Request your own IRCC records for $5

Unredacted published this short guide. Official pages cited here were checked on 9 October 2026. The longer page is How to request your IRCC file and GCMS notes.

You can also request your own personal information free under the Privacy Act. IRCC says: “There are no fees involved with the processing of a request under this Act” (How to make a request under the Privacy Act). The $5 Access to Information Act route below is the route this page walks through.

What ImmReps and ATIP records are

This library lists released questions answered for immigration representatives, and Access to Information Act packages. Those packages are records someone else already requested. They are not the records IRCC holds about you.

The Treasury Board describes access to information and privacy (ATIP) as the right to access records of government institutions, including personal information those institutions hold (Make an access to information or personal information request).

IRCC says the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act give a legal right to obtain information, in any form, that is under the control of a government institution (Access to information and privacy).

The Act says it may be cited as the Access to Information Act. ATIA in this guide means that Act. A record means any documentary material, regardless of medium or form (Access to Information Act, sections 1 and 3).

Why request your own

Section 4 gives a Canadian citizen, and a permanent resident, a right to be given access to any record under the control of a government institution, subject to that Part of the Act (section 4).

IRCC says a request under the Act can ask for information about IRCC, and for information that would have been created by IRCC (How to make a request under the Access to Information Act).

File your own request when you want those records. A package already published in this library does not stand in for them.

The $5 application fee

Section 7 of the Access to Information Regulations says a person who makes a request for access to a record under Part 1 of the Act must pay an application fee of $5 at the time the request is made (Access to Information Regulations, section 7).

IRCC’s request page says the fee for requests under the Access to Information Act is $5.00 (How to make a request under the Access to Information Act).

Who can send that request

Section 4 of the Act names Canadian citizens and permanent residents (section 4).

The Access to Information Act Extension Order, No. 1 says: “The right to be given access under subsection 4(1) of the Access to Information Act to records under the control of a government institution is hereby extended to include all individuals who are present in Canada but who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and all corporations that are present in Canada.”

IRCC’s overview says the Act gives “Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and individuals (or corporations) present in Canada” that right (Access to information and privacy).

IRCC’s request page says: “To send a request you must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada or an individual or corporation currently in Canada” (How to make a request under the Access to Information Act).

If the client is outside Canada

IRCC’s request page says a request under the Act can be sent to: “Get personal information submitted by a representative, where the client (with their consent) is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or here in Canada.”

The same page says: “If you are making a request on behalf of someone else, you must include the Consent for an Access to Information and Personal Information Request (IMM 5744) form. Include this form for each individual listed on your file who is over the age of 18.”

The form page is Consent for an Access to Information and Personal Information Request (IMM 5744). The request page is How to make a request under the Access to Information Act.

How to file on ATIP Online

The Government of Canada service is the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request page.

That page says to select “Submit a request for information with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)” if you want records about an immigration or citizenship application. It says to use the Treasury Board Secretariat ATIP Online Request Service for corporate records, for employee information held by IRCC, or for information belonging to any other government institution.

The IRCC choice opens a privacy notice. That page says that to start the online application, you must read and agree with the privacy notice (IRCC request on ATIP Online).

IRCC says applying online needs a credit card or a debit card (How to make a request under the Access to Information Act).

The Treasury Board page Make a request says to proceed to ATIP Online, and that the request must be directed to a specific institution. If you are not sure which institution holds the records, that page says you can search by topic.

IRCC also accepts mail. It says to send IRCC’s Access to Information and Personal Information Request Form (IMM 5563), the Treasury Board Access to Information Request Form (TBC/CTC 350-57), or a letter indicating that the request is made in accordance with the Access to Information Act. Include a cheque or money order for $5.00 CAN made payable to the Receiver General for Canada. The mailing address is printed on that IRCC page.

The Treasury Board page says that for access to information requests, include the $5 application fee, and that generally cheques or money orders can be made payable to the Receiver General of Canada.

What to include

Section 6 says a request shall be made in writing to the government institution that has control of the record and shall provide sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the institution to identify the record with a reasonable effort (section 6).

Section 4 of the Regulations says to send the appropriate officer, together with the application fee, either a completed Access to Information Request Form or a written request that provides sufficient detail to enable the officer to identify the record (section 4).

For a letter, the Treasury Board Make a request page says to describe:

• the records you are seeking, as specifically as possible, for example a date range and detailed subject matter
• whether you want copies sent electronically or by mail, or want to view the records in person
• an email address or telephone number, in case there are questions
• your name, street address, city or town, province or territory, and postal code
• the date of your request

If you are making the request on behalf of someone else, IRCC says to include the Consent for an Access to Information and Personal Information Request form (IMM 5744) for each individual listed on your file who is over the age of 18 (How to make a request under the Access to Information Act).

Placeholder, not an official form field: records IRCC holds about [your application] from [start date] to [end date].

Response time and extensions

Section 7 says that, subject to sections 8 and 9, within 30 days after the request is received the institution shall give written notice of whether access to the record or a part of it will be given and, if access is to be given, give that access (section 7).

IRCC says the legislated timeframe for responding to an access to information or privacy request is 30 calendar days (Timeframe for responding).

The Office of the Information Commissioner says the 30-day period, or the extended period, begins the day after the institution receives the access request (When and how institutions are to respond).

IRCC says the Act permits an extension beyond those 30 calendar days if the request is for a large number of records or requires a search through a large number of records and the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution, if external consultations are necessary and cannot reasonably be expected to be completed within the original time limit, or if notice to a third party is required (Timeframe for responding).

Section 9 says the institution may extend the time limit for a reasonable period, having regard to the circumstances, where the request is for a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with operations, where consultations are necessary that cannot reasonably be completed within the original time limit, or where notice of the request is given under subsection 27(1). Notice of the extension goes to the requester within thirty days after the request is received. In the large-number and consultation cases, the notice includes the length of the extension. The notice states that the person has a right to complain to the Information Commissioner about the extension. Where the extension is for more than thirty days, the institution also notifies the Information Commissioner at the same time (section 9).

The Commissioner says an acknowledgement, or a notice that the institution is extending the time, is not a response under section 7. Where the institution does not respond within the 30-day or extended period, subsection 10(3) deems it to have refused access (When and how institutions are to respond).

Section 8 allows a transfer, within fifteen days after the request is received, when another government institution has a greater interest in the record. For the section 7 period, that request is deemed to have been made to the other institution on the day the first institution received it (section 8).

If the response is late

A late Access to Information Act response is a complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada.

Section 31 gives complainants 60 calendar days to submit a complaint. The Commissioner has no power under the Act to extend that 60-day limit (Timeframe for submitting a complaint).

Where no response arrives, that page says the 60-day period starts the day after the response should have arrived: 31 days after the institution received the request, or the day after any extension expires. The 60 days are consecutive calendar days. When day 60 is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, it moves to the next business day.

The submit page says to fill out the online complaint form or download the PDF complaint form (Submit your complaint).

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

IRCC treats these as two Acts. It says a request for personal information held by IRCC should be made under the Privacy Act. Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals, regardless of where they are located, can request access to their personal information. IRCC says there are no fees involved with the processing of a request under the Privacy Act (Access to information and privacy, How to make a request under the Privacy Act).

The Information Commissioner page says that if your complaint relates to a request made under the Privacy Act, or to another matter covered by that law, submit it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (Submit your complaint).

Sources

Each official page below was checked on 9 October 2026.