BREAKING NEWS: Canadian Passports and Border Clearance

PRETTY PASSPORTS Harder to copy and more expensive Canada's passports are being updated to include chip technology and watermark images designed to prevent fraud, but are also going to cost a lot more. The new passports will have computer chips embedded in them - technology that's already used in dozens of other countries, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Friday. Each blank page of the document will also contain watermarks depicting iconic images from Canadian history. ``Canada's new passport is not just a ticket to new places, new cultures, and new experiences,'' Baird said. ``It tells the world who we are: a nation built on freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.'' Not exactly the purpose of a passport, but ... The new passports will be renewable for either five or 10-year periods, but they'll come with a price: $120 for five years, up from the current $87, and $160 for the 10-year option. Passports for children will be $57, an increase of $20. For those applying outside of Canada, the fee skyrockets to $190 for a five-year passport - up from $97 - and $260 for the document that would expire in 10 years. By comparison, it currently costs $135 to apply for a new passport in the US - $25 less for a renewal. An adult passport in the UK costs the equivalent of about $117. The 16 distinct images include sports scenes - obligatory illustrations of the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup - and Canadian landmarks such as old Quebec City, the Prairies and Parliament's iconic Centre Block. The changes are designed to deter counterfeiters and make the passport more secure, said Baird. ``It will help us ensure that the Canadian passport remains a secure document that can help facilitate trade and travel.'' The new documents will begin rolling out in unspecified "select locations" in the first three months of 2013, with wide availability expected by mid-July. BORDER CLEARANCE PROGRAM TO EXPAND LUC Portelance, President of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Howard Eng, President and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), has announced the planned expansion of the Automated Border Clearance (ABC) Program at Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport. ABC is an innovative concept that uses self-service kiosk technology to partially automate the processing of eligible travellers (Canadian citizens with a valid passport and Canadian permanent residents with a valid permanent resident card) returning to Canada.  ABC offers a safe and viable alternative for the processing of eligible travellers by the CBSA. The self-service kiosks are easy to use and do not require preregistration or payment of any membership fees.  Eligible travellers who choose an ABC kiosk should have all of the necessary documents on hand when they approach the kiosk, including the CBSA Declaration Card, their Canadian passport or Canadian permanent resident card, and all receipts for purchases made abroad. To use the kiosk, the traveller activates the kiosk touch screen, scans their travel document, inserts their completed Declaration Card and answers a few clarifying questions as required. Once finished at the kiosk, travellers present their printed kiosk receipt and travel document to a border services officer at the next checkpoint for verification. The ABC kiosk allows up to four travellers residing at the same address to be processed in a single transaction if they are all identified on the same CBSA Declaration Card. While this innovative technology will be new to Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport this winter, it has already proven to be enormously successful in Vancouver and Montréal

Reprinted from YYZ Travel Group - Business First November 2012