CAF Posting Cost Calculator
What CFIRP actually covers under the Core / Custom / Personalized envelope model — HHT, HEA, the $2,000 Posting Indemnity reality, real estate commission reimbursement, and the IPR trap when families stay behind.
Anchored to public CBI 208 / 209 instruments and BGRS-published policy. CAF members must verify exact entitlements through BGRS, the Director General Compensation and Benefits (DGCB) and the CFIRP Directive in force on the posting message date.
The $2,000 PII is the famously inadequate “personalized” portion of CFIRP. It is meant to cover incidentals not paid through Core or Custom envelopes — curtains, cleaning, items lost in transit not at fault, etc. The widely reported reality is that this cap does not scale with family size or move distance.
- Spouse career gap: ~4 months. Estimated net income loss $11,200–$24,000. Provincial credentialing delays (nursing, teaching, trades) compound this. Documented as a top driver of voluntary release in CAF retention research.
- Pay Centre / system issues: The CAF Pay Centre and BGRS coordination have documented issues that can delay reimbursements by months. Float of out-of-pocket costs on the member's credit during processing is the documented pain point.
- Children's school transition: 1 school-age child. Provincial curriculum gaps (esp. crossing into/out of QC), lost extracurricular progressions, new uniforms / books — typically out-of-pocket.
- One-off out-of-pocket: ~$1,600–$4,700 — provincial DL transfer, vehicle re-registration / safety inspections, deposits and last month rent, fridge/freezer stand-down replacement items.
- The Custom Element trap: Custom envelope items only get reimbursed if Custom budget remains. Members report having Custom requests denied mid-move because of budget exhaustion — verify Custom availability with BGRS in writing before spending.
- Carrier-managed move — Defence-contracted, no out-of-pocket if compliant
- HHT — travel + lodging for a house-hunting trip with spouse
- Real estate commission — up to ~6% of sale price
- Legal fees — sale and purchase legal fees to a cap
- HEA — when documented market loss exceeds the test threshold
- Final Move — TS&A during the move + temporary dual residence allowance to a cap
CFIRP is among the more generous public-sector relocation policies on paper. The published reality of running it — the $2,000 PII cap, BGRS coordination friction, the Custom envelope exhausting before some members file, spouse credentialing delays in provinces with regulated professions, and the IPR “two households” cost — is what makes the CAF posting cycle famously expensive in time, energy, and relationships.
Compensation and Benefits Instructions (CBI) 208 — Relocation Benefits · CBI 209 — Travel and Travelling Expenses · BGRS (Brookfield Global Relocation Services) — CFIRP relocation services · Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat — Travel Directive · Canada.ca/armed-forces — Posting and relocation information · Director General Compensation and Benefits (DGCB).