Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
Last verified: June 2026 · Source: justice.gc.ca
315 A fee of $50 is payable for processing an application for a travel document issued under subsection 31(3) of the Act.
Justice Laws is the authoritative version. If this copy and it ever differ, Justice Laws wins.
Each of these is its own section of the Regulations, numbered after section 315.
What that means
Giving your fingerprints and photo costs $85 in service fees, and a family applying together pays no more than $170, however many of you there are. A performing group of three or more applying at once has its own cap. Refugee applicants from abroad and their family members pay nothing, and neither do several other narrow groups. The fee covers the collection service, not the application it supports.
The law says
(1)A fee of $85 is payable for the provision of services in relation to the collection of biometric information under section 10.01 of the Act.
Exemptions
(2)The following persons are not required to pay the fee referred to in subsection (1):
Maximum fee
(3)The total amount of fees payable under subsection (1) is
What that means
An employer asking Employment and Social Development Canada to assess a job offer pays $1,000. The fee is due when the request goes in, and it is charged per offer rather than per request. Farm work is carved out. Nothing is payable for seasonal agricultural work under an international agreement. The same goes for other primary agriculture work done on a farm, in a nursery or in a greenhouse. Two care situations are free as well. One is in-home care for someone who cannot look after themselves and holds a medical certificate. The other is in-home care for children under 13, where the employer lives with the child and household income is below the set threshold.
The law says
(1)A fee of $1,000 is payable for the provision of services in relation to an assessment from the Department of Employment and Social Development that is requested by an employer or group of employers under subsection 203(2) for each offer of employment in respect of which the request is made.
Payment
(2)The fee must be paid at the time the request is made.
Exceptions — agricultural work
(3)No fee is payable if the request is made in respect of an offer of employment that relates to
Primary agriculture sector
(4)For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), work in the primary agriculture sector means, subject to subsection (5), work that is performed within the boundaries of a farm, nursery or greenhouse and involves
Exclusions
(5)Work in the primary agriculture sector does not include work involving
Exception — care for medical needs
(6)No fee is payable if
Exception — care for children
(7)No fee is payable if the request is made in respect of an offer of employment that relates to work performed in a private household providing care to children under 13 years of age, by an employer who meets the following conditions:
What that means
Canada and the United States trade immigration data about people who are citizens of neither country. Sharing is limited to three purposes. The first is helping decide an application for a visa, an eTA, a permit or protected person status. The second is checking whether someone can travel to or stay in either country. The third is keeping the data accurate. Answering an American query is narrower still. It covers only people previously found inadmissible, which means not allowed to enter or stay. It also covers people who did not meet the Act's requirements, and other listed situations.
The law says
(1)The Minister may disclose information to the Government of the United States in making a query to that Government, or in response to a query made by that Government, only for the following purposes:
Response to query — limitation
(2)In the case of a response to a query made by the Government of the United States, the Minister may disclose information only in respect of any of the following nationals of a third country:
What that means
Only three kinds of data can cross the border under this arrangement. The first is identity data. It covers name and aliases, date and country of birth, and gender. Citizenship and travel document number are included too. The second is biometric data, meaning a photograph and fingerprints. The third applies only when answering an American query, and only once the identity or biometric data make a match. It covers immigration status and past decisions. If the person is claiming refugee protection in the United States, Canada can share only information about their applications for visas, permits or other benefits. The Minister can refuse to answer at all where doing so would clash with Canadian law or harm national interests.
The law says
(1)Only information belonging to the following information categories in respect of a national of a third country may be disclosed:
Refugee claim — limitation on disclosure of data
(2)In the case of a response to a query made by the Government of the United States in respect of a national of a third country making a refugee claim in the United States, only information related to an application for a permanent or temporary resident visa, a work or study permit or another immigration benefit under federal immigration legislation may be disclosed.
Accuracy and reliability
(3)The disclosure must be made in a manner that ensures the accuracy and reliability of the information in question.
Refusal to disclose
(4)If the Minister determines that disclosing information in response to a query would be inconsistent with domestic law or detrimental to national sovereignty, national security, public policy, or other important national interests, the Minister may refuse to provide all or part of the available information or offer to provide all or part of the information subject to any terms and conditions that he or she may specify.
What that means
Errors must be corrected. If Canada learns that something it sent the United States was wrong, it has to notify them and send the correction. When a correction comes the other way, Canada fixes its records and tells the Americans it is done, then destroys the bad information as soon as it can. There is one exception. Information already used to make a decision about someone stays on file, with a note recording that it was inaccurate.
