“Your application is undergoing security screening” is a line thousands of applicants have found in their GCMS notes without ever being told what, specifically, is being screened.
Records released by IRCC under the Access to Information Act set out the internal structure of that process. “Security screening” is not one thing. It is several distinct streams, each tied to a different section of Canada’s immigration legislation.
First split: permanent or temporary
IRCC divides files two ways at the top level:
- PR — permanent residence
- TR — temporary residence (visitor, study, work)
Permanent residence files split again:
- In-land — applicant is inside Canada
- OVS — applicant is overseas
Three screening types on the PR side
Within both In-land and OVS, three separate screening activities exist:
- Security Screening — security in the narrow sense
- Org Crime Screening — organized criminality
- HIRV Screening — human or international rights violations
The three are wildly unequal in volume. In 2019, of 10,860 in-Canada PR referrals:
- Security Screening: 10,695
- Org Crime Screening: 135
- HIRV Screening: 30
More than 98% of referrals fall into the general security category. The other two are rare.
That matters practically: if your file has gone to security screening, it is overwhelmingly likely to be in the general stream rather than one of the sensitive ones.
The temporary side: VIT 34, 35 and 37
For temporary residence, IRCC uses three labels: VIT 34, VIT 35 and VIT 37.
The release does not define these terms. Their numbering maps precisely onto the inadmissibility provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act:
- Section 34 — inadmissibility on security grounds (espionage, subversion, terrorism, danger to the security of Canada)
- Section 35 — human or international rights violations (war crimes, crimes against humanity, senior officials of designated regimes)
- Section 37 — organized criminality
The distribution is just as lopsided. Of 47,945 TR referrals in 2019:
- VIT 34: 44,695
- VIT 35: 3,170
- VIT 37: 80
Why the distinction matters
When counsel reads your GCMS notes, knowing which category a file sits in gives a far more accurate picture:
- General stream (Security Screening or VIT 34): the common case. Usually a routine background review, not a specific allegation.
- VIT 35 or HIRV: typically connected to employment history in government, military or security institutions. This category matters particularly for applicants with compulsory military service or public-sector service in their history.
- Org Crime or VIT 37: rare, and normally driven by specific information.
None of these referrals amounts to a refusal in itself. In this same dataset the worldwide non-favourable rate is only 1.24%.
A note on compulsory military service
One of the most common questions among applicants from countries with conscription is whether compulsory service creates an inadmissibility problem.
General compulsory military service is not, by itself, a ground of inadmissibility. What is examined is the nature of the unit, the individual’s role, and any connection to designated entities. Ambiguity in dates or duties tends to extend screening far more than the service itself does.
Precision and internal consistency in describing your history — across forms, CV and interview — is in practice the single most effective thing an applicant can do to shorten this stage.
Source
Structure and figures are drawn from IRCC records released under the Access to Information Act, pages 000127–000146, compiled by OPP-DART-2025-34337. The mapping of VIT labels to IRPA sections is based on their numbering; the release itself does not define the terms.
Related reading
- Iran leads the world in Canada’s security screening referrals
- How often does Canadian security screening actually fail an applicant?
- Security screening referrals peaked in 2019, not 2024
