Modernizing Canada's immigration experience.
A federal-scale redesign of one of the most consequential public services in the country — reframed around applicants, built to meet WCAG 2.2 AA and the Accessible Canada Act.
- Client
- IRCC — Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada
- Role
- Lead Product Designer & Accessibility Strategist
- Timeline
- 2023 – 2024
- Focus
- Service design · WCAG 2.2 AA · Design system
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
One application. Many programs. Every person.
Executive summary
IRCC's legacy application journey spanned dozens of forms, complex eligibility logic, and inconsistent accessibility patterns. I led the redesign of a modular application experience — accessible by default, scalable across immigration programs, and built on a shared federal-ready design system.
Programs
Modular flow scalable across visa, permit, and citizenship streams.
Accessibility
Designed to WCAG 2.2 AA and Accessible Canada Act requirements.
System
Shared components, tokens, and patterns adopted by partner teams.
Challenge
A public service under quiet pressure.
Applicants relied on a fragmented experience that combined legacy web forms, downloadable PDFs, and mission-critical eligibility rules written in policy language. Even confident users struggled — and applicants using assistive technology, working in a second language, or applying under time pressure carried most of the friction.
The redesign needed to reduce that burden without diluting policy fidelity, while operating within federal procurement, accessibility, and bilingual publishing constraints.
My role & team
Design lead across program, product, and policy.
I led product design and accessibility strategy — partnering with policy analysts, service designers, engineering, content design, and program leadership. My scope covered service framing, interaction design, accessibility strategy, and design-system contribution across the intake platform.
- Product & UX design leadership
- Accessibility strategy (WCAG 2.2 · ACA · AODA)
- Design system contribution & governance
- Cross-functional workshops & stakeholder alignment
- Prototype testing with assistive-tech users
Research
Listening across the whole applicant journey.
Research spanned end-to-end applicant journeys — from the first eligibility question through document upload, decision, and post- decision follow-up. We prioritized listening to applicants using screen readers (JAWS, NVDA), keyboard-only navigation, and cognitive accessibility supports.
Journey mapping
Legacy vs. redesigned applicant flows across immigration programs.
Assistive testing
Session recordings with JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and keyboard-only users.
Content audits
Plain-language and bilingual publishing constraints in EN/FR.
UX process
From policy logic to human logic.
The team translated eligibility rules into a modular application model — small, reusable sections that could be sequenced per program without rewriting the underlying components. Every form pattern was designed for keyboard-first navigation, with error prevention preferred over error recovery.
- 01
Framing
Aligned policy, product, and design on the applicant-centred model.
- 02
Modeling
Modeled programs as compositions of reusable steps rather than monolithic forms.
- 03
Prototyping
Rapid prototypes tested with real applicants and AT users.
- 04
Systemization
Formalized shared components, tokens, and accessibility patterns.
Accessibility
Designed to WCAG 2.2 AA — from the first sketch.
Accessibility wasn't a remediation phase. Every pattern was reviewed against WCAG 2.2 AA, the Accessible Canada Act, and AODA — and tested with the assistive technologies real applicants use.
Design system
A federal-ready foundation.
Reusable components, tokens, and patterns were formalized so partner teams could adopt them across programs — with governance for accessibility, bilingual content, and evolution over time. The system became the connective tissue between programs that previously felt like separate products.
Outcomes
A calmer, more human application experience.
Modular
One shared application model reused across immigration programs.
Accessible
AT-tested patterns meeting WCAG 2.2 AA and Accessible Canada Act criteria.
Scalable
A design-system foundation adopted by partner federal teams.
Reflection
What I'll carry forward.
"Accessibility isn't a checklist. It's a design ethic — and the fastest way I know to make a service actually work for everyone who has to use it."
The most durable outcome wasn't a single flow — it was proving that modular, accessibility-first design can operate at federal scale without sacrificing rigor. That thesis now underpins how I approach every complex service.
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