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Stolen Canadian passports a hot commodity
 
BY IAN MACLEOD, POSTMEDIA NEWS JULY 23, 2011

Passport Canada is developing new guidelines for matching people to their 
travel documents after two Canadians were stranded overseas, their 
government refusing to believe their claims about who they were.


OTTAWA � One of Canada's most respected assets � our passport � is under 
siege, with more than 1,000 stolen across the country every month on 
average, Passport Canada has revealed.

The surprising disclosure was made in the agency's latest annual report, 
which says 13,077 passports were stolen in fiscal 2009-10. By comparison, 
only 631 were swiped overseas. Another 47,704 passports were reported 
lost in Canada.

Before 2006, about 25,000 passports were reportedly lost or stolen 
annually. That number jumped to almost 43,000 in 2006-07, coinciding with 
a surge in demand because of new U.S. passport requirements for Canadian 
and other western travellers. By 2008-09, it was 53,000. Now, it's hit 
60,781.

But only in the latest annual report has Passport Canada broken down the 
combined "lost and stolen" total and publicly revealed the extent of the 
theft problem.

Passport Canada officials, operating under the Department of Foreign 
Affairs and International Trade, say the number of passports lost or 
stolen is quite low in proportion to the total number of valid passports 
in circulation.

"While it may appear to be rising, the number of lost/stolen passports 
has remained quite static in proportion to the total number of valid 
passports in circulation over the last three years," Beatrice Fenlon, 
spokeswoman for Passport Canada, said in an email response provided to 
Postmedia News.

In 2009-10, the total number of passports reported lost or stolen was 
60,781, which represents 0.3205 per cent of the 18,962,745 passports in 
circulation as of April 2010, Fenlon wrote.

In 2008-09, the number of passports reported lost or stolen was 53,515, 
which represents 0.3145 per cent of the 17,015,462 passports in 
circulation as of April 2009.

And the year before that, 51,915 of the 15,515,042 passports in 
circulation were reported lost/stolen, representing 0.3346 per cent of 
the total.

"Over the last three years, the number of passports reported lost/stolen 
has remained consistent at about 0.3 per cent (of the total number of 
valid passports)," Fenlon said.

However, the RCMP believes those missing passports are a national 
security concern because of their potential use by terrorists or other 
criminals.

A 2006 RCMP memo to then-public safety minister Stockwell Day said about 
50,000 Canadian passports lost or stolen in the four previous years were 
suspected of falling into the hands of criminals or terrorists.

A primary concern is identity theft, one of the fastest-growing crimes in 
the world. In Canada, identity theft is estimated to cost the economy $2 
billion annually.

In late 2009, an RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team 
raided dozens of locations around Montreal and Toronto � including three 
daycare centres � and smashed what police said was a vast criminal 
network specializing in forging passports and other official documents. 
Police said bona fide passports "obtained through various means" were 
forged to create new identities.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says 
terrorist groups rely, to some degree, on crimes including passport 
forgery to raise money.

CSIS director Richard Fadden told a parliamentary committee last summer 
that foreign spies value the Canadian passport, too.

"I think one of the reasons that Canada's so attractive is that we're so 
well-viewed around the world, and our passports are accepted virtually 
anywhere, so there is a level of concern," he said.

What's more, federal officials say confidence in Canadian passports � 
that the bearer is who he says he is � is critical to trade, the economy 
and international travel.

Passport Canada, at the urging of former federal auditor general Sheila 
Fraser, has implemented a number of security measures in recent years, 
including quick notification about lost and stolen passports to the 
national police information database, Canada Border Services Agency, 
Citizenship and Immigration and, through the RCMP, Interpol.

Fenlon said when informed that a passport has been stolen or lost, 
Passport Canada immediately invalidates the passport within its system 
and the Canadian Police Information Centre, and communicates the 
information to other agencies with which it has information-sharing 
agreements, including Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and the Canada 
Border Services Agency.

"In many cases the passports do 'turn up' � whether the bearer finds it 
or someone else who then turns it in to the authorities. For example, 
someone who finds a purse (and the passport is inside) may return it to 
their nearest police station," she said.

All passports reported lost or stolen that are returned to Passport 
Canada are sent to its security bureau for inspection and destruction. 
Once a passport has been reported lost or stolen it is no longer valid 
and cannot be used for travel. This is to ensure that it is not used for 
fraudulent purposes, Fenlon said.

"Before a lost or stolen document can be replaced, Passport Canada 
conducts an investigation into the circumstances. This may lead to delays 
in processing the replacement passport," she said.

A replacement passport, which may only be valid for a limited period, may 
be authorized if strict requirements are met. These include the 
submission of a statutory declaration concerning the lost or stolen 
passport.

More than 4.8 million Canadian passports were issued in 2009, a 137-per-
cent increase since 2000-01. Late next year, Passport Canada is to be 
begin distributing electronic passports to the general public. The 
ePassports feature biometric and holographic security measures to combat 
tampering and fraud.