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AI Chatbot Assistant for Immigration Application Guidance

Inform · Border & Immigration

What it collects that can identify you

About behaviour
Identifiable data
  • Questions and conversational inputs typed by users interacting with the chatbot on Facebook, including their queries about immigration programs and services.
Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Facebook account identity associated with each user interaction. As the chatbot operates on Facebook's platform, user interactions are linked to Facebook profiles which may identify individuals.
Run by
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization, Vendor

What it is for

InformBorder & Immigration

This AI-powered chatbot is deployed on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's Facebook channel to help members of the public understand how to apply for immigration programs and services. It uses natural language processing to interpret questions and provide relevant guidance. The system does not make immigration decisions — it provides informational responses to help potential applicants navigate the process.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About behaviour
Identifiable data
  • Questions and conversational inputs typed by users interacting with the chatbot on Facebook, including their queries about immigration programs and services.
Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Facebook account identity associated with each user interaction. As the chatbot operates on Facebook's platform, user interactions are linked to Facebook profiles which may identify individuals.

Processing

Language Models
  • Natural language processing used to interpret user intent from conversational text input, paired with a dialogue manager to guide multi-turn conversations about immigration applications.

What it does

Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • Uses natural language processing to ascertain client intent from questions typed by users, then retrieves and surfaces relevant answers. The system understands meaning from conversational input and matches it to guidance content — it does not generate new content or make decisions.
Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • The dialogue manager composes and delivers conversational responses to user queries, guiding the interaction through a structured conversation flow.

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • Conversational text responses providing functional guidance about IRCC immigration programs, applications, and services, delivered through Facebook Messenger.

Run by

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
  • The Government of Canada department responsible for immigration, refugees, and citizenship matters. IRCC deploys this chatbot on its Facebook channel to provide guidance to potential applicants.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-IRCC-001

Built by

Korah
  • The vendor that developed the chatbot system on behalf of IRCC, providing the dialogue management and natural language processing technology.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-IRCC-001

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • IRCC has access to interaction logs and conversation data generated through the chatbot deployment on its Facebook channel.
Available to vendor
  • Korah Ltd, as the technology vendor, may have access to interaction data as part of system operation and maintenance. The extent of vendor access to conversation data is not specified in the register entry.

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 UseUsers interacting with IRCC's Facebook chatbot should be informed that they are communicating with an automated AI system, not a human agent. Contact IRCC directly for confirmation of rights or to speak with a person.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyUnder Canada's Directive on Automated Decision-Making and the Access to Information Act, members of the public may request information about how this chatbot system operates. Contact IRCC's Access to Information and Privacy office for details.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmThe chatbot may provide incorrect or incomplete guidance on immigration matters, which could cause harm to vulnerable populations seeking to navigate complex immigration processes. Risk is mitigated by framing all outputs as informational guidance rather than binding advice, and by IRCC maintaining human agents to handle actual application decisions.