Canada unveils new passport design featuring light-enhanced seasonal art

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has unveiled a new Canadian passport design, featuring a maple leaf on the cover and illustrations across the inside pages which represent the four seasons and change under ultraviolet light.

According to IRCC, the Canadian Bank Note Company was commissioned to design the next generation of Canadian passports and travel documents as part of a 14-year contract awarded by The Government of Canada in 2019. IRCC says it has worked with The Canadian Bank Note Company for much of the last century.

The current Canadian passport design has been used since 2013. The new design makes it one of the first travel documents from a Commonwealth country to reference King Charles III, IRCC explains. Although, it will show the Queen’s Coat of Arms since the design was finished before King Charles III approved the new version.

An outline of a large yellow maple leaf appears next to the Coat of Arms on the right side of the cover with a combination of smaller red maple leaves adorning the left side, encased by a larger engraved leaf outline.

In a pale red and yellow Autumn scene on the visa pages, children can be seen holding pumpkins in a field. A mother bear and her cubs are depicted in the spring scene on a faded blue and green background.

When exposed to ultraviolet light, the pages take on more vivid hues of red, yellow, green and blue.

IRCC minister Sean Fraser describes the Canadian passport as “a representation of [Canada’s] national identity and values”. It is a reminder of the beauty and diversity of Canada, and it reflects the country’s commitment to welcoming people from all around the world.”

Alongside aesthetic changes, the new design also comprises upgraded security features. It includes a new polycarbonate data page that uses similar technology to Canada’s driver’s licences as well as a Kinegram (optical security feature) over the main photo, which reveals vector-based imagery.

Other features are “a custom see-through window with a secondary image of the passport holder, a variable laser image, and a temperature sensitive ink feature”, says IRCC. Passport holders’ personal information will be laser engraved instead of printed with ink in the new documents, as IRCC explains that this makes the data page “more durable and resistant to tampering and counterfeiting”.

The rollout of the new Canadian passport will begin in summer 2023.

Credit for all images including banner: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada