Canada's new passport - extended to 10 years, but fewer pages.
Photo Credit: Passport Canada

New Canadian passport valid for longer, but has fewer pages

Canada’s new passports will be valid for up to 10 years, and include an electronic chip, but they will have fewer pages, which means for frequent fliers, the passport will have to be replaced more often.

The new so-called e-Passport will have 36 pages. Right now the passport has 48.

Postmedia News journalist Matthew Fisher got stunned reaction from a group of Canadians at a Thai-Canada Chamber of Commerce meeting in Thailand. “Typical bureaucratic myopia,” Fisher quotes one Canadian who does consulting for the UN from Bangkok.

Passport Canada which issues the passports says that as of July 1, 2013, all new Canadian passports issued will be 36-page electronic passports, or ePassports. “At that time, applicants age 16 and older will have the option of applying for a passport with 5- or 10-year validity for both first-time applications and renewals, while children’s ePassports will be issued for a maximum of 5 years.”

Among its frequently asked questions and answers, Passport Canada includes:

“Can I add more pages to my passport? – It is not possible to add pages to Canadian passports. An applicant who has a valid passport in which the visa pages have become filled with visas or entry-exit stamps must apply for a new passport.”

More information:
About the ePassport – here
Postmedia News – Matthew Fisher: Canada’s shrinking passports makes no business sense  – here

twitter.com/wojtekgwiazda

Categories: International
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.