Passport Canada has announced changes to its birth certificate requirements for general passport applications.
Effective February 1st, 2011, for Canadians born in Canada, Passport Canada will only accept birth certificates issued by a provincial or territorial vital statistics agency to support a general, or a child's, passport application. Canadians requiring a new birth certificate will need to contact the vital statistics agency of the province or territory of their birth. Simplified renewal applications have not been impacted by this requirement.
These official documents must be entitled "Birth certificate," "Certificate of birth" or "Certificat de naissance". A "Certificate of citizenship" issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada is also an acceptable document. Some exceptions apply for certain provinces and territories. More information is available online at passportcanada.gc.ca.
Passport Canada is encouraging Canadians planning to travel outside our borders to start the passport application process as soon as possible to ensure proper documentation is obtained in time for the trip, especially in light of the new birth certificate requirements.
These requirements apply only to the Canadian passport program. This policy does not invalidate other birth documents which may be accepted for purposes other than passport issuance.
