Remission Order for Certain Fees Under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023): SI/2024-5
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 4
Registration
SI/2024-5 February 14, 2024
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT
Remission Order for Certain Fees Under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023)
P.C. 2024-76 January 30, 2024
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, considering that the collection of certain amounts is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, under subsection 23(2.1)footnote a of the Financial Administration Act footnote b, remits the amount of the adjustment of the fees set out in column 2 of subparagraphs 1(a)(i) and (ii), (b)(i) and (ii), paragraphs 2(a) and (b) and items 3 to 6 of the schedule to the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations footnote c, by operation of sections 4 to 10 of those Regulations during the period beginning on April 1, 2020 and ending on March 31, 2023.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order.)
Proposal
The Governor in Council, considering that the collection of the debt is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (the Minister), has made the Remission Order for Certain Fees Under the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023) [the Remission Order] pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act (FAA).
Objective
The purpose of the Remission Order is to remit any outstanding debts resulting from the non-collection of passport fee increases between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2023.
Background
The Passport Program (the Program) is funded by application and service fees collected from applicants. The Revolving Funds Act establishes the Passport Canada Revolving Fund, which enables the Minister to re-spend fee revenues on the delivery of passport services and to carry over any unspent revenues into subsequent fiscal years. In order to comply with the FAA, the fees for passport services must not exceed the costs associated with the delivery of those services.
The Treasury Board has authorized the Passport Canada Revolving Fund to operate on a 10-year business cycle, which means that revenues and costs must balance out at the end of every 10 years. A new fee structure was published in the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations (the Regulations) in 2012 and took effect in 2013. The fees were based on demand and cost forecasts for a full 10-year business cycle, from April 1, 2013, through March 31, 2023, including accounting for projected inflation at an average of 2% per annum.
To account for the uncertainties of costs outside of the Program’s control, such as mail and courier rates, the Regulations also include a formula for adjusting fees up or down each year, as appropriate. The adjustment formula took effect on April 1, 2016, and requires fees to be assessed each fiscal year and adjusted annually, as required.
However, between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2023, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (the Department or IRCC) decided not to change the fee amount that it collected for each service according to the annual adjustment formula and, instead, to maintain the original fee structure as established in the Regulations. This decision was based on the Department’s assessment that the adjustment formula did not accurately reflect actual program costs at the time and that the inclusion of general inflation in the 2013 fees meant that any increased costs to deliver the Program were largely mitigated. Furthermore, in the first half of the business cycle, the Passport Canada Revolving Fund had accumulated a significant surplus, which was projected to sustain operations through the end of the cycle. An increase to fees at a time when the Program had sufficient resources to cover its current and projected costs was deemed to be unfair to clients and inconsistent with cost-recovery provisions of the FAA.
Beginning in 2018–2019, the Department noted in its annual public Fees Reports that it would keep passport fees constant until the end of the 10-year passport business cycle on March 31, 2023, and address the fee formula’s effects by seeking a remission order under subsection 23(2.1) of the FAA. That provision allows the Governor in Council to remit any debt owing to the Crown, on the grounds that the collection of the debt is unreasonable or unjust, or that it is otherwise in the public interest to remit the debt. In this case, the collection of the debt is considered unreasonable, given that the adjustment to the fees was not necessary to cover the costs of delivering passport services during that time. The amount that would be recovered from each applicant would be of low-dollar value, and the amount of time that has elapsed since the services were delivered could make contacting those applicants more difficult.
Implications
The non-collection of the fee adjustments resulted in foregone revenue for three fiscal years: from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2023. The total cost of foregone revenues from remitting fees payable to the Crown for the period of 2020–2023 is $53,038,851.
| Fee waived / Service provided | Volume | Amount collected as per the fee set in 2012 | Adjusted fee | Total foregone revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 10-year validity | 19 568 | $235 | $265 | $587,040 |
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 7 034 | $165 | $186 | $147,714 |
| Child regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 30 610 | $100 | $112 | $367,320 |
| Total | $1,102,074 | |||
| Fee waived / Service provided | Volume | Amount collected as per the fee set in 2012 | Adjusted fee | Total foregone revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 10-year validity | 29 176 | $235 | $283 | $1,400,448 |
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 10 373 | $165 | $199 | $352,682 |
| Child regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 45 662 | $100 | $120 | $913,240 |
| Total | $2,666,370 | |||
| Fee waived / Service provided | Volume | Amount collected as per the fee set in 2012 | Adjusted fee | Total foregone revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult regular passport, in-Canada service, 10-year validity | 1 773 996 | $135 | $151 | $28,383,936 |
| Adult regular passport, in-Canada service, 5-year validity | 197 995 | $95 | $106 | $2,177,945 |
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 10-year validity | 51 756 | $235 | $341 | $5,486,136 |
| Adult regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 12 242 | $165 | $239 | $905,908 |
| Child regular passport, in-Canada service, 5-year validity | 1 383 058 | $57 | $64 | $9,681,406 |
| Child regular passport, outside Canada service, 5-year validity | 56 124 | $100 | $144 | $2,469,456 |
| Adult certificate of identity | 361 | $235 | $251 | $5,776 |
| Child certificate of identity | 22 | $141 | $151 | $220 |
| Adult refugee travel document | 13 915 | $95 | $106 | $153,065 |
| Child refugee travel document | 937 | $57 | $64 | $6,559 |
| Total | $49,270,407 | |||
Accountability
All remissions associated with the Remission Order will be reported in the IRCC Fees Reports and IRCC Public Accounts, as required.
Consultation
The Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat, Finance Canada and Justice Canada were consulted on this initiative.
Contact
Lisa Bokwa
Senior Director
Passport Program Policy
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
180 Kent, 8th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1