Certain Fees in Respect of the Replacement of Identity and Travel Documents (Reclaimed Names) Remission Order: SI/2021-23

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 155, Number 11

Registration
SI/2021-23 May 26, 2021

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

P.C. 2021-400 May 14, 2021

His Excellency the Administrator of the Government of Canada in Council, considering that it is in the public interest to do so, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) footnote a of the Financial Administration Act footnote b, makes the annexed Certain Fees in Respect of the Replacement of Identity and Travel Documents (Reclaimed Names) Remission Order.

Certain Fees in Respect of the Replacement of Identity and Travel Documents (Reclaimed Names) Remission Order

Interpretation

Definition of refugee travel document

1 In this Order, refugee travel document means a travel document issued under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, signed at Geneva on July 28, 1951, and the Protocol to that Convention, signed at New York on January 31, 1967.

Remission and Conditions

Certificate of identity or refugee travel document

2 Remission is granted of the fees paid or payable under subsection 2(1) of the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations for the issuance of a certificate of identity or refugee travel document if the following conditions are met:

Travel document — consular services

3 Remission is granted of the fees paid or payable under section 4 of the Consular Services Fees Regulations for the issuance of a travel document if the following conditions are met:

Permanent resident card

4 Remission is granted of the fees paid or payable under subsections 308(1) and (2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations for the processing of an application for a permanent resident card if the following conditions are met:

Certificate of citizenship

5 Remission is granted of the fees paid or payable under subsection 31(1) of the Citizenship Regulations for an application for a certificate of citizenship if the following conditions are met:

Coming into Force

Registration

6 This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

The Administrator in Council, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act, has made the Certain Fees in Respect of the Replacement of Identity and Travel Documents (Reclaimed Names) Remission Order (the Remission Order).

Objective

The purpose of the Remission Order is to remit the fees related to the issuance of certificates of identity, refugee travel documents, permanent resident cards, and citizenship certificates for Indigenous persons seeking to replace the above-mentioned documents with one that displays their reclaimed name, footnote 1 as detailed within Call to Action 17 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

The Remission Order encompasses fees payable by individuals who, between May 31, 2021, and May 30, 2026, request that their valid certificate of identity, refugee travel document, permanent resident card, or citizenship certificate be replaced with one that displays a reclaimed name. footnote 2

Background

In December 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada published its final report on the history and lasting impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system on Indigenous Survivors footnote 3 and their families. To redress the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation, the report calls on governments, educational and religious institutions, civil society groups, and all Canadians to act on the 94 Calls to Action that the report identifies. At the time of publication, the Prime Minister confirmed the Government of Canada's commitment to implement the recommendations of the Commission.

Call to Action 17 implicates Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in, among other things, calling for Indigenous Survivors and their families to be able to obtain government documents that display the bearer's reclaimed name:

By way of this Remission Order, the Government will enable Indigenous persons who hold a currently valid travel or identity document issued by IRCC, to replace said document with one displaying a reclaimed name at no cost. The objective of this Remission Order is consistent with the Government of Canada's broader commitment to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action.

Implications

General implications

A remission order is required to address any instance where a debt has been created in relation to fees that were not collected, but remain payable to the Crown. While the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has confirmed that no fee will be charged for the replacement of documents in line with Call to Action 17, under relevant regulations, certain fees are still payable. Pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act, this Remission Order is required to extinguish the debt resulting from the remission of the following fees:

The Remission Order covers fees payable by Indigenous persons who request to replace a valid certificate of identity, refugee travel document, permanent resident card, or citizenship certificate on or after May 31, 2021, and before May 30, 2026. Refugee travel documents, certificates of identity, and permanent resident cards must have at least 6 months of remaining validity at the time of application. Where applicable, the replacement document issued will bear the same expiry date as the original. footnote 5

