IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Passport Program

Context

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)—in partnership with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada (SC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC)—issues passports to Canadians. IRCC also issues certificates of identity to Canadian permanent residents who are unable to obtain a national passport, and travel documents.

Background

• Canadians have a right to a passport as part of their mobility rights enshrined in section six of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Canadian passports are compliant with global standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency, allowing Canadian travel documents to be internationally recognized and Canadians to travel seamlessly through borders in an increasingly complex global environment of new trends and technologies.
• Approximately 67% of all Canadians hold a valid passport and there are over 27 million passports in circulation.

Roles & Responsibilities

• IRCC is responsible for maintaining the Passport Program’s legal framework, overall policy leadership, program and financial management, issuing diplomatic (red) and special (green) passports, issuing travel documents for protected persons and permanent residents, and for decisions on any complex/special cases, including those involving cancellation and revocation.
• IRCC also serves as lead participant in ICAO-led negotiations, representing Canadian passport, immigration and border management interests in the development of global standards and recommended practices, while ensuring the Passport Program maintains compliance with existing standards.
• Through partnerships grounded in Memoranda of Understanding, ESDC is responsible for delivering regular (blue) passport services in Canada, including application intake, processing and client support. GAC is responsible for delivering passport services to Canadians living or travelling abroad, including regular and temporary passports and Emergency Travel Documents.
• The Minister of Public Safety is responsible for decisions on whether to issue, refuse, revoke, or cancel a regular or temporary passport in cases related to terrorism or national security threats. IRCC provides administrative and operational support to Public Safety in that role.

Current Program

• The primary legal authorities for the Passport Program stem from the Royal Prerogative, rather than Parliamentary statutes. Under the Royal Prerogative, there are two Orders in Council that govern most of the activities of the Program:
  • The Canadian Passport Order defines who is entitled to a regular (blue) or temporary (white) passport, how those passports are issued, and when a passport can be refused, cancelled, or revoked.
  • The Diplomatic and Special Passports Order defines who is entitled to a diplomatic (red) or special (green) passport.
• The Royal Prerogative is also the legal basis for the issuance of two travel documents for non-Canadian citizens:
  • Refugee Travel Documents (RTD) are issued to individuals with protected person status in Canada (resettled refugees and persons granted asylum) to support Canada’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention; and
  • Certificates of Identity (COI) are issued to Canadian permanent residents who are stateless or otherwise unable to obtain a passport from their country of nationality.
• There is no Order in Council for the RTD or COI; instead, eligibility and other rules are defined in administrative policy.
• Other legal authorities that govern the Program include:
  • The Financial Administration Act enables the Program’s fee regulations and provides authorities and requirements for the Minister to remit and/or waive passport and travel document fees.
  • The Service Fees Act establishes the requirement to have service standards, and to remit a portion of the fee if standards are not met, and establishes the requirement to adjust fees annually in line with inflation.
  • The Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations establishes the fee structure for passport and travel documents and services.
  • The Revolving Funds Act authorizes the Minister to make expenditures out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of passport and other travel document services in Canada and at posts abroad.
• Funding for the Passport Program is generated through the fees paid for passport and other travel document services and is deposited into the Passport Revolving Fund (PRF). The Program operates on a cost-recovery basis, meaning that revenues and expenditures are required to balance out over its 10-year business cycle.
• The PRF is prohibited by law to enter into a deficit position by more than $1. Should expenditures exceed revenues by more than $1, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship would no longer have the authority to make expenditures for operations, which would halt service delivery across IRCC, ESDC/SC and GAC.

Recent Developments

• The Passport Program is undergoing a major transition from a paper-based applications and manual processing model to online applications supported by automated decision making. To support this transformation, the Program is re-examining and modernizing the entire Program ecosystem, from authorities and information technology platforms to client service and operational delivery.
• The Program has to date successfully delivered a number of key modernization projects, thus setting the table for the launch of a passport online channel.
  • e-Passport Next Generation: A redesigned suite of travel documents was introduced as of June 2023 and successfully deployed domestically and abroad as of September 1, 2024, with state-of-the-art security features and modern laser engravers with additional security elements, aligned with ICAO standards, making Canada’s passport overall one of the most secure globally.
  • Passport Program Modernization Initiative (PPMI): In 2024, a new issuance platform was deployed for passport processing and automated decision-making across the ESDC/Service Canada Network. Automated decision-making for adult renewal applications has reduced processing requirements for approximately 35% of applications across all application types.
• In December 2024, the Passport Program launched an online application channel for a subset of simplified adult passport renewals, with a set daily intake cap. [Redacted]
• In January 2026, the Governor in Council approved amendments to the Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations, which repealed the existing fee adjustment formula and made fees subject to annual adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, as mandated by the Service Fees Act. As of March 31, 2026, fees for most passport applications will increase by 2.7%, with fees for expedited services and temporary passports increasing by 14.5%. For example, the fee for a ten-year regular adult passport will increase from $160 to $163.50, and the fee for urgent pick up service in Canada will increase from $110 to $125.75.
• Effective April 1, 2026, the Program will also be amending its remissions policy to offer more meaningful compensation for missed service standards. The new policy will provide for a 100% refund to clients in cases where travel documents are processed after 30 business days, replacing the two-tiered system which allowed for a 25% refund of travel document fees for 1–10 days outside of service standards and 50% remissions for 11+ days outside service standards.

Upcoming Milestones

• The new inflation-adjusted fee levels will take effect on March 31, 2026, and the 100% remission policy for service over 30 business days will take effect on April 1, 2026.
• Leveraging the new issuance platform developed for services in Canada (PPMI), the Department will be replacing its legacy system abroad in collaboration with GAC. [Redacted]
• Working with ESDC/SC and GAC, the Department will also review the Program’s Digital First but Not Digital Only client service platform [Redacted]