Vol. 135, No. 26 — December 19, 2001

Registration
SI/2001-121 19 December, 2001

OTHER THAN STATUTORY AUTHORITY

Order Amending the Canadian Passport Order

P.C. 2001-2277 10 December, 2001

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

AMENDMENTS

1. The definition "applicant" in section 2 of the Canadian Passport Order (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

"applicant" means a person who is at least 16 years of age who applies for a passport; (requérant)

2. Section 5 of the Order is replaced by the following:

5. No passport shall be issued to any person unless an application for a passport is made by that person to the Passport Office in a form prescribed by the Minister.

3. Paragraph 6(a) of the Order is amended by adding the word "or" at the end of subparagraph (ii) and by repealing subparagraph (iv).

4. (1) The portion of subsection 7(1) of the Order before subparagraph (a)(i) is replaced by the following:

7. (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), where an applicant applies for a passport in respect of a child,

(a) the child that is under 16 years of age may be issued a passport if the applicant is

(2) Paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Order is replaced by the following:

(b) despite paragraph 3(f), where the child is under three years of age, the passport shall expire no later than three years after the date on which it is issued, unless the passport is sooner revoked.

(3) Subsections 7(2) to (4) of the Order are replaced by the following:

(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 the Passport Office with the information and material required in the application for the passport and, where applicable, the information required pursuant to section 8.

5. Paragraph 9(g) of the Order is replaced by the following:

(g) has been issued a passport that has not expired and has not been revoked.

6. Paragraph 10(d) of the Order is replaced by the following:

(d) has obtained the passport by means of false or misleading information; or

7. Section 5 of the schedule to the Order is repealed.

8. Section 7 of the schedule to the Order is replaced by the following:

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.

COMING INTO FORCE

9. This Order comes into force on December 11, 2001.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order provides that parents of children under the age of 16 will no longer be able to request the inclusion of their children's names in their passport. Children under the age of 16 will be issued separate passports. This amendment will ensure better identification of children and increase their security. The ability to identify children plays an important role in preventing the abduction of children outside Canada and the illegal immigration of foreign children into Canada.

Also, birth certificates issued by religious, judicial and municipal authorities before the coming into force of the Civil Code of Québec on January 1, 1994 are no longer accepted as proof of citizenship.

Footnote 1

SI/81-86

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