IRCC has determined that it may be burdensome, traumatic, or otherwise problematic for individuals who are either survivors or descendants of residential school survivors to prove that a name change was imposed on them. As such, eligibility for this Remission Order has been broadened to include all Indigenous persons who wish to reclaim their name. In order to ensure the integrity of IRCC's identity records, individuals who request a document with a reclaimed name, will be asked to provide either a birth certificate (a revised birth certificate will be accepted) or a legal name change document showing the new name. This is similarly required of all clients in the event that they make a request to change their name on any IRCC-issued document. If the individual is unable to present such a document, statutory declarations that indicate a reclaimed name will be accepted for the purpose of replacing a citizenship certificate or permanent resident card, however, not for passports, certificates of identity or refugee travel documents. To be eligible for these, the applicant must supply a birth certificate (a revised birth certificate will be accepted) or a legal name change document showing the new name, in line with the approach taken for passports and travel documents for all other clients.

Financial implications

The projected number of document replacement requests is an estimated total, assessed based on the expected take-up of this measure. Data from provinces and territories that have implemented similar policies allowing Indigenous persons to obtain an amended birth certificate displaying a reclaimed name, have been used in developing client volume projections. footnote 6 However, the type of document (e.g. permanent resident card, citizenship certificate, or certificate of identity) that each applicant will request is unknown. Therefore, as a contingency measure, the anticipated foregone revenue amount has been estimated using the highest document fees applicable under the Remission Order, that is, the citizenship certificate fee ($75) and the fee for adult certificates of identity ($235). As it is unlikely that requests will be solely for citizenship certificates and adult certificates of identity, actual foregone revenue may be lower than this total.

Table 1: Foregone revenue
Document/service Projected number of document replacement requests Fee Estimated foregone revenue
Consular service fee levied on adult travel documents 262 $25 $6,550
Adult certificate of identity 37 $235 $8,695
Citizenship certificate 225 $75 $16,875
TOTAL N/A N/A $32,120
Table 2: Foregone revenue per department
Department Foregone revenue
IRCC $25,570
GAC $6,550
TOTAL $32,120

Accountability

All remissions, including the foregone revenue, associated with the Remission Order will be reported in the Public Accounts, as required by subsection 24(2) of the Financial Administration Act, and in the departmental fees reports, as required by the Service Fees Act.

The fee remittance only applies to document replacement applications related to a reclaimed name. It does not apply to other circumstances where document replacements may be sought. IRCC's electronic processing systems will track the number of clients who request a document replacement for this reason. Government officials will verify that replacement documents are issued only to individuals who are determined to be eligible based on holding a valid travel document, permanent resident card, or citizenship certificate.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA+)

As highlighted by the 2015 report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, many Indigenous people lost connection with their culture as a result of the residential school experience. It was common for residential school officials to give students new names. Indigenous people may also have had their names changed involuntarily by government officials who were unfamiliar with Indigenous naming conventions. footnote 7 Facilitating the process for survivors, their families, and descendants to reclaim ancestral names is a small step towards reconciling historical wrongs.

The Remission Order is expected to have a direct impact on Indigenous individuals whose current name reflects an imposed name change. The remission is applied irrespective of gender, sex, or age, and includes Canadian citizens and permanent residents. When implemented, this fee waiver will be communicated as broadly as possible to the client group and will aim to increase accessibility by focusing on providing barrier-free service.

While it is recognized that Indigenous characters are required for certain Indigenous names, the Global Case Management System utilized by IRCC is limited to accepting characters found in the Roman alphabet, inclusive of Roman characters with French accents. Due to this limitation, applicants reclaiming a name that contains characters found outside of the Roman alphabet, will be asked to provide an official translation. Applicants seeking a new document under a single name will be eligible to do so.

Consultation

The Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat, Finance Canada, Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Justice were consulted on this Remission Order. No concerns were raised about the remission of these fees.

Contact

Danielle Johnston
Acting Director
Passport Program Policy
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
180 Kent Street, 8th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1
Canada
Telephone: 613‑291‑1654