Canadian passport rip-off ?

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GPapenburg

In most countries on earth passports production costs are subsidized by tax payers; means the fee actually asked for does not cover the costs of a passport issue. A German passport for example is valid for 10 years and costs â‚¬59 ($94) for adults from 24 years. People below that age get a 5 year valid passport and pay â‚¬37.50 ($59.50).
The Canadian passport however is not tax subsidized. The actual costs for the passport issue are to be born by the passport holders through paying the fee. .. http://www.pptc.gc.ca/support/faq.aspx?lang=eng&id=540 .. A 10 year valid passport would just be too expensive, therefore the validation is limited to 5 years. Maybe the increasing passport applications based on the fact that U.S.- travel requires a passport after next month will finally reduce the costs and the fee may stay stable for a long period. Passports stay government property for legal aspects; a withdrawal would not be possible without that.

Jeff H

Basically, a passport is a guarantee issued by the Canadian Government that you are a Canadian Citizen that you are issued to carry with you. In a sense it is as though you have a government official with you when you travel. As such it is the property of the government and they do have the right to have it returned should the situation demand it. As it is the government's property if another country holds your passport for any reason they are, in sense, taking possession of Canadian Government property which helps to insure that proper procedures are followed.

Many passports are valid for short periods of time due to security concerns, how people change over time (i.e. your photo may not resemble you after a number of years), and requirements from other countries. When broken down over 5 years it is not that unreasonable compared with other items such as a driver's license. Certainly I would not mind if it cost a bit less however I feel that I do get a reasonable value for what I pay.

Do you know your credit card, driver's license, vehicle registration and debit card are also not your property?

Randy B

I don't see what the issue is. Your drivers license costs how much per YEAR? And if you look into it, your drivers license remains property of the Govt as well. So does your birth certificate and most official documents issued in Canada. Private documents such as debit cards and credit cards have the same conditions attached to them. It's a legal catch so that they can be revoked if need be.

Considering the importance of a passport and the power that it holds I don't see where spending $102.54 to get a 5 years passport is a big issue. Thats $87 for the passport, $15 for the photos (just had some done last week) and even $0.54 for the stamp to mail it in, is that big a deal. That works out to $20.51 a year for a document that will allow you to travel the world, is accepted as firm ID and proves someones citizenship in the best country in the world.

You probably spend more then $20 a month at Timmies and all that gets you is a bad caffeine buzz.

Nefertiri E

A passport is essentially a note from the Goverment of Canada saying, "We vouch for this person; as a courtesy to us, please let them into your country." These originated as actual notes from the king or queen, asking a foreign ruler to allow their ambassador or citizen to "pass the port" and go into the city or country (since distant travel was done by ship or barge)..

Since your passport is essentially a "note from mother" grving her permission for you to travel, "Mom" has the right to rescind her permission and demand the note back at any time. It's only good for 5 years, because "mom" thinks that she needs to check if you've been up to mischief (criminal activty or something) at least that oftten. If you have, no note. Sort of like, every 3 months when you get you report card, if your grades are poor, you're grounded - no permission to go out.

Clo5five

You pay 17.40$ per year, it's not too bad!

And it remains the property of Her Majesty in right of Canada and it can be requested at all time. By saying it's their property, they have all rights. And they want to keep theses rights.

Brianna's Mommy

I know. We totally get ripped off. Not to mention the cost to get the photos and the fact that if it's stolen, you need to pay again within that 5 year time frame to replace it. Although, if you think about it, we spend more than that in a 5 year time frame for our licenses (and more in 1 year if you are in an accident). The only difference is, they permit us to drive while our passports permit us to travel. Which do you value more...your ability to go anywhere in the world that you can, or your ability to drive?

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