Under the previous Canadian Passport Regulations, which the Order superseded, residents of Canada could obtain a passport by completing an application and sending it in by mail to the Department of External Affairs without having to prove their Canadian citizenship.
[6] It specifies who is eligible for a Canadian passport, as well as the procedure and application process for obtaining one.
In April 2005, the Auditor General of Canada Sheila Fraser gave a scathing report on Passport Canada, writing that employees of the agency lack proper security clearance.
[7] Prior to the Auditor General's report, Passport Canada had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Corrections Canada to obtain a full list of inmates' names, as they are ineligible for a passport.
Follow-up reports were issued in 2007—which noted continuing control issues[8]—and 2009—where satisfactory progress was observed, especially in light of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative introduced by the United States.