Information & Ethics committee  You can actually go to the website, the Passport Canada website, and fill out a form online, but currently you have to print it and then either take that form to an office or mail it in to Passport Canada, or take it into one of our Service Canada receiving agents or Canada Post.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. The ePassport is the only passport that's available to Canadians as of July 1, 2013. The only difference is the choice in terms of the validity period of the passport: either a five-year passport or a ten-year validity passport.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely.

Information & Ethics committee  Actually in a number of these cases where there is in fact an administrative investigation that happens within the branch, we can conclude the investigations ourselves. The most serious cases of identity fraud or theft we would refer to the RCMP.

Information & Ethics committee  Those would be part of the 70 that we would have come across.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm sorry, I don't have the breakdown of that number.

Information & Ethics committee  I do. About 225 were for entitlement fraud or passport misuse. Allowing somebody else to use their passport, for instance, would be an example of that. Of the total number, 36 were for citizenship issues, so the individual was not in fact a citizen of Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  Last year, we refused or revoked approximately 1,370 passport applications. Of those, about 1,000 were refused or revoked for reasons of criminality. These would have been for individuals who were incarcerated and who, from their point of incarceration—prison or jail—would have a

Information & Ethics committee  The lost—and/or stolen, in many situations—replacement process is quite different from the credit card process. We have about 66,000 lost and stolen passports reported to us annually. Canadians domestically and around the world report lost or stolen passports. Often, it's that in

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. I'm very pleased to say that among our equivalent five nations or partners, as we call them—these would include the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and ourselves—we are in the range of where those organizations are with regard to the documen

Information & Ethics committee  Certainly, I'd be happy to. The ePassport is an increased and enhanced level of security in the book itself, with the chip that is embedded in the back cover. The chip includes the information that is found on page 2 of the book, including the photograph. So biographic inform

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you for the question. As the person responsible for the passport program integrity branch, I am not able to answer the question you referred to. I am not certain if that's passport related or is with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  With all due respect, I cannot answer any more questions that have to do directly with the loss of data. I can speak specifically to the passport program and passport program integrity.

Information & Ethics committee  In terms of responding to losses of data, it would be the regular processes and policies that would be in place to inform the Privacy Commissioner's office and/or the individual, depending on the situation. Again, I am responsible for the integrity of the passport program itself

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for the invitation to appear before you. We are pleased to contribute to your efforts to gain a better understanding of identity theft in Canada. My name is Lu Fernandes. I am the director general of the passport p