Canada to start recording passport details on exit

[Bs65]

Something to keep in mind for the future when leaving the country having done a PR landing and then maintaining RO http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/canada-to-begin-collecting-exit-passport-data-1.2947418 proposed to keep data for 15 years. Includes land border with US where the US will feed data back

 

[ttrajan]

It is good news for renewing PR card without any delay who comply RO.

 

[dpenabill]

In addition to the observations I made yesterday, in another topic and quoted below, it warrants noting that to some extent a significant portion of this information was already being captured and accessible to CBSA and IRCC, particularly as to Foreign Nationals and less so for Canadians, including PRs, but even less so (as I understood) for Canadian citizens.

Actually the Liberals just tabled new legislation three days ago, I think it is Bill C-21, which will facilitate the government in collecting more information including, specifically, information documenting exits from Canada. This Bill is a long way from being adopted (maybe late fall it will happen). In the meantime, no, neither CBSA nor IRCC necessarily have complete information as to individual's presence in Canada. They have a lot, more and more over time, and they will have a lot more if this legislation is adopted and becomes law (recent media reports tend to attribute this to a deal between Trudeau and Obama, but actually it is the next step in implementing an agreement made between Obama and Harper a couple years ago . . . part of what it will do is give Canadian authorities information about arrivals in the U.S. from Canada, thus in effect constituting information about those individuals exiting Canada . . . the other thing it will do is allow the government to collect information from Commercial carriers regarding name, Travel Document and its number, for all passengers exiting Canada).

Moreover, even after this legislation is adopted and implemented, this only further increases the extent to which CBSA and IRCC will have access to databases showing exit and entry information for individuals. Since there are numerous ways for individuals to skirt the record-capturing done now (both deliberately and incidentally), or under the new law which will be done, the government will use this information to verify an individual's information, to the extent the data does verify the applicant's declared information, but will not rely on it as the primary source of travel date information. The burden of proof will continue to be on the PR to prove dates of travel.

Of course the government is likely to also use the information for investigatory purposes, to identify people going abroad too long to be eligible for unemployment insurance payments or other benefits, or indeed for purposes of checking PR RO compliance.

For clarity, the legislation was just tabled Wednesday, June 15, and thus is really still at a proposed stage. Thus, to some extent the linked article above is a little misleading, as it reports that Canada will begin collecting this data, rather than accurately reporting that new legislation has been tabled which proposes to do this.

If these urls work, for status of Bill C-21 see http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&billId=8355229
and for text of the legislation, see http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8368535&Col=1

Otherwise just go to the Parliamentary Business website and follow links for Bill C-21

The fact this has just been tabled and thus, at this stage, it is proposed legislation, and thus not a policy or practice which the government can yet "begin," is not an insignificant detail. As has been seen with other legislation introduced by the Liberal government, unlike the previous Conservative majority government which abused its majority to ram through its legislation without subjecting the legislation to the full gamut of the democratic process, the Liberals have allowed, and usually (with the failed exception of Bill C-14) encouraged robust study and debate and consideration of amendments (which was ultimately done for Bill C-14 as well, after the failed effort to push the Bill through with limited debate). Thus this legislation may face some opposition and amendments.

That is true for any legislation, but the reason this legislation may be especially challenged is the impact it will arguably have on privacy, that is, on information many believe the government should have restricted access to for very limited purposes and not generally shared across multiple government agencies or departments. My understanding is that this is a large part of why some of the initiatives in the agreement with the U.S., made between Obama and Harper a couple years ago, were limited to information regarding FNs and not Canadians (remember, PRs are Canadians under the immigration laws). There appears to be a strong opposition to this by many privacy-protection advocates.

While the legislation may face challenges, it seems likely that it will indeed be adopted (for the most part; perhaps with some amendments) and these changes put into effect, perhaps as early as sometime in 2017.

It is good news for renewing PR card without any delay who comply RO.

Reminder: the burden of accurately declaring all dates present or absent, and if questioned proving compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, will continue to be imposed on PRs.

The government will not use the additional information collected to establish that a PR met the PR RO, or met the physical presence requirements for citizenship.

