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IRCC.com

Editorial Policy

Last updated: April 2026

This policy describes how IRCC.com produces, sources, reviews, updates, and corrects its content. It applies to every article, guide, news item, and tool published on this site.

1. Sources

Every factual claim on IRCC.com must be traceable to a primary source — typically:

  • A specific page on canada.ca (preferred for federal programs)
  • A specific page on a provincial government website (for PNPs and Quebec)
  • A published Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, or Immigration and Refugee Board decision
  • A statute or regulation in force (e.g., IRPA, IRPR)
  • A peer-reviewed academic source for context

We do not cite forum posts, anonymous social media, or unverified third-party blogs as primary sources for procedural facts.

2. AI-assisted drafting

IRCC.com uses large language models (currently Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT) to assist in drafting articles and processing data. This is disclosed openly here and follows these rules:

  • An AI may produce a first draft, but a human editor on the IRCC.com Editorial Team reviews and edits every article before it is published.
  • Procedural and YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) articles — anything that could affect a reader's legal status, finances, or eligibility — are additionally reviewed by a licensed immigration practitioner.
  • Every factual claim is independently verified against a primary source by a human editor or by an automated fact-check pass against canada.ca data.
  • AI is not used to generate quotes, case studies, or testimonials. Any quote on this site is a real source attributed to a real person, document, or court decision.

3. Licensed practitioner review

For YMYL content, IRCC.com retains licensed immigration practitioners — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) registered with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), and/or Canadian lawyers in good standing — to review articles for accuracy before publication.

4. Bylines and authorship

Every article on IRCC.com is published under a single masthead byline (IRCC.com Editorial Team). See our editorial team page for how articles are written, edited, and reviewed.

5. Updates and freshness

Canadian immigration policy changes frequently. To keep content current we:

  • Track changes to canada.ca pages relevant to our coverage and refresh affected articles.
  • Run a monthly review of date-sensitive content (processing times, fees, draw cutoffs).
  • Flag stale articles for refresh when their relevance to current rankings declines.
  • Display a visible “Last updated” date on every article and a separate “Reviewed by” date for YMYL articles.

6. Corrections

We correct factual errors promptly and transparently. See our full Corrections Policy for the standard, including how to report errors and how we mark them.

7. Editorial independence

IRCC.com's editorial decisions are made independently of advertising, affiliate, and sponsorship considerations:

  • Advertisers and affiliates do not approve or preview editorial coverage.
  • We do not accept payment for inclusion in lists, comparison tables, or recommendations.
  • Affiliate relationships, where they exist, are disclosed at the article and section level.
  • We do not edit, alter, or remove published articles in response to advertiser or affiliate requests, except for genuine factual corrections per our corrections policy.

8. Topics we don't cover and services we don't offer

IRCC.com is a news and information aggregator. We do not:

  • Provide personalized legal or immigration advice — we are not licensed practitioners.
  • Review applications, documents, or individual cases.
  • Tell readers whether they qualify for a program.
  • Recommend specific programs, provinces, or consultants for individual situations.
  • Refer visitors to specific service providers.
  • Process forms, prepare submissions, or contact IRCC on a reader's behalf.
  • Predict whether any specific application will be approved.
  • Critique identifiable individual practitioners by name without a documented basis.

For personal advice or application help, contact a CICC-licensed RCIC or a Canadian immigration lawyer. The CICC public registry is at college-ic.ca. The reader-facing contact form on this site is restricted to factual corrections, broken links, accessibility issues, editorial feedback, and press/partnership inquiries. Application or eligibility questions submitted there will not receive a reply.

9. Comments and user-generated content

IRCC.com does not currently allow public comments on articles. Reader feedback is welcomed via the contact form and is treated confidentially.

10. Diversity and inclusion

Canadian immigration touches people of every nationality, race, religion, language, and background. We commit to:

  • Covering source countries proportionally to applicant demographics, not just English-speaking markets.
  • Using inclusive, non-stigmatizing language about applicants and immigrants.
  • Recruiting authors and reviewers who reflect Canada's and the applicant pool's diversity.

11. Conflicts of interest

Authors and reviewers disclose any material conflicts of interest before working on a related article. We do not assign articles where the author or reviewer has a financial stake in the outcome.

12. Changes to this policy

We update this policy as our processes evolve. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision.