Digital Frontlines in Immigration Services: An Environmental Scan of the Use of Digital and AI Tools by Immigrant-Serving Organizations in Canada

Using a web-based environmental scan as a method, this study examined a sample of Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) in the settlement or immigrant-serving sector across Canadian cities to assess their adoption of digital tools. Findings reveal that AI adoption remains nascent, with only a few SPOs deploying AI-powered tools for employment services. SPOs used chatbots and group chats minimally, and chatbots mostly relied on rule-based systems or served as digital receptionists. Further, our findings suggest that SPOs using AI tools were concentrated in larger urban centres, leaving smaller cities largely underserved. The study highlights a gap between SPOs' potential and current uses of AI tools.