Canada Permanent Resident Application Fees Are Increasing To Keep Up With Inflation
Including for the Quebec Skilled Worker program.
Government of Canada logo on a building with the flag of Canada in the foreground.
Starting April 30, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is increasing Canada permanent resident application fees to adjust for inflation.
The move follows a policy shift in 2020 that allowed IRCC to increase fees every two years to match inflation, the federal department said in an April 5 news release.
The measure will see the Right of Permanent Residence Fee for principal applicants and their partners increase by $15, from $500 to $515.
Principal applicant fees for economic immigration programs, including federal skilled worker programs, the Provincial Nominee Program and the Quebec Skilled Worker program, will increase by $25 to $850.
The fee for humanitarian programs will jump too, from $550 to $570 for principal applicants, as will fees in the family reunification program, from $475 to $490 for principal sponsored applicants; $550 to $570 for spouses or common-law partners; and from $150 to $155 for sponsored dependent children.
While fees for caregiver programs did not see a hike in 2020, principal permanent residency applicants will have to pay an additional $20, $570 in total, beginning April 30.
The full list of fee increases is online.
The increase for inflation in 2020 was the first such change since 2002. At the time, the IRCC also argued the hikes were necessary to cover rising processing costs.
The government called a system "where most of the costs are borne by those who receive the services and benefit directly from them" a "cost-effective" solution.
It also pointed to even higher fees for similar immigration processes in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
