Steve_

The key point is that it has to be a Canadian passport. The transport regs have required for a long time that you have proof you can enter Canada before they'll let you board a flight - so until the ETA came along you could pretend to be a visitor if you had a passport from a country for which a visa isn't required. But Canadian citizens are prohibiting from using the ETA so you HAVE to have a Canadian passport.

The only other way of doing it would be to travel to the US and enter by land.

Steve_

As a US citizen you haven't got a problem because they're exempt from the ETA anyway.

Canadian PR cards are only valid for 5 years, and they cost $50. A passport is valid for ten and costs $160. Given the hassle of renewing the PR card I would go with a passport.

Former Lancastrian

The difference between a 5 yr and 10 yr passport is $40 ($160 10 yr $120 5 yr).
So yes it seems a no brainer that most would choose the 10 yr one but there are some cheapskates around. Plus once you get to a certain age some think they won't last the 10 yrs so opt for the 5 yr one rather than giving the Govt the extra $40
We are currently taking in around 250,000 plus new Immigrants a year and they will eventually apply for Citizenship and get a passport.
In 2013 the Agency planned for a reduction of 25% of staff which was estimated at 2512 full time staff which was expected to drop to 1874 full time staff.
Being able to renew and apply online also helps but many become frustrated at doing everything online or do not have access to the internet.
Time will tell and when we are so much in debt then there will be another round of culling the Public Service and budgetary restraints within departments to save money.

Steve_

I asked the guy at the desk and he said that most people went with the 10-year option.

Doesn't need to be much of a drop to close the office.

But there's nothing new about that, those numbers have been fairly constant although for some reason the number of new citizenship applications jumped when the new Citizenship Act came in. Or was it just because the CIC allocated more staff?

Anyway I'll be very surprised indeed if my local passport office doesn't close in 2018.

Former Lancastrian

Im waiting for those who are eligible to get a NEXUS card. We have noticed the amount of ABC and NEXUS kiosks at airports increasing which will have many agreeing with this so they don't have to deal with unfriendly CBSA agents
Eventually people will be lining up at the machines and bitching that there are hardly any staff to process them. What happens if there is a malfunction with the software and the kiosks cannot be used. Then they will be bitching that they now have to see one of those now just a few unfriendly CBSA officers and why don't they hire more as its taking too long to be processed

Some days you just can't win.

Steve_

At YYC there is a CBSA inspector after the kiosks. Anyway you still need a passport for check-in, that's all I use my Canadian passport for.

I suspect at some point they'll have to make NEXUS cards valid for ten years as well because it's just getting silly trying to get an appointment.

MarkG

Does seem to be affecting travel to some extent. On my last trip, Air Canada at the checkin in Saskatoon asked for my PR card for the first time ever (at which point I handed over my Canadian passport instead).

Of course, their computer also thought I needed a visa to travel to Europe, so maybe it was just very confused .

abner

This "no ETAs for dual citizens" is an absolute nightmare. I thought I was doing my infant daughter a favour by passing on Canadian citizenship when she was born.

Now it appears she would have been better off remaining solely Australian. As an Aussie she would be able to access a $7 eTA online in a short, straightforward process. As a dual citizen, she has to maintain a $100 passport, with a much fussier application process, to preserve access to a country she visits once every 5 years or so.

In practical terms, she'd be better off renouncing Canadian citizenship, but the gummint wants $100 for that "privilege" as well.

It's a Kafkaesque bureaucratic shakedown.

Gozit

I wouldn't go the route of renouncing. Dual citizenship could offer her tremendous benefits for her future that would not otherwise get, and in the grand scheme of things the passport hassle isn't much in light of that.

If it was reversed and she was born here with Aussie citizenship by descent than she would require an Aus passport to go to Australia as Aus citizens must enter/exit Aus on an Aus passport by law.

PB65

Keeping citizenship is an investment in daughters furure do not renounce whatever the cost and think you will find maintaining dual citizenship most countries rules are much the same even OZ/UK.

plasticcanuck

In practical terms, she'd be better off renouncing Canadian citizenship, but the gummint wants $100 for that "privilege" as well......from Abner

It seems strange to me that if you're so concerned about your daughter's welfare and future you wouldn't pay $100 to renounce her Canadian Citizenship. Not too concerned then!!!!

Snowy560

I agree with Plastic: if you're that concerned about your daughter's welfare then get her a passport or renounce your/her Canadian citizenship. If you find citizenship a hindrance rather than an asset, it doesn't sound like you need it.

S

SarahBC

I flew last Friday from Gatwick > Vancouver with Westjet. I had both UK and Canadian passports with me.

As I boarded the plane, the cabin crew asked for i.d. Didn't think about it and showed my UK passport. The cabin crew immediately launched into the need for ETA speech, even as I was trying to tell them I had the correct Canadian passport.

I'd used my UK passport for checking in the original outgoing flight. I did this as I wanted to clear Gatwick customs on my UK passport. I won't do that again!

I think they would have let me on the plane with no Canadian passport. However, the cabin crew member said the rules were being relaxed until the fall.

It was very heavy-handed and I have the feeling that the airlines will be strictly enforcing ETA.

What makes me cross is that before I gained my citizenship in 2014, I'd had to renew my PR card which took 7 months (and an expensive trip to CIC Vancouver for a collection appointment - we live on Vancouver Island).

Just thought I'd share my experiences with the new system.

Gozit

Weird. I flew back to Canada from France in March and only showed my Canadian passport at check-in. I showed my Maltese passport at the gate because it was the one in my hand at the time. They just looked at it to make sure it was me and handed it back. This was British Airways.

I do find, however that Canadian airlines tend to be really touchy on documentation at the gate when flying to Canada from European countries. I flew AC last year from Frankfurt to Toronto and before we boarded we had to go to a separate kiosk for a "document check" where they checked my passport (don't remember if they scanned it or not, I showed the Canadian one that time) and boarding pass, this was about half hour before boarding even began. I thought it was weird since i've never experienced that on another airline.

Steve_

You are, she has a right of entry as a citizen, she could literally show up at a POE with a chainsaw dripping with blood (which has actually happened) and be allowed in.

And anyway a ten-year passport is $160 (I realize it's more abroad) so you're talking about a tiny amount of money difference really. With ETA you have to do it more frequently.