Effective Feb, 2016, the Canadian federal government department that used to be called Citizenship and Immigration Canada or CIC has been renamed Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). IRCC is not really a new department, but the successor to one that has existed for many years.

Their Website however still remains the same i.e., www.cic.gc.ca.

Also there are many older official documents, guides and online pages that still refer to the department as CIC. However, in newer guides and official documents term IRCC is being used to refer to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department or Citizenship and Immigration Canada department.

This change was made in an effort to emphasize Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to bring in and absorb more refugees to Canada. Hence the change of name from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Additional Changes

In addition to these changes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued a public mandate to the Minister overseeing IRCC, John McCallum, to increase the maximum age for dependents to 22, from 19, to allow more Canadians to bring their children to Canada. Minister McCallum has also been asked to look into giving additional points under the Entry Express immigration selection system to provide more opportunities for applicants who have Canadian siblings.