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Types of Canadian Passports
About 50 percent of Canadians are passport holders.
Passport Canada issues more than four million travel documents annually, most of which are regular passports. There are six types of passports:
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Regular passport
Regular Passport
Canadians are most familiar with the 24-page passport, which is issued to Canadian citizens and used for occasional travel such as vacations and business trips. It accounts for the vast majority of all travel documents issued by Passport Canada.
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Frequent traveller passport
Frequent Traveller Passport
The 48-page passport is like the 24-page passport but with visa pages for frequent travellers such as business people.
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Diplomatic passport
Diplomatic Passport
Passport Canada issues diplomatic passports to Canadian diplomats, top-ranking government officials, diplomatic couriers and private citizens nominated as official delegates to international diplomatic conferences.
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Special passport
Special Passport
Passport Canada issues special passports to people representing the Canadian government on official business, including Members of Parliament, provincial Members of Cabinet, public servants and private citizens nominated to non-diplomatic conferences.
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Emergency travel document
Emergency travel document
Canadians stranded in foreign countries may be issued emergency travel documents by Canadian government offices abroad on behalf of Passport Canada.
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Temporary passport
Temporary Passport
On behalf of Passport Canada, Canadian government offices abroad may issue temporary passports to a Canadian citizen with an urgent, proven need for an interim passport, while waiting to receive a regular passport.
Passport Canada also produces two types of Canadian travel documents that are issued to refugees and stateless persons living in Canada:
- Travel Document (1951 UN Convention)
- Certificate of Identity
Canadian Passports
There were about 20 million valid Canadian passports in circulation as of March 31, 2010. On average, about 19,000 passports are issued each working day.
The first booklet-type Canadian passport was issued in 1921, and the first bilingual Canadian passport came out in 1926 (passports were previously in English only). Until 1947, two kinds of passports were issued in Canada, one for British-born citizens, and one for naturalized citizens. Since 1947, the Canadian Citizenship Act has stipulated that only Canadian citizens are entitled to hold a Canadian passport.