The government will use the additional information to screen and verify information submitted by PRs, either in the context of a PR RO Residency Determination, or in the context of a citizenship application. But that involves looking for omissions or discrepancies. That is, to the extent the government considers this information, it will mostly be about questioning not supporting the applicant's declarations.

The government will also use the information for investigatory purposes, including (one can anticipate) conducting data-screening to identify persons who may be receiving certain government benefits in violation of residency requirements as well as to identify PRs not complying with the PR RO.

In the latter regard, this is likely to be bad news for more than a few PRs who have been skirting the PR RO. For example, in the past it has been relatively easy, for some PRs spending more than 60% of their time abroad, to largely go undetected; typical example is the number who work in the U.S. and travel back and forth to Canada often enough there appears to be extensive presence in Canada, enough that the government does not notice or flag them for potentially being in breach of the PR RO. Once this additional information is readily accessible to both CBSA and IRCC, that will be more difficult.

And for those PRs applying for a new PR card, those cutting compliance with the PR RO close can still anticipate Secondary Review, and delays in processing. The additional information may reduce the number of PRs affected by SR and may improve the processing time for some subject to SR, but a small number of PRs, similarly to now, will most likely still face elevated scrutiny and extended processing. Again, the government is not going to use this information to make the PR's case that the PR is in compliance with the PR RO. That burden will continue to rest on the PR.

 

[Bs65]

Comprehensive reply as usual.

Just goes to show never believe anything in the papers or on TV as they always miss out key information to suit.

Given the way the world is heading would not be surprised if this legislation gets some priority, influenced from the US much like the ETA. Then again if Trump becomes President maybe he will build a wall across both the north and south US border although must be better things to waste money on.

 

[keesio]

This new procedure makes sense and simply bring Canada inline with most other countries around the world.

 

[Tri-Cities]

Finally!

It's about time that Canada takes more control! Way too many PR's taking advantage of the system, I hope recording will make a decision / the job easier for the officer!

TC

 

[teko]

FINALLY,

I was asking why this is not the case since 2010. simply collect data on exit, make it easier for people to get checked upon renewals or citizenship application and crack down fraud.

I can see mental improvement 8)

 

[toshib]

The U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand already record entry & exit movements of all travelers so Canada wants to be inline with these countries.
According to the official website of Canadian government the record of entry & exit movements will be used specifically to detect temporary visa overstayers, and also Verify whether applicants for permanent residency or citizenship have complied with residency requirements, it will also be used to detect people who abuse government benefits.

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1085449

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1085459

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ralph-goodale-canada-us-bill-1.3635990

 

[Bs65]

The U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand already record entry & exit movements of all travelers so Canada wants to be inline with these countries.
According to the official website of Canadian government the record of entry & exit movements will be used specifically to detect temporary visa overstayers, and also Verify whether applicants for permanent residency or citizenship have complied with residency requirements, it will also be used to detect people who abuse government benefits.

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1085449

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1085459

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ralph-goodale-canada-us-bill-1.3635990

about time

 

[Ponga]

The last two times that my Canadian citizen partner and I (U.S. citizen) traveled to the U.S. (by car), neither of us had our passports scanned/swiped, nor did the officer type in any information. How would they have otherwise recorded our movements?

 

[keesio]

Don't some of the new passports (US and Canadian) have RFID? I know that the Nexus cards have them and all you have to do is go through the Nexus lane and it reads your information and by the time you get to the booth with the officer, you pictures and data are already on his screen and all he has to do is look in the car and see that the faces match the photos on his screen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_passport#ePassport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport#Biometric_passport

 

[Ponga]

Don't some of the new passports (US and Canadian) have RFID? I know that the Nexus cards have them and all you have to do is go through the Nexus lane and it reads your information and by the time you get to the booth with the officer, you pictures and data are already on his screen and all he has to do is look in the car and see that the faces match the photos on his screen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_passport#ePassport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport#Biometric_passport

Ah...the second link explains it:

Data in a passport chip is scannable by electronic readers, a capability which is intended to speed up immigration processing. A passport does not have to be plugged into a reader in order for the data to be read. Like toll-road chips, data in passport chips can be read when passport chips are proximate to readers. The passport cover contains a radio-frequency shield, so the cover must be opened for the data to be read.

+1 for solving the mystery.