Adjustment of Certain Costs Paid or Payable Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (April 1, 2019 to October 31, 2024) Remission Order: SI/2025-130
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 27
Registration
SI/2025-130 December 31, 2025
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT
Adjustment of Certain Costs Paid or Payable Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (April 1, 2019 to October 31, 2024) Remission Order
P.C. 2025-977 December 18, 2025
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, considering that the collection of the amounts is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, under subsection 23(2.1)footnote a of the Financial Administration Actfootnote b, remits the amounts of the annual adjustments — made under subsection 17(1) of the Service Fees Actfootnote c — to the costs paid or payable under section 243footnote d of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulationsfootnote e, as it read before April 1, 2025, for the period beginning on April 1, 2019 and ending on October 31, 2024.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order.)
Proposal
The Governor in Council, considering that collection of the debt is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, makes the Adjustment of Certain Costs Paid or Payable Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (April 1, 2019 to October 31, 2024) Remission Order [the Remission Order] pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act.
Objective
The objective of the Remission Order is to remit outstanding debts that resulted from the non-collection of inflation-based adjustments to certain fees charged by the Canada Border Services Agency between April 1, 2019, and October 31, 2024.
Background
The Canada Border Services Agency (the Agency) is responsible for providing integrated border services that support national security and public safety priorities and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods.
The majority of activities and services provided by the Canada Border Services Agency, such as processing travellers and examining goods entering Canada during regular business hours, are publicly funded. Other activities and services are managed on a cost-recovery basis and are subject to fees which may be set by agreement or by regulation.
The rates charged by the Agency for regulatory fees are based on a number of fee-setting regulations, including the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which detail the framework of fees (section 243) for the recovery of costs incurred by the Government of Canada as a result of the removal of foreign nationals deemed inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The Service Fees Act received royal assent in 2017 to increase transparency, accountability and predictability for fees charged by the Government of Canada. Pursuant to subsection 17(1) of the Service Fees Act, depending on specified criteria, certain fees are adjusted each fiscal year in accordance with the Consumer Price Index in order to account for inflation and to better reflect the costs of delivering services.
The Service Fees Act came into force in stages, with section 17 coming into force on April 1, 2018, effectively making 2019–2020 the first fiscal year for which Consumer Price Index adjustments to fees took effect. However, from April 1, 2019, to October 31, 2024, for the fees under section 243 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, the Canada Border Services Agency erroneously continued to collect fees in the amounts initially set out by the fee-setting regulations without adjusting annually by the Consumer Price Index. The Canada Border Services Agency does not have the authority to forego the revenues that would have been collected by charging the correct Consumer Price Index-adjusted rates. The foregone revenues represent a debt to the Government of Canada totalling $210,225.73 between fiscal years 2019–2020 and 2024–2025. The Agency began charging the correct Consumer Price Index-adjusted amounts on November 1, 2024.
Implications
Tables 1 to 6, below, provide details on the portions of the fees in section 243 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (as they existed prior to April 1, 2025, when a revised fee framework took effect) that are remitted through the Remission Order. Table 6 only shows transaction volumes from April 1, 2024, to October 31, 2024, as only these transactions were charged at the incorrect, unadjusted price.
Considering the transaction volumes for these fees, collection would be exceedingly administratively burdensome, as it would require isolating every transaction involving an applicable fee, calculating the amount owed (which is very small on a per-transaction level), and requesting and processing payment from each client. Additionally, clients are not responsible for the Agency having charged incorrect amounts. For these reasons, collection would be unreasonable and remission of these debts is the appropriate approach.
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 52 | $750 | $766.50 | $858.00 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 290 | $1,500 | $1,533.00 | $9,570.00 |
| Total for fiscal year 2019–2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $10,428.00 |
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 20 | $750 | $781.83 | $636.60 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 127 | $1,500 | $1,563.66 | $8,084.82 |
| Total for fiscal year 2020–2021 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $8,721.42 |
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 30 | $750 | $780.27 | $907.99 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 212 | $1,500 | $1,560.53 | $12,832.93 |
| Total for fiscal year 2021–2022 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $13,740.92 |
Note: Adjusted fee amounts for fiscal year 2021–2022 are lower than the previous year’s amounts due to the Consumer Price Index falling by 0.2% in April 2020 on a year-over-year basis.
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 40 | $750 | $806.80 | $2,271.82 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 262 | $1,500 | $1,613.59 | $29,760.79 |
| Total for fiscal year 2022–2023 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $32,032.60 |
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 28 | $750 | $861.66 | $3,126.41 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 350 | $1,500 | $1,723.31 | $78,160.24 |
| Total for fiscal year 2023–2024 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $81,286.65 |
| Fee name | Transaction volume (A) | Fee amount charged (B) | Adjusted fee amount (C) | Total foregone revenue ((C-B) x A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 18 | $750 | $899.57 | $2,692.27 |
| Recovery of removal costs payable by a foreign national previously removed from Canada at Her Majesty’s expense and for which the removal costs were not recovered from a transporter — for persons removed to any country other than the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon | 205 | $1,500 | $1,799.14 | $61,323.87 |
| Total for fiscal year 2024–2025 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $64,016.14 |
Accountability
All remissions associated with the Remission Order will be reported in the Canada Border Services Agency’s Fees Reports and Public Accounts.
Contact
Louis Desmeules
Director General
Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Planning and Resource Management Directorate
Finance and Corporate Management Branch
Canada Border Services Agency
Telephone: 438‑334‑5648
Email: Louis.Desmeules@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca