President of the Treasury Board’s Fees Report for the 2024–25 Fiscal Year

Fees set by contract

Table 2 shows the top 10 departments that had the most revenue generated by fees set by contract and the total revenue generated by these fees for all other departments.

In the 2024–25 fiscal year, the Government of Canada collected $4,121,946,140 in fees set by contract, compared with $4,190,410,922 in 2023–24, representing a decrease of $68,464,782 (1.6%).

Fees set by market rate or auction

Table 3 lists the department that reported revenue generated by fees set by market rate or auction during the 2024–25 fiscal year.

In the 2024–25 fiscal year, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada reported revenue of $1,710,036,731 in fees set by market rate or auction, which is $1,256,765,864 (277%) more than the $453,270,867 in total revenue that was reported in the 2023–24 fiscal year. This increase from last year is mainly due to revenue generated from a spectrum licencing auction held in 2023–24, which is reflected in the 2024–2025 fiscal year.

Fees set by act, regulation or fees notice

In the 2024–25 fiscal year, the Government of Canada collected $5,054,570,318 in revenue from fees set by act, regulation or fees notice. This represents an increase of $227,392,241 (4.7%) from the 2023–24 fiscal year. The following section provides departmental explanations of the variances highlighted for departments listed in Table 4, which include, among others, changes in demand or volume and increases to amounts collected as a result of annual adjustments.

Table 4 highlights, for fees set by act, regulation or fees notice:

• the top 10 departments for revenue generated during the 2024–25 fiscal year, which accounted for 90% of all revenue collected;
• the consolidated data for all other departments;
• the variances between the last two fiscal years.

Following are explanations of the variances indicated in Table 4, as provided by the departments.

1. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s decrease in revenues from immigration service fees in 2024–25 is mainly attributable to the imposition of intake caps on temporary workers and international students to support the goal of reducing non-permanent residents, combined with a reduction in permanent residence.

2. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s revenues for fees set by act, regulations or fees notices increased by 9% from the previous year. This growth was driven by a higher volume of applications, enhanced operational capacity, and adjustments to fees linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Notably, the Competition Bureau Canada saw a rise in their requests; the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada saw a steady increase in filings since 2021–22 and is now generating corresponding levy revenues; and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office experienced increased revenues driven by higher activity in trademarks, patents, and industrial designs, largely attributable to strengthened operational capacity and higher renewal fees. Additionally, revenue increases in the Spectrum management and telecommunications sector reflect the higher fees introduced mid-way through the previous year, with the full effect realized in 2024–25.

3. Health Canada

Health Canada’s increase in revenues is mainly attributed to legislative annual fee adjustments.

4. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) adjusts fees each year to fully recover its actual costs, so any variance in OSFI’s fees revenue is mainly due to increases in its operating costs. Although OSFI’s total number of assessments remained stable, the cost per individual assessment increased in 2024–25.

5. Parks Canada

The variance between 2023–24 and 2024–25 is mainly due to the adjustment of Parks Canada fees on January 1, 2024, based on the two-year cumulative change in the annual CPI, as published by Statistics Canada, in accordance with the SFA. Most visitor services occur during the summer months of June to September. Additionally, the number of visitors experiencing Parks Canada places continues to increase.

6. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s increase in revenue is attributable to higher cost recovery amounts, driven largely by increases in salaries and other expenses.

7. Employment and Social Development Canada

Employment and Social Development Canada’s revenue dropped mainly because fewer employers used the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. As the labour market loosened in 2024, the government rolled back the pandemic‑era measures from 2022, which limited access to the Program, especially for low‑wage jobs. This led to fewer Labour Market Impact Assessments being processed.

8. Canadian Energy Regulator

The Canada Energy Regulator is funded through parliamentary appropriations. The Government of Canada recovers most of these appropriations from the regulated industry. Revenues are deposited to the Receiver General for Canada’s account and credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The process is regulated by the National Energy Board Cost Recovery Regulations. Revenues shown are based on the actual costs incurred in the fiscal year. Year-over-year variances are primarily driven by changes in recoverable expenditures, including salaries and operating expenses.

9. Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs Canada’s increase in revenue is primarily a result of a continued increase in demand for passports. The passport service fee includes the consular services fee.

10.  Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) collects fees to cover the costs of regulating the broadcasting and telecommunications industries. In 2024–25, CRTC’s revenue increased compared to the previous fiscal year, mostly due to the coming into force of amendments to the Broadcasting Act and the Broadcasting Fees Regulations. These changes expanded the scope of the CRTC’s broadcasting regulatory activities and broadened the base of fee payers. Additionally, the ratification of various collective agreements during fiscal year 2023–24 increased the CRTC’s operating costs, which also contributed to some of the revenue increase in 2024–25.

Service Fees Act annual adjustment

Subsection 17(1) of the SFA requires responsible authorities to adjust their applicable fees each fiscal year by the percentage change over 12 months in the April CPI for all items for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada.

The 2024–25 Departmental Fees Reports include a CPI adjustment, based on the CPI for April 2023 of 4.4% for applicable fees.

Periodic adjustment

A periodic fee adjustment is made pursuant to an act of Parliament or a regulation and is applied according to an established frequency, based on a specific rate, formula or other factor, other than the adjustment rate set out in subsection 17(1) of the SFA.

Service standards

To improve services to fee payers, the SFA requires that applicable fees have an established service standard. A service standard is a public commitment to provide a service in a way that is measurable and relevant to fee payers under normal circumstances.

The Low-Materiality Fees Regulations establish criteria that define what low-materiality fees are and which fees are not required by the SFA to establish service standards to provide a more cost-effective way for departments to administer low-materiality fees.

Table 5 shows the number of fees set by act, regulation or fees notice in 2024–25, broken down by the application of sections 4 to 7 of the SFA and whether a service standard applies.

Of the 3,516 fees that require service standards under the SFA, departments reported that, as of March 31, 2025, 3,183 (91%) fees had existing service standards. Departments continue to work toward establishing service standards for their remaining fees to comply with the SFA.

For departments that charge fees set by act, regulation or fees notice, information about service standards and corresponding performance results can be found in the “Details on each fee set by act, regulation or fees notice” section of their Departmental Fees Reports.

Remissions

To ensure accountability for departmental service standards, the SFA introduced a requirement for remissions, which is a partial or full return of a fee to a fee payer when a department deems that the relevant service standard was not met. Departments must issue the remission before July 1 of the following fiscal year, in accordance with their remission policy.

Departments are required to develop policies and procedures to determine whether a service standard has been met and what portion of a fee will be remitted to a fee payer when a service standard is deemed not met, according to the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities. Departmental remission policy and procedures must be available to the public.

Other Treasury Board policies and directives may require the establishment of service standards (e.g., Directive on Service and Digital); however, those requirements are not related to remission requirements under the SFA.

Authorities to remit

With regard to fees, three authorities allow departments to remit fees under different circumstances. They are as follows.

Authority to remit pursuant to the Service Fees Act

Subsection 7(2) of the SFA provides the authority to remit the appropriate portion of a fee only when a service standard in relation to that fee has been deemed not met. The remission is to be made in accordance with the Treasury Board Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities and the departmental remission policy.

Authority to remit pursuant to the Financial Administration Act

Departments may submit a Treasury Board submission to the Governor in Council in order to obtain an authority to remit pursuant to the Financial Administration Act (FAA). If granted, the authority may be provided for a specific fee or for a designated period. This type of authority is sought for matters other than the authority provided by the SFA. In other words, it could be for reasons other than a service standard that was deemed not met.

Authority to remit pursuant to other acts of Parliament

Certain departments have received an authority to remit fees pursuant to their enabling act or acts and may remit depending on the context and the wording in the act and related regulations, which may be for reasons other than a service standard that was deemed not met.

The 2024–25 Departmental Fees Reports include remissions issued under departments’ enabling legislation, the FAA or remissions issued under the authority of the SFA.

Remissions issued

Table 6 shows the 10 departments that had the largest reported amounts in remissions issued in 2024–25 and total remissions issued by all other departments. The amounts include remissions from the authority delegated pursuant to the SFA, FAA and other acts of Parliament.