The once welcoming haven for immigrants, Canada is set to enforce a 12% hike in application fees for permanent residency (PR) seekers. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration issued a notice, published in the Canadian Gazette on March 30, detailing the fee adjustments, which will come into effect at 9:00:00 am EDT on April 30.
The fee revisions, pegged to current inflation rates, affect various PR application categories. For instance, the permanent residency fee, excluding dependent children, will rise from 515 Canadian dollars (CAD) to 575 CAD.
Under Canada’s immigration plan for 2024-2026, the country aims to admit over 1.1 lakh Federal Skilled Workers and Provincial Nominee Programme applicants annually. The application fees for these categories, including accompanying spouses or common-law partners, will increase from 850 CAD to 950 CAD. Similarly, candidates under the Quebec Skilled Workers, Atlantic Immigration Class, and Economic Pilots programs will face a fee hike to 950 CAD.
Moreover, fees for accompanying dependent children will be raised to 260 CAD from the existing 230 CAD.
Family reunification, a vital immigration category allowing permanent residents to sponsor family members, will also witness fee increases. Sponsorship fees for individuals aged 18 and over will rise from 75 CAD to 85 CAD. Additional fees for various categories within family reunification, ranging from 175 CAD to 635 CAD, will also see increments.
This fee adjustment comes shortly after Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s announcement of plans to grant permanent residency to individuals seeking family reunification in Quebec, despite the province’s restrictive application cap, which he criticized as “artificially low.”
