Withdraw (cancel) your application

Asking to withdraw or cancel your application means you’re asking us to permanently stop processing it. We’ll review your request and determine if you can withdraw your application.

On this page:

• When to ask to withdraw your application
• You may not get a full refund if you withdraw
• How you withdraw depends on the application you submitted

When to ask to withdraw your application

You can ask to withdraw your application if:

• we haven’t started processing it, or
• we are still processing it

Processing starts when we determine your application is complete and ends when we make a final decision on it. If you ask to withdraw your application after we finish processing it, we may refuse your request. We may also refuse your withdrawal request if your application is undergoing additional review.

You may not get a full refund if you withdraw

Whether you get a full refund depends on when you ask to withdraw and what you applied for.

Generally, once we start processing your application, we will only refund some fees. Some applications, like electronic travel authorizations (eTAs), don’t have any fees we can refund.

If you applied and paid online, you don’t have to ask for a refund. We’ll issue a refund to you for the fees that can be refunded. If you did not apply and pay online, you may need to ask for a fee refund.

You withdraw before we start processing your application:

You may get a full refund

You withdraw after we start processing your application:

We will refund only some fees, such as:

• the right of permanent residence fee (RPRF)
• the right of citizenship fee
• the open work permit fee (for labour market impact assessment–exempt [LMIA-exempt] workers only)
• the employer compliance fee (for employers only)
• International Experience Canada (IEC) fees (read more about refunds for IEC)

You withdraw when we’re done processing your application:

• If we approve your application, we won’t refund your fees.
• If we refuse your application, we will refund only some fees.

How to request a refund

How you withdraw depends on the application you submitted

You need to send us a written request to withdraw your application. We’ll review your request and determine if you can withdraw your application.

You can withdraw most applications using our web form, but some have specific instructions you must follow. Check if your application has specific instructions before you send us a request.