Canada has a special green passport and here's who can use it
If you’re a citizen in Canada, you likely received the classic blue passport as government-issued photo ID, but did you know that it can come in different colours?
Reddit user @Few_Pack_7392 shared a photo of what a special Canada passport looks like, and people had a lot of questions.
The photo shows a green Canadian passport rather than the typical blue cover that everyday citizens see.
@Few_Pack_7392/Reddit
“How can you get one? What’s your profession?” reads the top comment on the post.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shed some light on the green passport in an email to Daily Hive.
Unfortunately, the government document isn’t like sneakers, where you can collect different colourways that match your wardrobe.
According to the IRCC, regular Canadian passports (blue cover) are for Canadian citizens travelling for personal reasons. This includes vacations or business trips.
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The special, green passport you see in the Reddit post is for people who hold certain public positions, like Members of Parliament, senators, provincial cabinet members, and Government of Canada employees who are travelling for official work.
“For example, attending a government conference or working at a Canadian office abroad,” states the IRCC.
The IRCC says there are also diplomatic passports (red cover), which are for senior government officials and diplomats, as well as representatives and delegates of the federal government to international governmental organizations and international conferences of a diplomatic nature.
@Rails_Barlow/Reddit
So, what makes these different-coloured passports so special?
According to the IRCC, a diplomatic or special passport doesn’t give any advantages to the holder. However, it does tell international border officials that the holder is “travelling on official business and representing Canada abroad.”
“When travelling on official business, travellers must use their special or diplomatic passport, unless a special authorization has been granted by the Passport Program,” reads the government site.
Furthermore, the use of an official passport for personal travel isn’t allowed, except in the following circumstances:
- The Governor General and the Prime Minister of Canada and their authorized dependents, as well as members of the Privy Council, may travel for personal reasons using their diplomatic passport.
- In keeping with the principle that a traveller must travel with only one valid Canadian passport, in the event that a traveller completes an official trip immediately followed by a personal trip (or vice-versa), the traveller is authorized to complete the full trip using the special or diplomatic passport.
- Holders of special or diplomatic passports who are posted abroad (diplomats and their dependents) are authorized to use their special or diplomatic passports when travelling for personal reasons.
Besides blue, green, and red, Canada also issues a white, temporary passport.
@Park1ng/Reddit
These are usually issued by Canadian government offices abroad to “citizens with an urgent and proven need for a passport” or “for use while waiting to receive a regular, special or diplomatic passport,” according to the government site.
The temporary passport has eight pages and is only valid for one year.
If you’re a Canadian citizen, travelling with a blue passport is easy enough, as Canada remains among the top 10 most powerful passports in the world.
To learn more about the different types of passports, check out the government’s site.