Report

Costing the Express Entry Immigration Process

Mar 7, 2023

This report estimates the cost of the three immigration streams of the federal Express Entry system for Canada excluding Quebec.

Highlights

This report estimates the cost of the three immigration streams of the federal Express Entry system for Canada excluding Quebec – Federal Skilled Workers, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades. Quebec uses a separate system, which is not covered in this report.
The fiscal costs arise from processing, pre-arrival services and post-arrival settlement services. Fees collected from immigration applicants recover some of these costs.
The goal for processing applications in the Express Entry system is to complete 80% of applications within 6 months.
The gross cost of meeting the processing goal is estimated at $792 million over 5 years. Fees would recover $743 million, resulting in a net total cost of $48 million.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) currently has more than enough staff to meet the processing time goal for all years of this costing.
The net cost per admitted Permanent Resident in 2022-23 is estimated to be $91. Costs in future years will vary due to inflation and other factors.