Cost and speed of processing of applications for permanent residency - a comparison of immigration programs
Starting April 30, 2022, the Department of Immigration will charge fees at the new rates.
Starting April 30, anyone immigrating through the economic programs, with the exception of business immigration and the nanny and caregiver program, will have to pay $40 CAD more to Immigration Canada. A person applying for the federal program would pay $1,450 CAD for processing documents and biometric data. A family of two would pay $2,905 CAD. For each child an additional $230 CAD must be paid.
Since September 2021, there were no federal selections, only provincial nominees were invited to apply. And, judging by the minimum scores, they usually invited people who had already registered in the Express Entry pool. This meant that people paid both federal and provincial immigration program fees.
Four provinces do not charge for processing applications:
- Newfoundland and Labrador;
- Nova Scotia;
- Northwest Territories;
- Yukon.
See the table for the rest of the provinces:
| The Province | Filing fee for principal applicant, CAD |
| Alberta | 500 |
| British Columbia | 1150 |
| Manitoba | 500 |
| New Brunswick | 250 |
| Ontario | 1500 |
| Prince Edward Island | 300 |
| Quebec | 844 |
| Saskatchewan | 350 |
As for the processing time — the Ministry of Immigration has shown by the example of Ukrainians that it can work quite quickly. But Ukrainians get temporary resident status, they are not checked as thoroughly. And in the meantime, processing times for permanent residency applications are increasing.
New immigrants who have already obtained a PR card complain about the inadequate long wait time for the permanent residency card and the lack of transparency of the verification procedure. The person, already in Canada, cannot safely cross the national border because it is a violation without a PR card, and waits months for a letter.
The Ministry of Immigration, according to its own estimates, takes 28 months to process nominees from provinces and 22 months to process nominees from provinces registered with Express Entry. The estimated processing time for Skilled Worker nominees from Quebec is currently 31 months.
It only takes eight months to process Canadian Experience Class applications. Those who apply through the federal Skilled workers and Skilled trades programs have little chance — they have to wait 27 and 37 months, respectively.
