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About the Permanent Resident Card

• Background
• Security Features

Background

The Canadian government has understood the need for a PR card for quite some time. The events of September 11, 2001 brought the issues of border security and public safety to the forefront of the public agenda. This made the introduction of a PR card a key government initiative.

Before June 28, 2002, a successful landing application process resulted in the issuing of an IMM 1000 Record of Landing form. It was a large, difficult-to-carry piece of paper with no photograph, few security features and little privacy. Technological advancements have made it easy to change, copy or make fraudulent use of many documents, including the IMM 1000.

CIC was intent on finding a convenient, secure, private and durable replacement for this form. The PR card not only addresses these concerns, but also includes state-of-the-art security features, making it extremely resistant to forgery and alteration.

The new card is a wallet-sized, plastic card that confirms the permanent resident status of the cardholder. It replaces the IMM 1000 Record of Landing form for travel purposes.

Security Features

The PR card contains several security features that make it a safe proof-of-status document for the cardholder. On December 31, 2003, the PR card became the required proof of status document for every permanent resident returning to Canada on a commercial carrier (airplane, boat, train or bus).

The card has a laser engraved photograph and signature, as well as a description of the physical characteristics (height, eye colour, gender) of the cardholder printed on the front.

The card’s optical stripe contains all the details from the cardholder’s Confirmation of Permanent Resident form or IMM 1000 Record of Landing document. This encrypted information is accessible only to authorized officials (such as immigration officers) as required to confirm the status of the cardholder.

The card cannot be used to monitor the activities or track the movement of the cardholder.

The card’s optical stripe is more advanced than a magnetic stripe (commonly used on bank cards) both in terms of information storage capacity and security of information. Much like a commercial compact disc (CD), it is impossible to change, erase or add to the information already encoded on the optical stripe.