I posted a link to the Guardian article about 800% profits for some visas on Facebook, and my UKC father-in-law just tried to tell me that 1. in Canada the costs are similar, and 2. if you call or email with a query, they will pull your application and then return it to the back of the queue, so you have to wait even longer. In short, he completely dismissed firsthand account of what it is like here and tried to tell me it's even worse in Canada.
After trying to research it and being convinced I was missing something because the whole thing seemed so cheap, and their website so straightforward, I tagged my USC friend who just got Canadian citizenship earlier this summer and asked her if the costs were similar. She said, "No I remember you talking about this before and I thought it was crazy. It's like $1000 for permanent residency and around $700 for citizenship. Used to be $1500 for perm res and they lowered it. (Canadian dollars)."
The published fees are CAD$1040 for permanent residence. After 6 years in-country, you are eligible for citizenship, and costs CAD$630. Total cost? CAD$1670.
You guys all know what it costs for us. *sigh*
Edited to add: I'm mostly ranting about my FIL who has watched us struggling to meet the demands of Home Office for the last five years, and still voted Tory in the last election, and now says this! It's like he doesn't even see how he's hurting his son.