While passports play a crucial role in today's globalized world, where international travel has become commonplace, they represent much more than mere proof of identity. Passports can also be miniature works of art, bearing witness to a country's culture.
The Canadian government took advantage of the renewal of the document's security features, launched in 2013, to offer a new graphic reading, elaborating a bright and entertaining narrative with the four seasons at the heart of this new design.
Celebrating Canadian identity and nature right from the cover
While the cover is still a deep blue, like all North American documents, it now puts the maple leaf in the spotlight in several forms: gilding on the front cover, an embossed silhouette and a set of orange motifs on the back cover.
The back cover features bands of color produced by 5-color intaglio printing and a majestic moose and snowflakes printed in optically variable ink (whose color changes according to the light).
A polycarbonate main page rich in security features
The main personal information page is now produced in polycarbonate, making the document more resistant to water and humidity. The information on this page is laser-engraved, rather than printed in ink.
It is rich in graphic security elements. There's a maple leaf symbol printed in thermochromic ink, as well as a full-colour watermark on the page, and tactile inks highlighting the letters and numbers of the person's identity.
A miniature version of the wearer's photograph gives way to a digital code, depending on the angle of observation.
This same photo is also visible through a transparent window on the previous page, to which a double fluorescent print has been added, revealing fir trees or a snowflake on the photo.
Magnificent illustrations invisible to the naked eye
The seasonal theme doesn't stop there: the visa pages feature backdrops that change when viewed under ultraviolet light.
In winter, for example, you can watch children making a snowman with the naked eye, before admiring the flight of an owl under ultraviolet light.
In spring, the two cubs are joined by four other baby bears.
Fighting fraud and celebrating Canadian identity
Speaking at a press conference to launch the new version, the Minister for Family, Children and Social Development said that the radical change in design "makes it much more difficult to counterfeit [...]. When you keep the same images over a long period of time, you give counterfeiters time to learn how to produce fakes."
The new passport is a celebration of Canadian identity in all its strata. While cultural and historical elements are always present, the approach focuses primarily on nature.
However, some people expressed disappointment at the lack of representations of Canadian personalities or iconic places in the passport's design. The Canadian government, aware of these concerns, would nevertheless have sought to represent the country's diversity and beauty through its design choices.
