Remission of Passport Fee Adjustments 2020–2023

Summary#

The Remission Order for Certain Fees Under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023) cancels small outstanding passport fee adjustments that were not collected between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2023. The government says this will cost about $53,038,851. The order was made by the Governor in Council on January 30, 2024 and published in the Canada Gazette on February 14, 2024.

What it does#

• Officially forgives (remits) the amounts of the annual fee adjustments required under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations for the period April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023.
• It covers several passport and travel-document services where the department chose not to raise fees during those years.
• The government reports the total foregone revenue by fiscal year as:
  • $1,102,074 for April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021
  • $2,666,370 for April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
  • $49,270,407 for April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023
• All of the remissions will be recorded in public fee reports and the department’s public accounts.

Who's affected#

• People who applied for passports or other travel documents during April 1, 2020–March 31, 2023. This includes in‑Canada and outside‑Canada passport applicants, child passports, certificates of identity, and refugee travel documents where the small fee increases were not charged.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will account for the remissions in its reports.
• Taxpayers generally bear the cost because the missed revenue is recorded as foregone government income.

Why it matters#

• Past applicants will not be pursued for small extra amounts that the Regulations would have required, sparing them billing and collection efforts.
• The government says the decision was made because fees were deliberately kept unchanged while the passport program had surplus funds, and because the sums per person were small and harder to collect after time had passed.
• The remission reduces reported government revenues by $53,038,851, which will show up in public financial reports.