"The passport program's base fee structure alone can no longer support the cost of program operations. Since the last time inflation was accounted for in program fees, the CPI increased by 14.5 per cent, leading to expenditures outpacing revenues by approximately $121 million in fiscal year 2024-25. The program is in the midst of a comprehensive fee structure review, which will result in options for fee adjustments to account for the true cost of operations."
"Altogether, the adjustment formulas do not account for roughly 85 percent of the passport program cost of operations. Several costs aren't considered in the current passport fee structure, including program support expenses such as salaried employees, processing costs for domestic delivery of passports as well as information technology costs."
Canadian passport fees will rise by 2.7 percent on March 31, 2025, with a five-year passport in Canada increasing to $123.24 and a ten-year passport outside Canada to $267.02. The government has adopted an order-in-council to tie passport prices to the consumer price index going forward. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada indicates this is preliminary, as the passport program faces a $121 million revenue shortfall in fiscal year 2024-25. The department is conducting a comprehensive fee structure review to account for operational costs not currently reflected in pricing, including employee salaries, domestic delivery processing, and information technology expenses. These uncounted costs represent approximately 85 percent of total program operations. Critics express concern about affordability impacts on residents.
#canadian-passport-fees #consumer-price-index-indexing #government-pricing-policy #program-cost-recovery
Read at www.cbc.ca
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