Increased fees for inadmissibility applications

Background

To finance its programs, the Government of Canada follows an approach where most of the costs are the responsibility of those who receive the services and benefit directly from them. To account for inflation, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced in 2017 that fees would be adjusted by the cumulative Consumer Price Index (CPI) annually.

In accordance with the Service Fees Act (SFA), the application fees for foreign nationals applying to regain their status or return to Canada after being inadmissible will be adjusted for inflation on December 1, 2023. 
This ensures that fees remain current and reflect the costs of delivering services, while the SFA improves the transparency, accountability and predictability of government service fees. These fees have been adjusted to account for the yearly rate of inflation since April 2018. Following the regular schedule, the next annual increase of inadmissibility fees is expected on December 1, 2024.

What's the damage?

For most applicants, fees are increasing by just under $ 30. Applicants seeking authorization to return to Canada will have to pay almost $ 60 more. Foreign nationals applying for rehabilitation following serious criminality are facing the highest increase of close to $ 150. See table below for details on the new fees.



FeeSubcategoryCurrent FeeNew Fee
(as of Dec 1, 2023)
Authorization to return to Canada
$ 400$ 459.55
RehabilitationInadmissible on the grounds of criminality$ 200$ 229.77
Inadmissible on the grounds of serious criminality$ 1,000$ 1,148.87
Restore your statusas a visitor, worker or student$ 200$ 229.77
as a worker and get a new work permit$ 355$ 384.77*
as a student and a get a new study permit$ 350$ 379.77*
Temporary resident permit
$ 200$ 229.77

*This fee is a combination of the new restoration fee ($229.77) and the work permit fee ($155.00) or study permit fee ($150.00), which have not changed.

Remissions

The SFA, introduced in 2017, also requires that all services have service standards and that  partial refunds are issued to consumers / clients when service standards are not met.

For complete applications received on or after December 1, 2023, partial refunds, known as remissions, will be issued to applicants if service standards are not met. Remissions will typically be issued by July 1 of the following fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) via the method of original payment, or by cheque for payments that are not made online. There is no need for a client to contact IRCC to request a remission. 

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