Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: The federal response to the fertility rateRefused by silence
8 Sept 2026 · Access to Information Act · A-2026-50926
11 Sept: the Department required the Treasury Board portal. 15 Sept, after two written answers: fee waived, file opened. 22 Sept: wording agreed. 8 Oct, thirty days from receipt, passed without an answer.
Access to Information request with fee waiver — federal response to the fertility rate, programmes and indicators
Hello,
This is a request under the Access to Information Act, together with a request for a waiver of the application fee under subsection 11(2).
Employment and Social Development Canada is processing the same request text as A-2026-00370, and its Access to Information and Privacy Operations directorate identified Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as an institution likely to hold records within the scope set out below.
Statistics Canada reported that the total fertility rate of Canada fell to 1.25 children per woman in 2024, the lowest rate on record, placing Canada in the group of countries classified as having ultra-low fertility. The Immigration Levels Plan for 2026 to 2028 sets admissions of 380,000 permanent residents in each of those years. The records requested concern what the federal government does about the first of those facts.
DESCRIPTION OF RECORDS REQUESTED
1. Every federal programme in which the number of births, the total fertility rate, or the completed family size is named as a performance indicator in a Performance Information Profile prepared under the Treasury Board Policy on Results. If no such programme exists, provide the record confirming that fact.
2. Every policy analysis, briefing note, memorandum to Ministers, or Cabinet-level document prepared from 1 January 2019 to the date of this request addressing the decline in the total fertility rate and the options available to the federal government in response.
3. Every record in which immigration is identified as the federal response to the decline in the total fertility rate or to population ageing, including any record comparing that response against measures directed at the fertility rate itself.
4. Every cost-benefit analysis, fiscal projection, or departmental assessment comparing the cost of increased immigration against the cost of direct support to families and to childbearing.
5. Every record setting out the barriers reported by Canadians to having the number of children they intend to have, including any analysis of the gap between intended and achieved family size.
6. Every record setting out the total federal expenditure directed at supporting families with children, by programme and fiscal year, from 2019-2020 to the date of this request, and the measured effect of each programme on the number of births.
7. Every record of correspondence with Employment and Social Development Canada, the Department of Finance Canada, the Privy Council Office or Health Canada concerning the demographic consequences of the fertility rate and the Immigration Levels Plan.
FEE WAIVER
A waiver of the application fee is requested under subsection 11(2) of the Access to Information Act, which empowers the head of a government institution to waive or refund the fee. Employment and Social Development Canada waived the fee on the same request text on 8 September 2026.
The requester is an applicant for social assistance. The Social Benefits Tribunal issued an interim assistance order on 21 August 2026 in file 2608-06747 directing payment from 1 August 2026. The Director has not complied with that order and no payment has been made. The requester is without means to pay the fee.
A decision on this waiver request is required in writing. A refusal will be referred to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada as a barrier to access.
FORMAT
Electronic copies are requested.
NEXT STEP
Failure to respond within 30 days will be referred to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada. The absence of any federal programme carrying a fertility indicator will be placed before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and before the Office of the Auditor General.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban