Quebec To Increase Application Fees In Line With Inflation

Colin R. Singer
December 17, 2021

Quebec will increase its immigration application fees in the new year to keep up with inflation in a move the province says is tied to the rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Statistics Canada, the country’s national agency responsible for providing data on demographics and the economy, reported earlier this month the country’s inflation rate stayed pat at 4.7 per cent in November, keeping it at the highest level in 18 years.

Due to those inflationary pressures, the francophone province of Quebec is going to raise its Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) fees by 2.64 per cent on Jan. 1 over the amounts charged in 2021.

The fees cover the Quebec immigration programs for skilled workers, business immigration, temporary workers and foreign students.

Other fees include those for labour market assessments, immigration consultants and credential recognition.

Consult the table below to compare the 2022 fees to those in 2021.

Quebec Immigration Application Fees, 2021 and 2022

		Up to Dec. 31, 2021	As of Jan. 1, 2022
PERMAMENT IMMIGRATION
Application for permanent selection
Business people	Investors	$15,962	$16,383
	Entrepreneur and self-employed worker	$1,113	$1,142
Skilled worker		$822	$844
Each accompanying family member of the principal applicant (except in the case of an application under the Investor Program)		$176	$181
Employer submitting a request for validation of a permanent job offer		$205	$210
Request for an undertaking as a guarantor of a foreign national of the family group
Commitment for the first foreign national		$293	$301
For each other foreign national		$117	$120

TEMPORARY IMMIGRATION
Application for temporary selection
Temporary worker		$205	$210
Employer requesting an assessment of the effects of the job offer on the Quebec labour market		$205	$210
Foreign student		$117	$120
Person in temporary stay for medical attention		$117	$120

IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT
Application for recognition as an immigration consultant		$1,702	$1,747
Request for renewal of recognition		$1,384	$1,421

CREDENTIAL RECOGNITION
Comparative evaluation of studies conducted outside Quebec		$123	$126

Quebec immigration plummeted by 37.8 per cent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, falling from 40,565 new permanent residents in 2019 to only 25,223 in 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) figures show.

Since then, immigration to the province has rebounded, rising to 39,550 new permanent residents in the first 10 months of 2021 alone. At that rate, the province could welcome more than 47,000 new permanent residents this year, or up 17 per cent from its pre-pandemic level in 2019.

The province plans to welcome up to 70,500 new immigrants in 2022, according to the latest Immigration Levels Plan. The figures include 52,500 newcomers under the previously announced plan, and 18,000 intended to make up the deficit of newcomers registered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quebec’s 2022 Immigration Levels Plan

	Results			Plan 2021		Forecast 2021			Plan 2022
	2019	2020	Rebalancing	MIN	MAX	MIN	MAX	Rebalancing	MIN	MAX
Economic	23,129	12,772	4,600	27,500	29,300	25,300	27,800	12,700	32,000	33,900
– Skilled Workers	19,098	11,477	3,500	22,900	24,200	23,500	25,600	12,700	27,400	28,800
– Business	3,387	1,106	1,000	4,000	4,300	1,800	2,100	0	4,000	4,300
– Other Economic	644	189	100	600	800	0	100	0	600	800
Family Reunification	9,686	7,792	1,550	9,700	10,200	11,000	11,400	1,000	10,200	10,600
Refugees	7,248	4,184	850	6,900	7,500	5,500	6,300	1,500	6,900	7,500
Other Immigrants	502	475	0	400	500	1,300	1,600	2,800	400	500
TOTAL	40,565	25,223	7,000	44,500	47,500	43,100	47,100	18,000	49,000	52,500