Canadian Passport Order
SI/81-86
Registration 1981-06-24
Order Respecting Canadian Passports
P.C. 1981-1472 1981-06-04
His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for External Affairs, is pleased hereby to revoke the Canadian Passport Regulations, C.R.C., c. 641, and to make the annexed Order respecting Canadian passports in substitution therefor.
Short Title
1 This Order may be cited as the Canadian Passport Order.
Interpretation
2 In this Order,
- Act
Act means the Citizenship Act; (Loi)
- applicant
applicant means a person who is at least 16 years of age who applies for a passport; (requérant)
- former Act
former Act means the Canadian Citizenship Act; (ancienne Loi)
- Minister
Minister means the Minister of Foreign Affairs; (ministre)
- passport
passport means an official Canadian document that shows the identity and nationality of a person for the purpose of facilitating travel by that person outside Canada; (passeport)
- Passport Canada
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, refusal of the issuance, revoking, withholding, recovery and use of passports, including the refusal and withholding of any passport services; (Passeport Canada)
- Passport Office
Passport Office[Repealed, SI/2006-95, s. 1]
- point of service
point of service means a location where the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development provides Canadians access to government services. (point de service)
- SI/2001-121, s. 1
- SI/2004-113, s. 1
- SI/2006-95, s. 1
- SI/2008-57, s. 1
- SI/2009-56, s. 1
Issuance of Passports
3 Every passport
(a) shall be in a form prescribed by the Minister;
(b) shall be issued in the name of the Minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada;
(c) shall at all times remain the property of Her Majesty in right of Canada;
(d) shall be issued on the condition that the bearer will return it to Passport Canada without delay after Passport Canada requests it; and
(e) shall be signed by the person to whom it is issued.
(f) [Repealed, SI/2008-146, s. 1]
- SI/2004-113, s. 2(F)
- SI/2006-95, s. 2
- SI/2008-146, s. 1
4 (1) Subject to this Order, any person who is a Canadian citizen under the Act may be issued a passport.
(2) No passport shall be issued to a person who is not a Canadian citizen under the Act.
(3) Nothing in this Order in any manner limits or affects Her Majesty in right of Canada’s royal prerogative over passports.
(4) The royal prerogative over passports can be exercised by the Governor in Council or the Minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada.
- SI/2004-113, s. 3
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.
- SI/2001-121, s. 2
- SI/2006-95, s. 3
6 (1) Passport Canada may require that an application for a passport by or in respect of a person who was
(a) born in Canada be accompanied by
(i) a certificate of Canadian citizenship granted or issued to the person under the Act or the former Act,
(ii) a certificate of naturalization granted to the person under any Act that was in force in Canada at any time before the 1st day of January, 1947, or
(iii) a certificate of birth issued to the person by a province or by a person authorized by a province to issue such certificates; or
(iv) [Repealed, SI/2001-121, s. 3]
(b) born outside Canada be accompanied by
(i) a certificate of Canadian citizenship granted or issued to the person under the Act or the former Act,
(ii) a certificate of naturalization granted to the person under any Act that was in force in Canada at any time before the 1st day of January, 1947,
(iii) a certificate of registration of birth abroad issued to the person by the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship pursuant to the former Act, or
(iv) a certificate of retention of Canadian citizenship issued to the person by the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship pursuant to a declaration of retention of Canadian citizenship made by the person pursuant to regulations made under the former Act.
(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.
- SI/2001-121, s. 3
- SI/2006-95, s. 4
7 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), when an applicant applies for a passport in respect of a child under 16 years of age, that child may be issued a passport if the applicant is
(a) the parent of the child;
(b) the custodial parent, if the parents of the child are divorced or separated; or
(c) the legal guardian of the child.
(2) No passport shall be issued to a child under 16 years of age where the parents of the child are divorced or separated and there is a court order made by a court of competent jurisdiction in Canada or a separation agreement the terms of which grant the non-custodial parent specific rights of access to the child, unless the application for the passport is accompanied by evidence that the issue of a passport to the child is not contrary to the terms of the court order or separation agreement.
(3) No passport shall be issued to a child under 16 years of age where there is a court order made by a court of competent jurisdiction in Canada in respect of the child the terms of which restrict the movement of that child to a judicial district specified in the order, unless the court order is revoked or is varied to permit the child to travel outside Canada.
(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.
- SI/2001-121, s. 4
- SI/2006-95, s. 5
- SI/2008-146, s. 2
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.
- SI/2006-95, s. 6
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) 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.
- SI/2004-113, s. 4
- SI/2006-95, s. 7
Refusal of Passports and Revocation
9 Passport Canada may refuse to issue a passport to an applicant who
(a) fails to provide the Passport Office with a duly completed application for a passport or with the information and material that is required or requested
(i) in the application for a passport, or
(ii) pursuant to section 8;
(b) stands charged in Canada with the commission of an indictable offence;
(c) stands charged outside Canada with the commission of any offence that would, if committed in Canada, constitute an indictable offence;
(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;
(f) is indebted to the Crown for expenses related to repatriation to Canada or for other consular financial assistance provided abroad at his request by the Government of Canada; or
(g) has been issued a passport that has not expired and has not been revoked.
- SI/2001-121, s. 5
- SI/2006-95, s. 8
10 (1) Passport Canada may revoke a passport on the same grounds on which it may refuse to issue a passport.
