Changes
In September 2003, Le Devoir printed a piece calling on Passport Canada to give individual Canadians the choice of which official language appeared first in their passports, English or French. The Passport Office initially claimed that this was not allowed under international norms, but it was shown that Belgian passport applications asked Belgian citizens which of their country's three official languages (Dutch, French or German) should appear first in their passports.
In 2008, Passport Canada announced that it would be issuing more secure, electronic passports to Canadian travellers starting in 2012. The e-passport will have an electronic chip encoded with the bearer's name, gender, and date and place of birth and a digital portrait of their face.
On 7 April 2010, Passport Canada announced that in 2012, Canada will begin issuing electronic passports, or ePassports, to all its citizens. Passport Canada states that "the use of ePassports will allow Canada to follow international standards in the field of passport security to protect the nation's borders and maintain the ease of international travel that Canadians currently enjoy. At the same time, Passport Canada will start offering the option of a 10-year validity period as well as the current 5-year validity period."
Subsequently in September 2011, Passport Canada announced that the electronic passport will be ready by the end of 2012, the passport is currently under parliamentary tabling, or phase 3 of the plan according to Passport Canada. The organization stated the significant delay was due to increased in passport application for revised entry policies to the United States in late 2000s and a supposedly lengthy consultation process. This has further cast doubts on introducing the biometric passport on time.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Passport