Passport Canada is proposing a new pricing scheme for electronic passports, a delayed program that has seen costs soar, set to be rolled out starting next year.
If the proposed new fees are approved, it would cost more for Canadians to get a passport. The cash boost would shore up an agency that last year spent more than it earned.
The agency announced on Nov. 10 that it is set to introduce its new five-year, 36-page e-passport "before the end of 2012," with the 10-year, 36-page version being offered in "early 2013." E-passports were originally proposed in 2004 by the Liberal government of Paul Martin, and contain a computer chip embedded in the document that the agency says increases the document's security and makes it harder to forge or tamper with. (...more)
