A Canadian passport is a passport issued to citizens of Canada for the purpose of international travel; allowing the bearer to travel in foreign countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitating the process of securing assistance from Canadian consular officials abroad, if necessary; and requesting the protection of the passport holder while abroad. A Canadian passport is not a primary proof of Canadian citizenship within Canada and therefore cannot be used for the purpose of obtaining a citizenship certificate, an enhanced driver's licence or identification card.
All Canadian passports are issued by Passport Canada, a special branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and are valid for five years, except that those of children under age three are valid for three years. As of July 2009, 56.2% of Canadians held a valid Canadian passport. Although held by individuals, all Canadian passports remain property of Her Majesty in right of Canada.
History
The first Canadian passports were issued in 1862, following the outbreak of the American Civil War, when the United States demanded more secure identification from Canadians wishing to cross the border. They took the form of a Letter of Request from the Governor General. These documents remained in use until, in 1915, Canadian passports were first issued in the British format, a ten section single sheet folder.
The modern form of the Canadian passport came about in 1921. At that time, Canadians were British subjects, and Canada shared a common nationality code with the United Kingdom; thus, Canadian passports were issued to those British subjects resident in or connected to Canada. This arrangement ended in 1947, when the Canadian Citizenship Act was granted Royal Assent and the designation of Canadian citizenship was created. As of July the following year, Canadian passports were issued to Canadian citizens only, and by 1985 the first machine-readable passports were distributed, in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
In the 2008 federal budget, Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced that electronic passports would be introduced by 2011. A pilot project began in 2009, with e-passports being issued to special and diplomatic passport applicants.
Rights to a passport
Main article: Canadian nationality lawThe issuance of passports is a royal prerogative, rather than an Act of Parliament; they are issued in the name of the reigning monarch, as expressed in the passport note. However, the authority to issue passports is granted to Passport Canada, a Special Operating Agency of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, under the authority of the Canadian Passport Order, an Order-in-Council that specifies grounds for which Passport Canada can issue or renew a passport.
Applicants must fill out the required forms, which include the necessity of two passport photos and affirmation from a surety. Rules regarding renewals of passports and the eligibility of guarantors were last updated in 2007, whereafter applicants may renew the passport using a shorter application form if: they are resident in Canada when they apply; lived in Canada and were at least sixteen years of age at the time of their previous application; and are in possession of a Canadian passport that was issued under their current name after January 31, 2002, is valid for five years, and not damaged or reported lost or stolen. Further, a guarantor may be a Canadian who currently holds a valid, or no more than one year expired, five-year Canadian passport; has known the applicant for more than two years; is eighteen or more years old; and were sixteen years of age or older when they applied for their own passport. For citizens abroad, passport applications are forwarded back to a passport centre by the local embassies, high commissions or consulates.
Passport Canada may revoke a passport or refuse to issue or renew a passport on grounds set out in the Canadian Passport Order, including such grounds as failure to submit a complete application, misrepresentation in obtaining a passport, and criminality. However, whether a Canadian passport may be revoked or refused on the basis of national security concerns has been questioned. In July 2004, Abdurahman Khadr was denied a Canadian passport by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the explicit advice of her Foreign Affairs Minister, Bill Graham, who stated the decision was "in the interest of the national security of Canada and the protection of Canadian troops in Afghanistan." The government invoked royal prerogative in order to deny Khadr's passport, as national security was not at that time listed in the Canadian Passport Order as a ground for refusal, though, shortly thereafter, on September 22, 2004, section 10.1 was added to the Order, which allowed the Minister to revoke or refuse a passport due to national security concerns. Khadr sought judicial review of the minister's decision to refuse his passport, and on June 8 of the following year, the Federal Court ruled that the government did not have the power to refuse to issue Khadr's passport in the absence of specific authority set out in the Canadian Passport Order, but stated in obiter dicta that if the order were to be amended (as it had been after the fact), Khadr would likely not be able to challenge the revocation. In 2006, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, then Peter MacKay, again denied Khadr's application, this time invoking section 10.1 of the amended Canadian Passport Order Section 10.1 was later challenged in Federal Court by Fateh Kamel, whose passport had also been refused for national security reasons. On March 13, 2008, the Federal Court declared section 10.1 of the Passport Order to be unconstitutional and therefore invalid, though the court suspended its declaration of invalidity for six months in order to allow the government time to amend the order. The federal government launched an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal and a ruling handed down on January 29, 2009 overturned the lower court decision in March 2008. The court unanimously agreed the denial of passport service on national grounds is in compliance with the Charter, citing the limitation clause as its main decision point. Kamel launched an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada but the court declined to hear his case and thus ends the legality challenge of the Canadian Passport Order.
Types of passports
Before 1947, there were two types of passports: those issued to people who were born British subjects and those issued to people naturalized as British subjects.
Today, there are six types of Canadian passports:
Physical appearance
Regular passports are deep navy blue, with the Royal Arms of Canada emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "PASSPORT•PASSEPORT" are inscribed below the coat of arms, and "CANADA" above. The bilingual cover is indicative of the textual portions of Canadian passports being printed in both English and French, Canada's two official languages. The standard passport contains 24 pages, but it can be issued in a 48 page format upon request for an additional fee.
New security features, similar to those on banknotes, have been added with increasing frequency since 2001. Microprinting, holographic images, UV-visible imaging, watermarks and other details have been implemented, particularly on the photo page. As well, the photo is now digitally printed directly on the paper (in both standard and UV-reactive ink); previously, the actual photo had been laminated inside the document.
Data page
- Photo of the passport holder
- Type (P)
- Issuing Country (lised as "CAN" for "Canada")
- Passport No.
- Surname
- Given Names
- Nationality (Canadian/Canadienne)
- Date of Birth
- Sex
- Place of Birth (The city and country are listed, even if born outside Canada)
- Date of Issue
- Issuing Authority
- Date of Expiry
- Signature of the passport holder
The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone.
Passport note
The passports contain a note from the issuing authority addressed to the authorities of all other states, identifying the bearer as a citizen of that state and requesting that they be allowed to pass and be treated according to international norms. The textual portions of Canadian passports is printed in both English and French, the official languages of Canada. The note inside of Canadian passports states:
- In English:
- In French:
On the inside of the bac
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