The recent IRCC memo discusses the Citizenship to Passport Pilot, which simplifies the passport process for new Canadians. It mentions that the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will invite 100 citizenship grant applicants through the pilot to apply for a passport while processing the citizenship program.  

Pilot Program Facilitates Passport Process 

Canada’s pilot program introduces a new and simplified passport  

application form that uses the candidate’s previously collected information through the citizenship program. IRCC will print the passports after the applications have been processed to divert the traffic away from the offices of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).  

To enable the path for an integrated model in the future, IRCC anticipates that the pilots will streamline the passport application process. The department has already emailed some of the invitations to the qualified candidates. The emails contain details on different things, such as how to fill out the passport application, the details of other essential documents, and where the applicants are required to send the application.  

After IRCC has obtained the passport application and the applicant takes the Citizenship Oath, the passport should be processed within 20 business days. 

The history of the Pilot program 

The pilot program aims to evaluate the possibility of combining the citizenship and passport programs. In order to alleviate the pressure on the passport renewal demand and to provide new Canadians with faster access to Canadian passports, IRCC intends to train the department’s citizenship staff on the passport line of business. 

Last year, there were extended processing times for the citizenship program as well as passport programs, keeping both programs from achieving the set service standard. Since then, the processing time has significantly improved, reducing the application inventory, but new citizens are still experiencing processing delays in both programs. 

The pilot program’s outcomes will be evaluated to potentially create an integrated citizenship and passport model. The proposals for the expanded implementation will be made by the end of December 2023. 

The eligibility criterion for Canadian Citizenship 

In order to qualify, Canadian citizenship hopefuls are required to meet the following criteria:  

• They must be Canadian Permanent Residents 
• They must satisfy the requirements of physical presence in Canada 
• They must file the taxes (if required) 
• They must pass Canada’s citizenship test (if they are between the ages of 18-54). 
• They must demonstrate their language abilities (if they are between the ages of 18-54). 

Canada’s physical presence requirements:  

To satisfy this requirement, the candidate must have resided in Canada for at least three years or 1095 days out of the last five years prior to applying for Canadian citizenship. 

Suppose the candidate was a temporary Canadian resident or a protected person who lived in Canada prior to becoming a Canadian PR. In that case, it is permitted to count some of that time in your physical presence requirement.  

For this, each day the candidate spent in Canada within the last five years as a temporary resident or protected person can be counted as a half day.  

Also, as a temporary resident or protected person, a maximum of 365 days is allowed to be counted in the physical presence requirement. 

Citizenship applicants who pass the citizenship test and interview will be invited to the citizenship ceremony to get their citizenship. During the ceremony, the applicants must sign the Canadian national anthem and take the Oath of Canadian Citizenship before a judge, either in English or French. Once all the procedures are completed, the applicants will be granted Canadian citizenship.