Ontario's souped-up driver license
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2007-02-23
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Canada's province of Ontario plans to start issuing new high-security driver licenses by the end of 2007, according to the Toronto Star newspaper.
The new licences will have security features such as laser engraving, holograms, and currency-like print quality. The Ontario government hopes the new license will head off a looming border problem beginning in 2008 when the U.S. plans to require a passport as identification when entering the country. Passports are currently required for all border-crossing air travellers.
The American government won't continue to accept Canadian provincial driver licenses as identification at the border because they because they can't be relied on for proof of citizenship, which is a Canadian federal responsibility.
It also fears Canadian immigration policy, which one news agency described as "one of the most liberal asylum policies in the world." And the summer '06 breakup of an alleged Ontario terrorist ring with links to the United States and other countries has augmented U.S. fears about the 4,000-mile long border it shares with Canada.
The border-tightening move towards passport identification worries many border communities and cities where citizens of both countries have become used to easy travel back and forth. However, the move to an upgraded driver license with passport-level security measures is seen as a way to meet U.S. security concerns without requiring passport documentation.
The Toronto Star reports that only 28% of Americans hold passports, compared with 40% of Canadians. However, the new Real ID proposals for national U.S. driver license standards, combined with upgraded Canadian driver licenses, could resolve the problem.
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