From Adult to Renounced — Canadian Citizenship Fee Categories Compared

Ask "how much does Canadian citizenship cost" and most people get one answer: $653. That's true for exactly one scenario — a standard adult applying for the first time. Once you look at the full fee table, Canada's citizenship fee categories compared against each other tell a more interesting story, and knowing which lane you're actually in can save real confusion.

The categories, side by side

• Adult (18 and over), first-time application: $653, combining the processing fee with the right of citizenship fee.
• Minor (under 18): $100, processing fee only. No right of citizenship fee is layered on for children.
• Stateless adult born to a Canadian parent: $123, inclusive of the right of citizenship fee — a distinct, much smaller category for a specific circumstance rather than a standard grant.
• Resuming citizenship, adult (18 and over): $530.
• Resuming citizenship, minor (under 18): $100.
• Renouncing citizenship: $100.
• Citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship): $75.
• Search for your record of citizenship: $75.
• Right of Citizenship, as a standalone component: $123.

Why these aren't just different prices for the same thing

Each of these represents a genuinely different transaction with IRCC.

The standard adult fee is a full application: proving physical presence, passing a language and knowledge threshold where applicable, and being assessed against citizenship prohibitions. The minor fee is smaller because children under 18 are exempt from both the language and knowledge-test requirements — there's simply less to process and verify.

Resuming citizenship is priced differently again — lower than a first-time adult application at $530, but still far above a minor's fee — because it's a distinct application stream for people re-establishing citizenship they previously held, rather than acquiring it for the first time.

Renouncing citizenship, at $100, is the cheapest substantive action on the list, and it's the one action on this table that moves someone out of citizenship rather than into or toward it.

The two $75 services — the certificate and the record search — aren't applications for citizenship at all. They're administrative services for people who already are citizens: getting formal proof of it, or finding out whether IRCC has a record of a citizenship you believe you hold but can't currently document.

What this comparison is useful for

If you're mapping out costs for your own household, the mistake to avoid is assuming every family member's fee will match the headline $653 figure. A family with adult applicants and children under 18 will see two different rates in the same file. A family helping an aging parent who lost citizenship decades ago under older rules is looking at the resumption fee. And a South African-Canadian dual national simply wanting proof they're a citizen — for a passport renewal, say — needs the $75 certificate service.

What this table can't tell you

None of these fees answer the harder question of which category actually applies to your situation — that depends on your specific history, your age at the relevant dates, and in some cases decisions made by a parent or previous generation. Where the category isn't obvious, a licensed RCIC can help you identify the right one before you pay for the wrong service and have to start again.