Permanent‑Residence Fee Increases and Indexing

Summary#

These are final rules that change fees for many permanent-residence applications under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. They raise several application fees (some by about 50%), raise the Right of Permanent Residence Fee slightly, and set up automatic indexation to inflation every two years starting April 30, 2022. The changes took effect on April 30, 2020.

What it does#

• Raises application fees for many Economic-class permanent-residence streams:
  • Principal applicants in economic business programs (including Quebec business streams and start-up) go from $1,050 to $1,575.
  • Principal applicants in most non‑business economic streams (Express Entry, provincial nominees, Quebec skilled workers, etc.) go from $550 to $825.
  • Spouses and common‑law partners in those economic classes go from $550 to $825.
  • Dependent children in those economic classes go from $150 to $225.
• Raises the fee for acquiring permanent-resident status (the Right of Permanent Residence Fee) from $490 to $500.
• Sets indexation: selected fees will be adjusted on April 30, 2022, and every two years after that, using the Consumer Price Index and rounded to the nearest $5.
• Carves out exceptions:
  • The two 2019 caregiver pilot programs (Home Child‑Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot) are not included in the initial 50% application-fee increase in 2020–21; their fees will be adjusted by inflation starting in 2022–23.
  • Some vulnerable groups are exempt from the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (for example, protected persons and dependent children).
• Keeps several fees unchanged (for example, fees for permanent resident cards and travel documents are not increased).

Who's affected#

• People applying for permanent residence under Economic-class programs, including:
  • Applicants to Express Entry streams and the provincial nominee program.
  • Applicants in business-related streams such as the Quebec investor class, Quebec entrepreneur class, start-up business class, self-employed persons class, and Quebec self‑employed persons class.
  • Applicants in pilot programs named in the rule (e.g., Atlantic Immigration Pilot, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, Agri‑Food Immigration Pilot).
• Family‑class, protected‑person, and humanitarian applicants: many of their processing fees are not increased in 2020–21 but will be indexed starting in 2022–2023.
• Applicants overseas and in Canada — both groups face the new fees.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which administers these fees and will collect the additional revenue.

If it’s unclear who is affected in a particular case (for example, a specific pilot or special program), check the program rules or IRCC guidance.

Why it matters#

• Real cost to applicants: many permanent‑residence applicants will pay noticeably higher application fees upfront. For example, some principal applicants will pay an extra $525 (from $1,050 to $1,575).
• Smaller impact on exempt groups: some vulnerable applicants (protected persons, dependent children in some situations, resettled refugees, certain humanitarian cases) remain exempt from the Right of Permanent Residence Fee.
• Predictable increases: indexing every two years means fees will rise with inflation automatically, so costs can grow over time.
• Fiscal effect: the government estimated the cost of increased fees to applicants over 10 years at about $300.6 million (present value), with additional revenues of about $377.5 million, for a net benefit of about $76.9 million over that period. The government says the goal is to reduce taxpayer subsidization of permanent-residence processing.
• Context: the rules respond to the fact that permanent‑residence fees had not been raised since 2002 and had lost about 34% of their value to inflation.