Report blames bad management and too few resources overseas

OTTAWA - Canada's immigration program is vulnerable to fraud because of bad management and lack of resources at posts abroad, the auditor-general says in a damning report to be released today.

And criminal and security screening of prospective immigrants could also be compromised, Denis Desautels concludes after his audit of the department's independent-immigrant program.

``The integrity of the program is threatened,'' Desautels says in a draft copy of the report.

``On the whole, we found that the control mechanisms for preventing and detecting errors and fraud in a timely manner are inadequate.''

To make matters worse, similar problems were identified in a 1990 audit but don't seem to have been corrected, the report adds.

It says that control over more than $325 million collected annually in processing fees for immigrant and visitor visas was so lax that nearly $750,000 was stolen in 1998.

The immigration department has no system in place to verify that the number of visas issued in a year correspond to the amount of money collected. Cash registers and computers used abroad to collect money aren't connected to the main system used to control immigration applications, and it's easy to get around the system without leaving an audit trail, the report states.

Desautels also decries the lack of proper controls over precious visa documents.

``Visa inventory control is an essential measure to guard against abuse. Illegal immigration is a growing phenomenon and visas are now worth several thousands of dollars on the black market,'' his report states.

The immigration department estimates visa documents lost or stolen in 1998 had a market value of $14 million.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan refused yesterday to comment on the auditor-general's report, which was first obtained by CBC Radio. She told the House of Commons that she plans to spend about $200 million setting up a new computer system for her department.

``I'm positive that the resources will be available to ensure implementation of this very important measure to ensure integrity,'' she said.

The devastating assessment comes just days after Caplan unveiled a package of proposed changes to the Immigration Act and regulations.

The audit looked at management of the independent immigration stream, which accounts for about 56 per cent of all immigration. Family class and refugees make up the rest.