Remission of Passport Fee Shortfalls

Summary#

The government made the Remission Order for Certain Fees Under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (March 31, 2026 to April 29, 2026): SI/2026-28 to cancel certain small unpaid fee differences for passport and travel-document applications. It covers mail-in applications received between March 31, 2026 and April 29, 2026, and forgives up to $242,200.25 in unpaid fees.

What it does#

• Remits (forgives) the difference between the old fee and the new fee for certain services under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations when:
  • an application form showing the fee in effect until March 30, 2026 was mailed in, and
  • the application was received between March 31, 2026 and April 29, 2026.
• Applies only to mail-in (paper) applications using outdated forms. In-person and online applicants were not affected.
• Covers up to 75,000 clients and up to $242,200.25 in total foregone revenue.
• Examples of the fee differences remitted (selected items from the schedule):
  • Adult regular passport, in-Canada, 10-year: old $135.00 → new $138.50 (volume 53,406; foregone $186,921.00).
  • Adult regular passport, outside Canada, 10-year: old $235.00 → new $241.25 (volume 3,749; foregone $23,431.25).
  • Child regular passport, in-Canada, 5-year: old $57.00 → new $58.50 (volume 13,188; foregone $19,782.00).
  • Other smaller categories together make up the remainder of the $242,200.25 total.

Who's affected#

• People who mailed passport or travel-document applications on paper and used an old printed form that showed the pre‑adjustment fee, and whose applications were received between March 31, 2026 and April 29, 2026.
• Not affected: applicants who applied in person or online, because those processes required the correct (new) fee.
• The department handling this is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which identified the problem and asked for the remission.

Why it matters#

• It prevents small debts being chased for people who unknowingly paid an outdated fee. Collecting those amounts would cost more than the money that could be recovered and could delay processing.
• The government accepted a small loss (up to $242,200.25) to avoid costly collections and service delays.
• To reduce future risk, IRCC will produce paper application forms that do not list a specific fee amount.