Moving to Canada can be expensive. Here is an example of a budget of an individual (roughly) outlining costs to immigrate to Canada as independent immigrants. Please note that the airline ticket price will depend on which airline you fly with.

Costs of Permanent Residence

To apply for permanent residence in Canada, applicants must pay application fees to the Government in Canada. They may also pay legal fees if they appoint a representative to handle their immigration. Costs are outlined below.

Legal fees

Matrixvisa legal fees are $5,000 and are split into 3 phases.

When an immigrant obtains a job offer, the 1st payment is payable in the country of residence (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Philippines, etc.), and the other 2 payments are generally made once in Canada.

In 2024, the legal fees rate in Canada for a permanent residence application (as a skilled worker) is $5,000 CAD. The stats can be seen on the Canadian Law Magazine here: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/cl-plus/data-reports/the-state-of-the-canadian-legal-fee-landscape-an-in-depth-report/389271.

Government application fees

• $950 application fee (per adult)
• $225 application fee (per child)
• $575 right of permanent residence fee (per adult)
• $170 biometric fees are payable for a family ($85 for an individual)

Other Costs

On top of legal fees and application fees, one must consider the cost for:

• medical examination (roughly $300 CAD per person)
• police clearances from all countries where applicant resided
• education credential assessment (ECA’s) where needed
• language test (for example IELTS or CELPIP)

Cost of Work Permit

Legal fees

If a person emigrates with a job offer, an application for a work permit is submitted because a permanent residence applications takes too long to process (6 to 24 months).

In 2024, the legal fees rate in Canada for a work permit application is $2,500 CAD. The stats can be seen on the Canadian Law Magazine here: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/cl-plus/data-reports/the-state-of-the-canadian-legal-fee-landscape-an-in-depth-report/389271.

Matrixvisa legal fees are $2,750 CAD and are split into 2 phases. The first phase is payable to start the application preparation, and the second phase is payable at submission.

Government fees

• $155 per adult
• $150 per school going child
• $100 per infant/toddler
• $170 for biometrics per family (or $85 for an individual)

Other Costs

On top of legal fees and application fees, one must consider the cost for:

• medical examination (roughly $300 CAD per person)
• police clearances from all countries where applicant resided

Our efforts

There was a high refusal rate of work permits and other types of applications at the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa. Many people suspected something was wrong with these types of applications. Matrixvisa obtained official statistics of these refusals.

See points 37- 43 at this link https://www.matrixvisa.com/about-us/ourefforts/ referring to the insight to these refusals.

We took the matter up with the Minister of Immigration via a large industry organization during 2019. We hope that the unfair refusals will be less of an issue and we are already seeing improvements.