How IRCC Delivers Your GCMS Notes and How to Open the Files

Your GCMS notes are released as the response to your ATIP request, and they almost always arrive as a PDF document. How that PDF reaches you depends mostly on the file size: most responses can be downloaded directly from your ATIP Online account, while larger packages may be sent by email or, for very large files, on a CD or DVD.

The ways IRCC delivers a response

ATIP Online download

If you filed through the ATIP Online portal, you can usually download the response from your account. The service supports up to five documents of 1 GB each (up to 5 GB total) per response.

Email

Smaller electronic responses may be emailed to you directly as a PDF attachment.

CD or DVD by mail

Packages too large to send electronically may be provided on a disc. The files on it are still standard PDFs you can open on any computer.

Opening and reading the file

The notes themselves are a standard PDF — open it with any PDF reader (your browser, Adobe Acrobat, Preview on Mac, etc.). The document is often long and densely formatted, with repeated headers and internal codes. Don't be alarmed by blacked-out sections: redactions are routine and lawful.

Once it's open, the most valuable content is the officer's free-text remarks. For a section-by-section walkthrough, see how to read and understand your GCMS notes.