards

  • Reputational harmThe system may misclassify correspondence or generate an inaccurate initial response, potentially misrepresenting a citizen's concern or producing a response that reflects poorly on the minister.Safeguard: The system is described as providing an 'initial response,' implying human review before dispatch; the proof-of-value status suggests limited production use. No formal mitigation controls are described in the register entry.
  • Loss of autonomyMembers of the public writing to a minister may not be informed that AI is processing and drafting responses to their correspondence, limiting their ability to consent to or opt out of automated processing.Safeguard: The register entry does not describe any disclosure mechanism for correspondents or opt-out pathway. This is an identified transparency gap.