Vol. 140, No. 11 — May 31, 2006

Registration
SOR/2006-89 May 11, 2006

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Section 303 Fee)

P.C. 2006-365 May 11, 2006

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Treasury Board, pursuant to paragraph 19.1(a) (see footnote a) of the Financial Administration Act and, considering that it is in the public interest to do so, subsection 23(2.1) (see footnote b) of that Act, hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Section 303 Fee).

value	REGULATIONS AMENDING THE IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION REGULATIONS (SECTION 303 FEE)
	AMENDMENTS
	1. (1) Subsection 303(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:
Fee — $490	303. (1) A fee of $490 is payable by a person for the acquisition of permanent resident status.
	(2) Section 303 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):
Transitional — subsection (4)	(5) For the purpose of subsection (4), if the fee was paid before the day on which this subsection comes into force, the amount to be remitted and repaid — except to the extent otherwise remitted — is $975.
Transitional — remission	(6) Despite subsections (4) and (5), in the case where the fee of $975 was paid in accordance with paragraph (3)(a), a portion of that fee in the amount of $485 is remitted and shall be repaid — except to the extent otherwise remitted — by the Minister to the person who paid the fee if (a) the person in respect of whom the fee was paid has, on or before the day on which this subsection comes into force, not yet acquired permanent resident status and they are a person referred to in any of paragraphs 117(1)(a), (c), (d) or (h); or (b) the person in respect of whom the fee was paid acquires permanent resident status on or after the day on which this subsection comes into force and they are not a person referred to in any of paragraphs 117(1)(a), (c), (d) or (h).
	COMING INTO FORCE
	2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

The Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF), first introduced in 1995 as the Right of Landing Fee (ROLF), was based on the principle that individuals receiving a specific benefit over and above the services enjoyed by the general taxpayer should share in the financial burden related to the granting of this privilege. Originally, this fee was set at $975 and was required to be paid prior to visa issuance (overseas applicants), or prior to becoming a permanent resident (applicants in Canada). Since the fee is associated with the tangible and intangible benefits accruing to new permanent residents, the RPRF is repaid in full if the client is refused or chooses not to proceed with immigration.

Over the years, numerous measures have been taken to mitigate negative impacts:

— A loan option was introduced in 1995 to reduce the short-term financial impact on applicants

— Flexibility was introduced regarding the timing of payment in 1997

— The requirement to pay the RPRF was removed for refugees and protected persons in 2000

— The requirement to pay the RPRF was removed for dependent children, regardless of age or marital status, in 2002.

There is no direct linkage between the revenues generated from this fee and funding for integration programs. The RPRF is deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and is not available for re-spending by the Department.

This amendment is intended to ease the financial burden associated with immigrating to Canada.

What has changed

Section 303 of the IRP Regulations is amended as follows:

— Reduce the RPRF by approximately 50% for persons who are currently subject to the fee and who have not yet obtained permanent resident status

— Repay excess monies paid for the RPRF where:

Alternatives

There is no alternative to a regulatory framework that would permit a reduction of the RPRF and a repayment of the excess monies paid.

Benefits and Costs

Benefits

This measure will minimize the financial burden for applicants for permanent resident status.

Costs

Costs include $380M in foregone revenue over five years (for monies that will not be collected from new applicants) and a one time cost of approximately $89M in repayments for those applicants who have not yet become permanent residents as of the effective date. The cost to administer the repayments is estimated at $6M.

Consultation

There has been discussion surrounding the RPRF for a number of years. During the 2006 election campaign there was some support for varying the fee by immigrant, based on their financial situation and the socio-economic situation in their country of origin. There was also some support during the 2006 election to phase out the fee over the next three years. As well, in 2005, organizations representing immigrants called for an elimination of the fee at the Standing Committee hearings on Citizenship and Immigration.

Compliance and Enforcement

CIC has developed a comprehensive operational plan to ease implementation of this measure. Operational systems changes are anticipated to be ready in time for or shortly after the effective date. In order to manage expectations, the communications strategy will clearly articulate the population eligible for the repayment, the process they will need to follow to receive the repayment, the exchange rate and the anticipated length of time it will take before individuals can expect to receive it.

Gender-based analysis

The fee reductions will have positive impacts overall.

Lower-income women and men in the economic class, and young women and men, who have had less opportunity to accrue savings, will be positively affected. However, although mitigated, the remaining fee will continue to have a disproportionately negative impact on women and men from countries where rates of currency exchange are higher and average annual incomes are lower. While fee reduction will also be positive for live-in caregivers, who are overwhelmingly female, these permanent resident applicants are most likely to be the lowest-income earning in the economic class and most likely to take out an RPRF loan. The remaining fee will continue to have a differential impact on this group compared with other economic class groups.

Reduction of the RPRF for other social and humanitarian clients will have positive impacts and will lessen the financial impacts of immigration. More women than men are likely to experience obstacles to sponsorship, based on economic disadvantage. The remaining fee may remain an economic challenge and have a differential impact on those seeking family reunification as these clients are the most likely to require RPRF loans.

Only limited data is available to undertake an analysis of impacts by gender of the different categories at this time. Ongoing monitoring and analysis of this fee and the loans is necessary to assess the impacts by gender of the regulatory changes, in relation to sex, age, family composition and diversity, including their country of origin and their immigrant class.

Contact

Les Linklater
Director General
Immigration Branch
Jean Edmonds North Tower, 7th Floor
300 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1
FAX: (613) 941-9323

Footnote a

S.C. 1991, c. 24, s. 6

Footnote b

S.C. 1991, c. 24, s. 7(2)

Footnote 1

SOR/2002-227

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