Passport Canada: Order Amending The Canadian Passport Order (SI/2001-121)

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hereby makes the annexed Order Amending the Canadian Passport Order.

ORDER AMENDING THE CANADIAN PASSPORT ORDER

1. (1) The definition "Passport Office" in section 2 of the Canadian Passport Order is repealed.

(2) Section 2 of the Order is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

"Passport Canada" means a section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, wherever located, that has been charged by the Minister with the issuing, refusing, revoking, withholding, recovery and use of passports. (Passeport Canada)

(d) shall be issued on the condition that the bearer will return it to Passport Canada without delay after Passport Canada requests it;

(f) shall be issued for any period not exceeding five years from the day on which it is issued.

5. No passport shall be issued to any person unless an application is made to Passport Canada by the person in the form and manner established by Passport Canada and containing the information, materials and declarations specified by Passport Canada.

4. (1) The portion of section 6 of the Order before subparagraph (a)(i) is replaced by the following:

6. (1) Passport Canada may require that an application for a passport by or in respect of a person who was

(2) The portion of paragraph 6(1)(b) of the Order before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(3) Section 6 of the Order is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

(2) However, Passport Canada may accept or request any other material or any information if Passport Canada is of the opinion that these material or information demonstrates, or help to demonstrate, the identity and Canadian citizenship of the person.

(4) No passport shall be issued to a child under 16 years of age unless the applicant who applies for the issue of a passport to the child provides to Passport Canada the information and material required in the application for the passport and, if applicable, the further information referred to in section 8.

8. (1) In addition to the information and material that an applicant is required to provide in the application for a passport or in respect of the delivery of passport services, Passport Canada may request an applicant and any representative of the applicant to provide further information, material, or declarations respecting any matter relating to the issue of the passport or the delivery of passport services.

(2) The further information, material and declarations referred to in subsection (1) and the circumstances in which they may be requested include the information, material, declarations and circumstances set out in the schedule.

8.1 (1) Passport Canada may convert any information submitted by an applicant into a digital biometric format for the purpose of inserting that information into a passport or for other uses that fall within the mandate of Passport Canada.

(2) Subsection 8.1(2) of the English version of the Order is replaced by the following:

(2) Passport Canada may convert an applicant's photograph into a biometric template for the purpose of verifying the applicant's identity, including nationality, and entitlement to obtain or remain in possession of a passport.

8. (1) The portion of section 9 of the Order before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(d) is subject to a term of imprisonment in Canada or is forbidden to leave Canada or the territorial jurisdiction of a Canadian court by conditions imposed with respect to

(i) any temporary absence, work release, parole, statutory release or other similar regime of absence or release from a penitentiary or prison or any other place of confinement granted under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Prisons and Reformatories Act or any law made in Canada that contains similar release provisions,

(ii) any alternative measures, judicial interim release, release from custody, conditional sentence order or probation order granted under the Criminal Code or any law made in Canada that contains similar release provisions, or

(iii) any absence without escort from a penitentiary or prison granted under any law made in Canada;

(d.1) is subject to a term of imprisonment outside Canada or is forbidden to leave a foreign state or the territorial jurisdiction of a foreign court by conditions imposed with respect to any custodial release provisions that are comparable to those set out in subparagraphs (d)(i) to (iii);

(e) has been convicted of an offence under section 57 of the Criminal Code or has been convicted in a foreign state of an offence that would, if committed in Canada, constitute an offence under section 57 of the Criminal Code;

9. The portion of section 10 of the Order before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

10. (1) Passport Canada may revoke a passport on the same grounds on which it may refuse to issue a passport.

11. When a person has been advised by Passport Canada that a passport in their possession is required to be returned to Passport Canada, they shall without delay return the passport to the nearest office of Passport Canada.

10. (1) If delivery of a passport is made at an office of Passport Canada to an applicant, the applicant may be required to produce a document establishing the identity of the applicant.

(2) If delivery of a passport is made at an office of Passport Canada to the representative of an applicant, the representative may be required to produce a letter of consent from the applicant to accept delivery as well as a document establishing the identity of the representative.

Passport Canada is the new name for what was formerly known as the Passport Office.

Amendments to the Canadian Passport Order were necessary to implement the name change, clarify some issues, correct some technicalities and better reflect the reality of Passport Canada's operations.

In some circumstances, a passport may be issued for less than five years. The revised paragraph 3(f) clarifies the wording in this regard.

Since Passport Canada decides what information is required to determine the entitlement of an applicant to be issued a Canadian passport, section 5 requires that all applications be submitted in a form prescribed by Passport Canada. Passport Canada may also request any useful documents and information for this purpose.

In addition, all application forms should be submitted with a proof of the identity and the citizenship of the applicant. Passport Canada must be satisfied that the applicant is the person he or she claims to be and is Canadian. Since it is possible under some circumstances to establish the identity and the citizenship of a person by using other documents than those mentioned in subsection 6(1) of the Order, subsection 6(2) allows Passport Canada to accept other documents and information that establishes the identity and the citizenship of a person.

Section 8 is amended to allow Passport Canada to request additional information in circumstances that have an impact on passport services. These requests may be made of the applicants or of their representatives.

Section 9 is amended to update the terminology in paragraph (d) and the reference to section 57 of the Criminal Code in paragraph (e), and to clarify that not only indictable offences but all offences under section 57 are included under paragraph 9(e), both for Canadians who have been convicted of an offence in Canada and those who have been convicted of a similar offence abroad. The changes also ensure that all Canadians, whether they are in Canada or abroad, are subject to the same rules with respect to criminal convictions and legal restrictions on their mobility.