Canada Set To Hike Permanent Residency Fee By 12% From April 30

The dream of individuals aspiring to get a permanent residency in Canada is set to get expensive as the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a fee hike of approximately 12 per cent from the end of this month.

In a gazette notification issued on March 30, Canada’s Department of Citizenship and Immigration said the ‘right of permanent residence fee’ will be increased to Canadian Dollars (CAD) 575 from the existing CAD 515 from April 30, which amounts to a hike of around 12 per cent.

“The permanent residency (PR) fees will increase at 9:00:00 a.m. Eastern daylight time on April 30, 2024, by the cumulative percentage increase to the Consumer Price Index for Canada, published by Statistics Canada, for the two previous years, rounded to the nearest five dollars,” the notice said.

Getting permanent residency in Canada is akin to getting a green card in the US. It opens a pathway to getting Canadian citizenship. This specific amount is payable at the time of application for permanent residence.

However, Canada exempts this fee for dependent children to provide slight relief to families seeking permanent residency.

Moreover, Canada has also hiked fees for applications for Federal Skilled Workers, Provincial Nominee Program, Quebec Skilled Workers, Atlantic Immigration Class and most economic pilots (Rural, Agri-Food), and their spouses or common-law partners from CAD 850 to CAD 950. The fee for accompanying a dependent child has been increased from CAD 230 to CAD 260.

The fee for the Live-in Caregiver Program and caregivers pilots (Home Child Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot) and their spouses or common-law partners have been increased from CAD 570 to CAD 635. The fee for accompanying a dependent child has been increased from CAD 155 to CAD 175.

The fee for Business (federal and Quebec) have been from CAD 1,625 to CAD 1,810. Their accompanying spouse or common-law partner will have to pay CAD 950 instead of CAD 850, while application fees for their accompanying dependent child have been increased from CAD 230 to 260.

Under the family reunification immigration programme, the sponsorship fee, which applies to sponsors bringing in spouses/partners, children, parents, grandparents, and other relatives, has been raised from CAD 75 to CAD 85.

Moreover, the application fees for sponsored principal applicants in this stream will jump from CAD 490 to CAD 545, while for a sponsored child (principal applicant under 22 years old and not a spouse/partner) it will jump from CAS 75 to CAD 85.

According to IRCC data, 431,645 permanent residencies were issued to immigrants in Canada. Of this, 27 per cent of PRs were issued to Indians, who led the tally.

As per the immigration target levels announced in November 2024, Canada plans to welcome 4.85 lakh new PRs in 2024 and 5 lakh in 2025 (the numbers remain the same as those announced in the 2023-2025 plan).