It's way too high considering they only called 1/4 of my references. I need 4 since I don't know anybody that qualifies as a guarantor, and applying from outside of the country I can't file for the simplified renewal form.
The guarantor is the most ridiculous aspect of the whole application, and if you don't happen to have known a doctor, dentist, mayor, lawyer, police officer etc. in the country where you apply from then you have to pay an additional $100 or so and find 2 more people who can act in lieu of the guarantor. Honestly, what is the purpose of that? They go out of their way to state that "the list above is not a recognition or endorsement by Passport Canada of professional status or superior qualifications," but what the heck is it a recognition of? If it is just someone that a person is bound to have met living somewhere, wouldn't a hair dresser make more sense?
Then the 5 year expiry date is retarded. Literally, retarded; most countries have moved to 10 year dates by now. Heck, my EU visa lasts longer than my passport, and cost 1/4 of the price.
As I said about the witnesses, they don't call them. I even applied for emergency services at one point: they called exactly 1 person, and asked them if they knew the name of my wife. The security is laughably non-existent.