A passport is a piece of identification that allows a person to enter a foreign country. It is the best proof of Canadian citizenship.

It is still possible to travel outside Canada without a Canadian passport, but this practice is more and more rare. You can go to the United States and Mexico, among other countries, with your ordinary identification. Still, to avoid any complications, it can be useful to bring a valid passport anyway.

In response to the attacks on September 11, 2001, the Canadian government reinforced the security system by creating a new passport which is almost impossible to falsify. The old passports are still valid until their expiry dates.

To obtain a passport, first you need to fill out and sign an application form. This is available on the Canada Passport Office website, or at one of their regional offices. You can also obtain the form at a Canada Post branch, or if you are outside the country, at a Canadian consulate.

When you hand in your form to the Passport office, you must provide the following documents:

• Two identical photos of yourself, passport size, taken in the last 12 months;
  
  
• The original of a proof of Canadian citizenship:
  
  -For people born in Canada, this means a Canadian birth certificate (only those issued by the Directeur de l’état civil du Québec after the 1st of January 1994 are accepted) or a certificate of Canadian citizenship.
  
  -For people born outside Canada, it means a certificate of Canadian citizenship, a certificate of naturalization in Canada, a declaration of Canadian citizenship, or a certificate of registration of foreign birth (see the Quebec Immigration Office).
  
  
• Any Canadian travel document that was given to you in the last 5 years (for example: Canadian passport, identity certificate, travel ticket, etc.);
  
  
• A photo ID to confirm your identity on which your name and signature appear (for example, driver's licence, health card, etc.). You can send the original, which will be returned to you, or a photocopy. In the second case, your guarantor will have to confirm that the copies are identical to the originals by signing and dating them.

Finally, don’t forget to sign and fill in all the pages of the passport application form.

Also, you have to have the application signed by an authorized guarantor (on this topic, consult the fourth question in this Infosheet).

The guarantor also has to sign one of your photographs and the photocopies of the other documents (if you do not submit the originals).

Generally, if you send your passport by mail, it will be returned to you within 20 business days after the receipt of your application. When the application is done in person at the regional branch of the Passport Office, the time limit is around 10 business days after receipt of the application.

If you need to obtain your passport more quickly, you must assume the additional costs of this kind of request, and go in person to present your application at the Passport Office. Two kinds of priority treatment are possible:

• Urgent: your passport wil be ready on the business day following the date the application is received;
  
• Priority: your passport will be ready within 2-9 business days after the receipt of your application.

To obtain your passport, plan to spend (as of 2008) between $85 and $105 depending on whether you are applying from within Canada or from another country. Also, if you want faster treatment, you will have extra costs to pay (in 2004, these came to between $30 and $70 extra, depending on the method chosen).

In general, a guarantor is a person who vouches for, or takes responsibility for another. For example, parents are guarantors for the accidents that their children could cause.

On a specific part of the passport application form, the guarantor must declare that the information that you have included is correct.

He must sign the passport application form and one of your photographs. He also must sign and date the photocopies of any documents that you have attached, as needed.

But the guarantor can’t be just anyone! He must be a Canadian citizen living in Canada. He must have known you personally for at least two years and perform one of the professions listed in the passport application, such as:

• Lawyer or notary;
  
• Professor or administrator in a University;
  
• Doctor, dentist, pharmacist, chiropractor or optometrist;
  
• Chartered accountant or engineer;
  
• Judge or mayor;
  
• Police officer;
  
• Primary or secondary school principal;
  
• Postmaster;
  
• Religious minister empowered by provincial law to perform weddings;
  
• Veterinarian;
  
• Person occupying a higher administrative position in a college or cegep.

If you don’t know a guarantor who fits these criteria, you have to fill out an extra form called PPT 132 “Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor”, available at the Passport Office. It may cost you extra because you have to sign it in front of a commissioner of oaths (bailiff, notary, lawyer…).

The length of validity of the passport is 5 years for an adult. (For children’s passports, keep reading.)

At the end of 5 years, you have to go through all the steps to obtain a new passport: filling out a passport application form, having a guarantor sign, providing complementary documents and photos, paying the fees…

Yes, if you are travelling to the United States by plane.

No, if you are using any other means of transportation.

However, since January 31, 2008, all travellers aged 16 years or older must show certain documents to enter the United States:

• A government-issued piece of identification (for example, a driver’s licence)
  
• AND a birth certificate or citizenship card;
  
• OR a valid passport;
  
• OR a NEXUS card (for travellers) or FAST (for importers, carriers and drivers), at certain border crossings (click here for the list of border crossings)

Parents must also provide the birth certificate of children who are 15 years old or under and are travelling with them.

