Document Fee Remission for Hurricane Fiona

Summary#

The government made the Remission Order in Respect of Certain Fees for the Issuance of Identity and Travel Documents (Hurricane Fiona) on May 8, 2024. It cancels certain fees charged to people who lost, damaged, destroyed or could not access identity or travel documents because of Hurricane Fiona and who applied for replacements in a specific period.

What it does#

• Cancels fees for replacing these documents when they were lost, damaged, destroyed or made inaccessible by Hurricane Fiona:
  • passports,
  • certificates of Canadian citizenship,
  • permanent resident cards,
  • certificates of identity,
  • refugee travel documents.
• Applies to fees under several regulations handled by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), including passport, consular and citizenship-related fees.
• Only covers replacement applications that:
  • were made between September 24, 2022 and March 24, 2023;
  • were for a document that had been valid and are being replaced with the same expiry date;
  • include a declaration saying the loss/damage/inaccessibility was caused by Hurricane Fiona and proof of being in or resident of the affected areas in Quebec or the Atlantic provinces, or a declaration explaining presence there.
• Does not apply if the fee was already remitted under other specific passport regulations.

Who's affected#

• People who lived in or were in areas of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador affected by Hurricane Fiona, and who lost, had damaged, destroyed, or could not access the listed documents during the stated period.
• This mainly includes Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and protected persons who needed replacement travel or identity documents.
• The departments that handled the remissions are IRCC and GAC, which will report the remitted amounts in their public accounts.

Why it matters#

• It removes the legal obligation to pay certain replacement fees that the government had already waived in practice after the storm. That prevents those affected from being pursued for those fees later.
• The government estimates the total cost of those forgone fees at $855, broken down as:
  • 2 expedited urgent pick-ups at $110 each = $220,
  • 13 expedited standard pick-ups at $20 each = $260,
  • 15 consular service fees at $25 each = $375.
• For people hit by the hurricane, this reduces a small financial burden when they replaced important papers after the disaster.