Emergency Public Policy for Foreign Wildfire Responders

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryCanada

Operative dateJune 11, 2025

CategorySkilled work, other

Policy toolFees

Affected groupNew applicants

Policy effect

A temporary public policy waives application fees and biometric service fees for foreign emergency services personnel and firefighters selected by designated agencies to support the 2025 wildfire season.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

… services personnel, including firefighters, in Canada’s response to wildfires, this public policy will waive certain application fees to facilitate their arrival. I hereby establish that, pursuant to my authority under section 25.2 of *the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act *(The Act), there are public policy considerations that justify the granting of exemptions from the provisions of the *Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations* (the Regulations) listed below to foreign nationals who meet the conditions (eligibility criteria) set out below. ## Conditions (eligibility requirements): … and November 30, 2025. ### Provisions of the Regulations for which an exemption may be granted - Subsection 296(1) – the requirements to pay an application processing fee for a Temporary Resident Visa; and - Subsection 315.1(1) – the requirement to pay for the provision of service in relation to the collection of biometric information. ## Other Admissibility and Selection Criteria Foreign nationals eligible under this public policy are subject to all other legislative admissibility and selection requirements not exempted under this, or another public policy. ## Concepts and Definitions applicable to this Public Policy For the purpose of this public policy, a wildfire is defined as an event that is documented in the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre’s list of forest fires (https://ciffc.net/national). ## Effective Date and Expiration This public policy comes into effect on June 11, 2025 and applies to applications received on or after the date it comes into effect. This public policy expires on November 30, 2025. It may be revoked at any time without prior notice. The Hon. Lena Metlege Diab, ECNS, KC, P.C., M.P. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Dated at Ottawa, …

Government of CanadaCanada.ca. Emergency Public Policy for Foreign Wildfire Responders. Effective 2025-06-11.Open official source

Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/emergency-services-2025.html

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Automated source validation is not independent human legal review. The finding should not be treated as legal advice. Record fcp-00e55b8810a8534147ee. Something wrong? Flag this record.

Emergency Public Policy for Foreign Wildfire Responders

Policy effect

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other Canada changes operative in 2025