COW – Biometrics – June 9, 2025

Key Facts and Figures

• Today, all persons (unless explicitly exempted) must provide their biometric information in support of prescribed applications for temporary and permanent residence and refugee protection under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
• The biometrics collection regime aligns with Canada’s visa policy regime. As such, visa-exempt visitors making an application for an electronic travel authorization (not in tandem with a study or work permit) are not required to provide their biometrics. Other notable scenarios where biometrics are not required include:
  • foreign nationals under the age of 14;
  • foreign nationals over the age of 79 (no upper age limit for in-Canada asylum); and
  • United States nationals applying for a work, study or temporary resident permit.
• In 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) collected biometrics from over 3.5 million applicants.

Key Messages

• Biometrics are recognized and relied upon globally as a reliable and accurate tool for security screening and establishing identity.
• Today, most foreign nationals must provide their biometric information in support of prescribed applications for temporary and permanent residence and refugee protection.
• To facilitate travel of returning visitors, students and workers, biometrics are required only once every 10 years for temporary resident applications.
• Once collected, fingerprints are screened against domestic immigration and criminal databases and partner holdings. Combined, this screening increases Canada’s ability to make better-informed admissibility decisions, better mitigate identity theft, combat irregular migration, and prevent persons who pose a risk to the safety and security of Canadians from entering the country.
• A comprehensive service delivery network ensures that foreign nationals have many options for where to enroll their biometrics.
• IRCC collects applicants’ biometrics via Service Canada in-country and Visa Applicant Centres (VACs) abroad.
• Canada takes its privacy obligations very seriously. Robust privacy safeguards have been built into our biometrics policies, procedures and technical systems.
• Currently, citizenship applicants are not required to systematically provide their biometrics when applying for a grant of citizenship.
• In an effort to modernize the citizenship program, including improved program integrity, beginning in 2027, the biometrics collection requirement will be expanded to those applying for Canadian citizenship.
• Budget 2023 provided new legislative authorities and $24.6M to IRCC and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for the systematic collection and use of biometrics from citizenship grant applicants. IRCC received $3.3M of this funding for project development in fiscal year (FY) 2025–2026.
• Budget 2024 provided funding for increased biometrics collection costs. IRCC received $52.268M for FY 2025–2026.
• IRCC is reprocuring the next VAC contracts which will ensure seamless continuity of biometric collection at VACs. Uninterrupted service at VACs ensures that Canada can continue to offer biometric enrolment services to overseas clients.

Supplementary Information

• The use of biometrics (i.e. fingerprints and photograph) has become an integral part of Canada’s immigration screening and border management practices.
• Set against the backdrop of an increasing number of immigration applications to Canada, changing international travel patterns and greater sophistication in identity fraud, the accurate determination of identity is key to optimizing positive outcomes for both IRCC and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which share the administration and enforcement of the immigration programs.
• While names can be changed and identity documents can be stolen or used by imposters, biometric information is reliable and helps to mitigate these challenges while facilitating entry to those who pose low risks.
• The collection of biometric information is not new to Canada, with the earliest fingerprints being collected in the early 1980s:
  • 1980: asylum claimants and deportees;
  • 2013: temporary resident applicants from 30 countries;
  • 2014: overseas refugee resettlement applicants; and
  • 2018: most temporary and permanent resident applicants.
• Once collected, fingerprints are securely transmitted to the RCMP for storage and are automatically and systematically screened against domestic immigration and criminal databases and partners’ immigration fingerprint holdings (where there is an information sharing agreement in place).
• In the context of law enforcement activities, fingerprints submitted to the RCMP by Canadian law enforcement agencies are automatically queried against those collected for immigration purposes. The use and disclosure of biometric information and related personal information is governed by regulations.
• Systematic fingerprint verification at eight airports and discretionary verification at 57 ports of entry (POEs) ensures that the person seeking entry to Canada is the same person who was previously approved overseas.
• To ensure that foreign nationals are able to comply with the biometrics collection requirement, a comprehensive service delivery network has been established:
  • Commercially operated VACs around the world;
  • United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at Application Support Centers;
  • Employment and Social Development Canada at select Service Canada locations;
  • IRCC Migration Offices at Canadian missions overseas;
  • CBSA at various ports of entry; and
  • Other third parties where Canada has authorized collection.
• Only foreign nationals eligible to apply at the POE may provide their biometrics at the POE. For example:
  • visa exempt applicants applying for a work permit who: (1) do not need a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or (2) need an LMIA and have approved for one; and
  • work or study permit applicants who are a permanent resident of the United States, a resident of St. Pierre and Miquelon or a resident of Greenland.
• For biometrically-required foreign nationals, there will be instances when the collection of biometrics information is impossible (e.g. collection equipment is not operational) or not feasible (e.g. undue hardship). On a case-by-case basis, designated officers have the discretion to make this determination, thus exempting an applicant from the biometrics collection requirement.
• Recognizing that multiple exemptions from the biometrics collection requirement undermines screening and raises fairness and discrimination issues, IRCC is currently exploring the feasibility of a more agile collection service (e.g. mobile solution) that compliments the existing brick and mortar collection network. A truly mobile solution is expected to meet the modern needs of today’s migration reality, including Canada’s role in ongoing humanitarian crises and global migration patterns.
• Applicants pay a biometrics service fee of $85. The maximum family fee is $170. The fee model is cost-recovery meaning that Canadian taxpayers do not subsidize the program.
• To reduce the compliance burden on repeat clients in the temporary resident stream, biometrics collected are administratively valid for 10 years from the date of enrolment and can be re-used for screening and verification purposes in support of a subsequent temporary resident application (known as the TR “1 in 10” policy). As such, applicants in the TR stream are exempt from the requirement to provide biometrics for 10 years from the last date they provided biometrics in support of a TR application.
• Despite the 1 in 10 policy, there is an important limitation of temporary resident status—a foreign national must have valid biometrics for the duration of their intended stay in Canada. Consequently, a visa, permit or status document cannot be issued or granted for a period of authorization (or stay) beyond the validity of the applicant’s biometric information. To receive a new visa for the full 10-year period, the foreign national must voluntarily re-enroll their biometrics and pay the service fee.
• To mitigate identity fraud and ensure the integrity of the permanent resident stream, applicants applying for permanent residence are required to enroll their biometric information in support of every permanent residence application (even if the applicant had previously provided the information under the temporary resident stream within the last 10 years). However, as a facilitative measure, biometrics enrolled in support of a permanent resident application are valid in support of a temporary resident application while a decision on the permanent resident application is pending.
• From a privacy perspective, the Government of Canada takes its privacy obligations seriously, and safeguards have been built into policies, procedures and technical systems. Personal information of applicants is managed in accordance with Canada’s privacy legislation.
• The retention of immigration biometric information aims to strike the right balance between the public interest (e.g. public safety and security) and the privacy interest. Personal information banks are publicly accessible and describe how personal information—including biometrics—is collected, used, disclosed and retained.