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Canada will raise its permanent residence and citizenship application fees for foreign nationals including Nigerians from April 30, in what the country’s immigration authority describes as a routine inflationary adjustment but which will add to the financial burden on thousands of applicants already navigating one of the world’s most competitive immigration systems.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada published the new fee schedule on its official website, setting out increases across multiple immigration categories that take effect for all applications received on or after April 30. Applications submitted before that date will be processed at the current rates.
The increases are modest in percentage terms but meaningful in the context of what Canadian immigration already costs. The Right of Permanent Residence Fee — a charge separate from processing fees, paid by applicants who have been approved and are formally taking up permanent resident status — rises by $25, from $575 to $600. The Provincial Nominee Programme, a pathway through which provinces select skilled workers to meet local labour market needs, increases by $40, from $950 to $990.
Business Class applicants will face the steepest absolute increase, with fees moving from $1,810 to $1,895, a jump of $85. Family Class applications — covering spouses, partners, dependent children and other relatives sponsored by Canadian residents — rise by $25, from $545 to $570. Protected Persons and those applying on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds or under Public Policy Measures each see a $25 increase, moving from $635 to $660. Permit Holders face a $15 rise, from $375 to $390.
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The citizenship fee adjustment has already taken effect, with the Right of Citizenship Fee rising from $119.75 to $123 as of March 31, 2026 — an increase of approximately 2.7 percent.
IRCC said the increases are driven by the need to maintain timely and reliable service delivery and to keep pace with inflation. Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, permanent residence fees are reviewed and adjusted every two years to offset programme costs and respond to growing application volumes. The framing positions the hikes as administrative maintenance rather than policy change — a distinction that matters less to applicants calculating what they need to save before submitting their files.
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For Nigerian applicants, for whom Canadian permanent residence has become an increasingly pursued pathway amid economic pressures at home, the fee increases arrive on top of existing costs that already run into hundreds of thousands of naira when converted at current exchange rates. The naira’s significant depreciation since the removal of fuel subsidies and the exchange rate unification introduced by the Tinubu administration in 2023 has made dollar and Canadian dollar-denominated fees substantially more expensive in local currency terms, even when the nominal foreign currency amounts increase only modestly.
Canada remains among the top destinations for Nigerian emigrants, drawing professionals in healthcare, technology, engineering and other skilled fields through pathways including Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Programme and family sponsorship. The volume of Nigerian applications to IRCC has grown steadily over the past several years, a trend that shows no sign of reversing regardless of marginal fee adjustments.
The April 30 deadline gives prospective applicants approximately one month to submit under current rates, an incentive that is likely to accelerate filings from those who are close to application-ready but had not yet committed to a submission date.
