Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the newly unveiled Canadian passport was delivered as part of a comprehensive project led by IRCC to replace the passport booklet and all related production printing equipment and infrastructure to produce this new passport. The Treasury Board of Canada has approved a project budget of $161 million for this project, which began in 2016, and it includes costs payable to the Canadian Bank Note Company, CBN, for various project deliverables.
With regard to part (b), as part of the project, Canada launched a competitive procurement process in June 2016, and on May 24, 2019, a contract was awarded to the CBN to deliver this solution for the Government of Canada. CBN was responsible, per the contract, for the development of the designs for the new passport following the decision on theme by the Minister of IRCC. The contract was awarded for $284 million, as posted at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/request-your-own-supplier-contract-history-letter/canadian-bank-note-company-limited?order=award_date&sort=desc#award_date, for printed matter, including books, newspapers, pictures, manuscripts and forms.
With regard to part (c), the new passport design has undergone consultations, including with the Government of Canada’s forensic specialists at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canada Border Services Agency, and with Canadian Heritage and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. The theme was selected following a series of annual surveys conducted by the passport program. These were conducted by phone with a statistically relevant sample size for that year of Canadian passport holders.
With regard to parts (d), (e), (f) and (g), consultations with forensic specialists were focused on the security features of the new passport. The surveys were conducted on broad themes for the design of the new passport, and not on the inclusion of images or representations of specific individuals or events.
With regard to parts (h) and (i), at this point in time and due to time constraints, the cost specific to this question is not known, as this was included as part of a broader survey conducted on passport operations with Canadian passport holders on an annual basis.
With regard to part (j), yes, CBN is under contract with the Government of Canada to redesign the Canadian passport as part of the full ePassport Next Generation solution and infrastructure procurement. The contract was awarded for $284 million, as posted at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/request-your-own-supplier-contract-history-letter/canadian-bank-note-company-limited?order=award_date&sort=desc#award_date, for printed matter, including books, newspapers, pictures, manuscripts and forms.
With regard to part (k), approximately 2.5 IRCC full-time equivalents, FTEs, worked on the passport redesign as part of the ePassport Next Generation project.
With regard to part (l), there were no travel or hospitality costs incurred to redesign the Canadian passport.