The law says
(1)If the Minister is made aware that previously disclosed information is inaccurate, the Minister must notify the Government of the United States and provide correcting information.
Notification of correction and destruction of inaccurate information
(2)If the Minister receives correcting information from the Government of the United States, the Minister must notify that Government once the necessary corrections have been made and, unless the information was used for an administrative purpose, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, any inaccurate information and any information derived from that inaccurate information must be destroyed as soon as feasible.
Note to file
(3)If inaccurate information has been used for an administrative purpose, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, a note must be placed in the file to that effect.
What that means
This rule is housekeeping. It covers the asylum information arrangement with the United States. Anything Canada shares under it has to move the way the arrangement's own article on disclosure sets out. It cannot go through some improvised channel. Whoever sends it must also make sure it is accurate and reliable before it goes.
The law says
(1)The disclosure of information must be made in accordance with article 6 of the Asylum Annex.
Accuracy and reliability
(2)The disclosure must be made in a manner that ensures the accuracy and reliability of the information in question.
What that means
The same correction duty applies to asylum and refugee status information shared with US Homeland Security. Whenever Canada learns something it sent was wrong, it notifies them and sends the corrected version. When Homeland Security corrects something, Canada fixes its records and confirms it is done, then destroys the inaccurate data as soon as it can. The exception is data already used to decide something, and in that case a note goes in the file instead.
The law says
(1)If the Minister is made aware that previously disclosed information is inaccurate, the Minister must notify the Department of Homeland Security of the United States and provide correcting information.
Notification of correction and destruction of inaccurate information
(2)If the Minister receives correcting information from the Department of Homeland Security of the United States, the Minister must notify that Department once the necessary corrections have been made and, unless the information was used for an administrative purpose, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, any inaccurate information and any information derived from that inaccurate information must be destroyed as soon as feasible.
Note to file
(3)If inaccurate information has been used for an administrative purpose, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, a note must be placed in the file to that effect.
What that means
Canada can only ask a partner country under these rules about someone in two situations. The first is to help assess that person's application or claim here, and the second is to check whether they can travel to, enter or stay in Canada. One protection is absolute. If someone has claimed refugee protection and says they were persecuted in one of those countries, Canada must not query that country about them.
The law says
(1)The Minister may make a query to another party only for the following purposes:
Limitation
(2)The Minister must not make a query to another party in respect of a person who has made a claim for refugee protection or an application for protection if the person has alleged persecution in that party’s country.
What that means
Going the other way, Canada answers a query from a partner country for only four purposes. The first is their assessment of a visa or immigration application, and the second is whether the person can enter their territory. The third is a citizenship application, and the fourth is a refugee claim made there by a Canadian permanent resident. What can be sent is limited to identity data, a photograph, and information about the immigration matter. Identity data means details such as name, date of birth, gender and country of birth. Sometimes the Minister must refuse. That happens where answering would break Canadian law or damage national interests.
The law says
(1)The Minister may disclose information in response to a query made by another party only for the following purposes:
Contents of disclosure
(2)The Minister may disclose to the requesting party the following information in relation to the national of a third country or the permanent resident of Canada:
Refusal to disclose
(3)If the Minister determines that the disclosure of information to another party in response to a query would be inconsistent with domestic law or would be detrimental to national sovereignty, national security, public policy or other important national interests, the Minister must refuse to provide all or part of the available information.
What that means
If Canada sent a partner country something inaccurate, it has to tell them as soon as it can and provide the correct information. When one of them sends Canada a correction, Canada has to make the fix promptly and confirm back that it is done. Both duties sit with Canada's Minister. The rule holds the Minister to acting as soon as feasible, not at a convenient time.
The law says
(1)If the Minister becomes aware that information that he or she disclosed in response to a query is inaccurate, the Minister must, as soon as feasible, notify the party to which he or she disclosed the information of the error and provide correcting information.
Correction of inaccurate information
(2)If the Minister receives information from another party correcting information previously disclosed by that party in response to a query, the Minister must, as soon as feasible, make the necessary correction and notify the other party once it has been made.
What that means
Anything Canada receives back from one of these countries is kept or destroyed under Canadian law, not under theirs. Fingerprints get a stricter rule. The moment the search triggered by a query is finished, they have to be destroyed, whether or not it turned up a match.
The law says
(1)The Minister must retain or dispose of any information obtained in response to a query in accordance with the laws of Canada.
Destruction of fingerprints
(2)The Minister must, immediately after completion of the information search triggered by the receipt of a query, destroy any fingerprints submitted as part of the query, regardless of whether a match is identified.