(2) In addition, Passport Canada may revoke the passport of a person who
(a) being outside Canada, stands charged in a foreign country or state with the commission of any offence that would constitute an indictable offence if committed in Canada;
(b) uses the passport to assist him in committing an indictable offence in Canada or any offence in a foreign country or state that would constitute an indictable offence if committed in Canada;
(c) permits another person to use the passport;
(d) has obtained the passport by means of false or misleading information; or
(e) has ceased to be a Canadian citizen.
- SI/2001-121, s. 6
- SI/2006-95, s. 9
10.1 Without limiting the generality of subsections 4(3) and (4) and for greater certainty, the Minister may refuse or revoke a passport if the Minister is of the opinion that such action is necessary for the national security of Canada or another country.
- SI/2004-113, s. 5
10.2 The authority to make a decision to refuse or revoke a passport under this Order includes the authority to impose a period of withheld passport service.
- SI/2009-56, s. 2
10.3 If a passport issued to a person has expired but could have been revoked under any of the grounds set out in sections 10 and 10.1 if it had not expired, Passport Canada or the Minister, as the case may be, may impose a period of withheld passport service on those same grounds if the facts that could otherwise have led to the revocation of the passport occurred before its expiry date.
- SI/2009-56, s. 2
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.
- SI/2006-95, s. 10
Authorization
12 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may authorize the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to exercise any of the following administrative powers:
(a) receiving passport applications, determining whether all required information has been provided, and checking the information provided on the application forms for consistency with materials and declarations required, prior to sending the applications to Passport Canada for processing;
(b) ensuring that any documentary evidence of citizenship submitted with a passport application is valid and regular on its face, and returning the originals of documentary evidence of citizenship to applicants;
(c) collecting any valid or expired passports, and accompanying materials, as required by the application process;
(d) collecting the applicable passport fees and remitting a receipt to applicants; and
(e) forwarding, including by electronic means, applications and all accompanying materials and declarations, including any originals, and the fees to Passport Canada for assessment, processing, approval, entitlement decision and issuance of passports.
(2) The Minister may specify circumstances in which the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development may not exercise a power referred to in subsection (1).
(3) The authorization under subsection (1) may be made
(a) in respect of powers referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (c) to (e), for up to 200 selected points of service; and
(b) in respect of powers referred to in paragraph (1)(b), for up to 60 points of service selected from the points of service referred to in paragraph (a) based on the geographic distribution of passport applications and passport offices and with a focus on small communities.
(4) A point of service is jointly designated by the Minister and the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.
(5) This section ceases to have effect on March 31, 2013.
- SI/2008-57, s. 2
- SI/2010-32, s. 1
SCHEDULE(Section 8)Additional Information
Name
1 Where an applicant applies for a passport in a name that is
(a) other than the applicant’s legal name,
(b) different from the name set out in
(i) the applicant’s birth certificate,
(ii) certificate of citizenship, or
(iii) any other document required in respect of a passport under this Order,
the applicant may be required to submit additional documents or affidavits in clarification thereof.
Address
2 Where an applicant provides as an address a Canada Post Office Box number or a General Delivery address, the applicant may be required to provide an explanation for such address or to provide a permanent address.
Date of Birth
3 Where the date of birth of an applicant set out in an application for a passport differs from the date of birth in that applicant’s birth certificate, further evidence of the date of birth of the applicant may be required.
Sex
4 (1) Where the sex indicated in an application for a passport is not the same as that set out in that applicant’s birth certificate, the applicant may be requested to provide an explanation.
(2) Where an application for a passport indicates that a change of sex of the applicant has taken place, the applicant may be requested to submit a certificate from a medical practitioner to substantiate the statement.
5 [Repealed, SI/2001-121, s. 7]
Loss of Citizenship
6 Where the information submitted in an application for a passport indicates that the applicant may have, at any time, ceased to be a Canadian citizen, information may be required from that applicant to establish that the applicant is a Canadian citizen.
Passports for Children
7 Where an applicant referred to in subsection 7(1) of this Order applies for the issue of a passport to a child referred to in that subsection, the applicant may be required to submit evidence, in the form of affidavits, statutory declarations or otherwise, to substantiate the applicant’s eligibility to make such an application.
Missing Canadian Passports
8 Where there is in existence a valid Canadian passport in respect of an applicant and that applicant is unable to produce it, the applicant may be required to provide a statement explaining the circumstances in respect of the missing passport together with such affidavits or statutory declarations as are necessary to establish that the passport is missing and the reasons therefor.
Marriage
9 (1) Where a female applicant married an alien prior to January 1, 1947, additional information may be required to establish whether the applicant is a Canadian citizen.
(2) Where a female applicant who is married and in possession of a valid passport issued to her in her maiden name requests that her married name be added to the passport, the applicant may be required to produce her marriage certificate.
Delivery of Passports
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.
Applicants who have been Refused Passports
11 Where an applicant has previously applied for a passport and the issue of a passport to that applicant has been refused, information may be required from the applicant to establish that the applicant is eligible to be issued a passport.
Proof of Guardianship
12 Where the application for a passport is in respect of a child and the applicant is the legal guardian of the child, information may be required to establish proof of guardianship of that child.
- SI/2001-121, ss. 7, 8
- SI/2006-95, s. 11
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