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The Canadian passport (French: Passeport canadien) is the passport issued to citizens of Canada. It enables the bearer to exit and re-enter Canada freely; travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitates the process of securing assistance from Canadian consular officials abroad, if necessary; and requests protection for the bearer while abroad.[3][4]
All Canadian passports are issued by the Passport Program of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).[5] Prior to 1 July 2013, Canadian passports were issued by Passport Canada, an independent operating agency of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.[6] They are normally valid for five or ten years for persons 16 years of age and older, and five years for children under 16.[1] In 2017, 60 per cent of Canadians had passports, with there being about 22 million passports in circulation.[5] Although held by individuals, all Canadian passports remain property of the Government of Canada and must be returned to the Passport Program upon request.[7] Canada is a member of the Five Nations Passport Group, an international forum for cooperation between the passport issuing authorities in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States to "share best practices and discuss innovations related to the development of passport policies, products and practices".[8] Canada began issuing biometric passports, also known as electronic passports or e-passports, to Canadian citizens on 1 July 2013.[3] |
