Canada work permit visa fees 2026 — complete cost breakdown

The advertised government fee for a Canadian work permit is CAD $155, but that number tells you almost nothing about what applicants actually spend. Between biometrics, employer-side LMIA charges, country-specific Visa Application Centre fees, medical exams, and document translation, the real total can range from under $400 for a straightforward US applicant to well over $2,000 for someone applying from India or the Philippines with a Labour Market Impact Assessment in play. This guide breaks down every line item — government fees, employer costs, VAC service charges, medical exams, and translation — so you know what you're budgeting for before you start the application.

Government fees: the baseline cost every applicant pays

Every work permit application filed with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada carries a CAD $155 processing fee. That's the core charge, non-negotiable, paid online when you submit the application through the IRCC portal. It covers the cost of reviewing your application, conducting background checks, and issuing the permit if approved. The fee is the same whether you're applying for an employer-specific work permit tied to a single job offer or an open work permit that lets you work for any employer in Canada.

Most applicants also pay an $85 biometrics fee. Biometrics — fingerprints and a digital photo — are required for nationals of most countries outside the visa-exempt list (US, UK, EU, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and a handful of others are exempt). You pay the biometrics fee at the same time as the work permit fee, and it's valid for 10 years across multiple applications. If you gave biometrics for a previous Canadian visa or work permit within the last decade, you don't pay again.

If you're applying for an open work permit and you already hold a valid work permit in Canada, you pay an extra $100 open work permit holder fee. This applies to extensions and renewals of open work permits — for example, spouses of skilled workers renewing their spousal open work permits, or Post-Graduation Work Permit holders switching to a bridging open work permit while waiting for permanent residence. First-time open work permit applicants from outside Canada typically don't pay this fee; it's triggered when you're already in Canada on a work permit and applying for a new open one.

Add those up: $155 + $85 + $100 (if applicable) = $340 in direct government fees for most applicants. That's before you leave your home country.

Official current fee schedules are published at canada.ca/immigration-fees.

Employer-side costs: the $1,000 LMIA fee and compliance

If your job offer requires a Labour Market Impact Assessment, your employer pays a CAD $1,000 LMIA application fee to Employment and Social Development Canada. The applicant doesn't pay this fee directly, but it shapes the hiring landscape — especially after the 2026 Temporary Foreign Worker Program cuts reduced LMIA approvals by 37%. Employers now face tighter scrutiny, longer processing times, and higher rejection rates, which makes some hesitant to sponsor foreign workers at all.

The $1,000 LMIA fee is per position, not per worker. If an employer is hiring five workers for the same role at the same location under a single LMIA application, they pay $1,000 total. If they're hiring workers for different roles or different locations, each LMIA costs $1,000. The fee is non-refundable — if the LMIA is denied, the employer loses the money.

Beyond the LMIA fee itself, employers incur other costs: recruitment advertising (ESDC requires proof the employer tried to hire Canadians first), legal or consultant fees if they're using an immigration lawyer or Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant to prepare the LMIA, and administrative time tracking the application. Those costs can easily double or triple the $1,000 fee, which is why many employers are shifting toward LMIA-exempt pathways like intra-company transfers, CUSMA work permits for US and Mexican nationals, or hiring candidates already in Canada on Post-Graduation Work Permits.

Applicants don't write a cheque for the LMIA fee, but they feel its impact. A job offer contingent on LMIA approval is less certain than an LMIA-exempt offer, and in 2026's tighter approval environment, that uncertainty is real.

More on LMIA requirements and employer obligations at canada.ca/foreign-workers.

VAC service fees: the country-specific charges that add up

Visa Application Centres are third-party contractors that collect biometrics, receive paper documents, and forward applications to IRCC on behalf of applicants in countries where Canada doesn't operate a visa office. The VAC charges a service fee on top of the government's $155 processing fee, and that fee varies widely by country. IRCC doesn't set these fees — the VAC operator does — so there's no standardized global rate.

In India, VFS Global (the VAC operator) charges approximately CAD $40-50 per applicant as a service fee, plus optional courier charges if you want your passport returned by courier instead of picking it up in person. In the Philippines, the VAC service fee is around CAD $35-45. In Nigeria, it's closer to CAD $50-60. These fees are mandatory if you're applying from one of those countries — you can't bypass the VAC and submit directly to IRCC.

The VAC fee covers biometric collection (the actual fingerprinting and photo), document handling, and forwarding your application to the Canadian visa office that has jurisdiction over your country. If you're submitting a paper application (less common now, but still required for some work permit categories), the VAC also photocopies and scans your documents. None of this is free.

For applicants from India, the Philippines, or Nigeria, budget an extra $40-60 for VAC fees. US applicants applying online typically don't pay VAC fees because they submit digitally and attend a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center (ASC) in the US, which doesn't charge separately. That's one reason US-based applicants often see lower total costs.

VAC fees aren't listed on canada.ca — you find them on the VAC operator's website for your country, and they're usually quoted in local currency. Convert to CAD when budgeting.

Medical exam costs: $150-450 depending on the panel physician

Work permit applicants from certain countries or applying for certain occupations must complete an Immigration Medical Examination with an IRCC-approved panel physician before the work permit is issued. The exam fee is set by the panel physician, not by IRCC, and it varies by country and clinic. There's no standardized global rate.