Pardon Fee Increase

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Approval of Fee Increase

In accordance with section 5 of the User Fees Act, the Senate approved the proposal from the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) to increase the current fee for the processing of a pardon application from $150 to $631. This fee increase will be effective as of February 23, 2012.

Below you will find a link to the report prepared by the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding the fee increase proposal:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/411/lcjc/rep/rep05nov11-e.htm,

Fee Increase Background:

The fee increase proposal was set forth because the PBC was intent on recovering both direct and indirect costs associated with the processing of pardon applications. They wanted to see users assume the administrative costs of processing a pardon application, and respond to workload increases and additional operational costs required to process pardons. Without a further increase to the fee, the PBC felt that the demand will continue to exceed their capacity to respond to requests for timely pardon services. This will deeply affect the PBC’s ability to meet its legislated mandate and to contribute to public safety.