The IRCC backlog has impacted other areas of government as well. The Access to Information and Privacy Office has received a massive influx of requests made under the Access to Information Act (“ the ATI Act “). The ATI Act grants Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or any other person/entity in Canada the right to access government records. These requests are used by immigration applicants to obtain notes taken by Immigration officer who have reviewed their current and past immigration applications. Many applicants affected by the current backlog have criticized the lack of transparency and communication from IRCC on their files. A report from the Information Commissioner of Canada highlighted that in the 2019 to 2020 fiscal year, there were 116, 928 access to information requests directed at IRCC, a 42% increase from the previous year . With the mounting uncertainty, many applicants have been making requests, which have caused longer...