Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
How Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship spent its budget in fiscal year 2024-25, shown as net expenditures by standard object from Public Accounts Volume II.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) administers the federal government's immigration, refugee protection, and citizenship programs under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Citizenship Act. The department sets policy and processes applications for permanent residence, temporary residence, asylum, and Canadian citizenship, and it works with provinces and territories on newcomer selection, admission targets, and settlement planning. IRCC also funds settlement services — including language training, employment support, and community orientation — delivered through third-party organizations to help newcomers integrate into Canadian communities after arrival. A separate quasi-judicial tribunal, the Immigration and Refugee Board, operates independently of the department to decide refugee protection claims and other immigration and refugee matters.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship recorded total spending of $6.86B in the 2024–25 fiscal year, equal to 1.3% of total federal spending. Nearly all of this amount is attributed to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, the operational entity within the portfolio responsible for program delivery, with a much smaller share attributed to the Immigration and Refugee Board given its narrower role as an independent decision-making tribunal rather than a program-delivery organization.
Settlement and resettlement programming accounts for the largest share of the portfolio's transfer payments. The Settlement Program is its largest transfer payment, followed by a grant under the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration, a grant supporting asylum seekers in Quebec, the Interim Housing Assistance Program, and the Resettlement Assistance program.
Department Spending
In FY 2024-25,
$6.86B
was spent by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
In FY 2024-25,
1.3%
of federal spending was by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
On the consolidated accrual basis (Volume I), this portfolio’s expenses were $7.33B in FY 2024-25 — see the overview and methodology.
How did Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship spend its budget in 2024-25?
Spending by entity, FY 2024-25
Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Immigration and Refugee Board
$6.51B
$352.9M
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship’s share of federal spending
Percentage of federal spending, 2014–2025
Line items
Every transfer-payment (grant and contribution) program, in dollars. These are the named programs behind the transfer-payments object in the chart above. Search, sort, and download the full table.
| Category | Description | Amount ▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Contributions | Settlement Program | $1,107,436,959 |
| Grants | Grant for the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration | $867,335,000 |
| Grants | Grant for asylum seekers in Quebec | $581,300,000 |
| Grants | Grant for the Interim Housing Assistance Program | $526,277,373 |
| Contributions | Resettlement Assistance | $342,102,637 |
| Grants | Grant for the Resettlement Assistance Program | $95,496,930 |
| Grants | Grant for International Migration Capacity Building Program | $27,200,000 |
| Grants | Grant for Settlement Program | $18,483,476 |
| Contributions | International Organization for Migration | $3,836,775 |
| Contributions | Contribution for Francophone Immigration Support Program | $2,342,210 |
| Contributions | Global Assistance to Irregular Migrants | $935,435 |
| Grants | Grant for Francophone Immigration Support Program | $111,587 |
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship figures are net expenditures by standard object from Public Accounts Volume II, and will not match the Volume I consolidated headline totals. See the methodology for details.