According to the Passport Office, you shouldn’t go on a trip with a passport that will expire during your trip or a short time after your return. It is wise to get further information from the embassy or consulate of the country you wish to visit ahead of time.

Some countries will refuse entry to a person carrying a passport that will expire in a short time.

If you lose your passport or if someone steals it, you must immediately tell the police in the place where it happened. It is also a good idea to ask for a copy of the police report.

Next, you have to go to the Passport Office if you are in Canada, or to the Canadian Government Office (Consulate or Embassy) if you are outside the country. A new passport will be delivered to you when you have filled out the passport application form and after you have provided the following documents:

• A document proving your Canadian citizenship (birth certificate or citizenship certificate);
  
• Two new photos;
  
• The PP203 form, called a “Statutory Declaration concerning a lost, stolen, damaged, destroyed or inaccessible Canadian passport or travel document”.

But before replacing the document, the Canadian authorities conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

You will have to pay fees to obtain your passport.

Take precautions before you leave:

• Make photocopies of your passport (the page where your name and photo are shown). Keep one in your bags in a different place from where you keep your passport, and give one to a person you trust who will be staying in Canada during your trip;
  
• Bring with you, in addition to your passport, a document that will allow you to prove your Canadian citizenship (birth certificate or certificate of citizenship).

A visa is an authorization given by a country to a foreign person who wishes to spend time on its territory.

Not all countries require a visa for a stranger to enter their territory. To learn if the country that you would like to visit requires a visa, you can get information at the embassy or consulate of this country in Canada, at your travel agency or from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Applying for a visa takes time, so it is important to plan ahead. The costs of delivery of a visa can vary from one country to another.

Yes. Since December 11, 2001, Canadian children, even newborns, must have their own passport. They are no longer included on their parents’ passports.

This measure is aimed at improving security in response to the attacks of September 11th, 2001. It is also meant to combat trafficking of children, by demanding specific detailed information on the child which will allow for her identification (photograph, age, name, physical description…).

The application form for a child’s passport is available at the Passport Office, at postal counters or on the Passport Office website. This requires a separate form from that which applies to the parents.

The people authorized to make the application are:

• One of the parents can, alone, fill out a passport application for his or her child. The parent is then called the applicant. Note that both parents have to sign the passport application.
  
• In case of separation or divorce, only the parent with custody can fill out a passport application for the child.
  
• In the case of shared custody, one or the other parent can make the application, but both must sign it. All legal documents concerning custody and the separation must be provided.
  
• The legal tutor of the child can also submit the application for the child’s passport.

Several complementary documents must – in all cases – accompany the application:

• Two identical passport photos of the child;
  
• Original proof of Canadian citizenship (copies are not accepted):
  
  -if the child was born in Canada, a Canadian birth certificate (only those issued after the 1st of January 1994 by the Directeur de l’état civil du Québec; baptismal certificates and documents form civil or municipal registers are no longer valid) or a certificate of Canadian citizenship; these documents are issued by the civil registry office of the province where the child was born;
  
  -if the child was born outside Canada, a certificate of Canadian citizenship; this document is issued by the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship;

• Any passport or Canadian travel document in the name of the child or on which her name appears;
  
• All legal documents regarding the custody, travel and access rights to the child;
  
• A copy of the separation or divorce judgment, as required.

You must sign and fill in the pages of the passport application and have the child sign in the space provided, if she is at least 11 years old.

The application, along with one of the photographs, must be filled out and signed by an authorized guarantor (consult the question on guarantors above).

The waiting period to receive a child’s passport and the costs involved are the same as for adult passports. Please refer to the previous questions on the subject. At the same time, the length of validity of the passport can change. It is 5 years, except for children under 3 years old, for whom the passport is only valid for up to 3 years.

Yes. To prevent child abductions, by both strangers or parents, customs authorities of many countries have strengthened control measures with respect to children travelling alone, with one parent, or with a person other than their parents.

You must therefore carry with you all of the documents that prove, if it is the case, that you are the parent of the child and that you are authorized to travel alone with them. For example:

• The birth certificate of the child, showing the names of both parents;
  
• If the parents are separated, all legal documents related to custody, for example, the custody judgment or the custody agreement with the other parent;
  
• A death certificate if one of the parents is dead;
  
• A parental consent letter signed by the other parent in situations where one parent is travelling alone with the child;
  
• A parental consent letter signed by both parents in situations where another person is travelling with the child, or where the child is travelling alone.

Parents can find sample parental consent letters on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.