VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHON #0390/01 3572122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD10ECA5 MSI9571-695)
P 222006Z DEC 08 ZDS
FM AMCONSUL TORONTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2711
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0009

UNCLAS TORONTO 000390 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY SLUG LINE 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO DHS, AND DHS PLEASE PASS TO CBP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CPAS ETRD PBTS KFRD PGOV CA
SUBJECT: Ontario To Issue Enhanced Driver's 
Licenses and Photo Cards in Run Up to WHTI 
 
Ref: Toronto 233 
¶1.  (U) Summary: The Ontario Ministry of 
Transportation plans to begin issuing Enhanced 
Driver's Licenses (EDLs) and Enhanced Photo 
Cards (EPCs) this winter to be used as 
alternatives to passports in land and sea 
crossings to the U.S.  The Photo Card Act of 
2008 passed the Ontario legislature in November 
2008 by a 71-10 vote, despite claims of privacy 
And security concerns as raised by the Information 
and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPCO) and 
privacy groups.  While the stated privacy and 
security issues have mostly been addressed, costs 
and availability of the cards may mean that t 
here will not be an immediate rush for the EDLs 
and EPCs.  Additionally, further coordination with 
USG counterparts seems necessary.  End Summary. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
The Ontario Enhanced Driver's License and Photo ID 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (U) In the run-up to land border implementation 
of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), 
the Ontario Ministry of Transportation introduced 
the Photo Card Act of 2008, which allows the 
province to issue EDLs and EPCs to Ontario 
residents.  The Ontario legislature passed the 
bill in November 2008, making Ontario the second 
province, after British Columbia, to adopt the 
enhanced licenses. 
 
¶3.  (U) The EDLs and EPCs will include the card 
holder's citizenship status and are intended to 
be used as an alternative to passports for land 
and sea crossings into the United States. 
Individuals who need a visa would still be 
required to present a valid Canadian passport at 
border crossings.  Ontario currently does not 
issue non-driver photo ID.  At present the 
Consulate verifies the identity of Canadian 
non-drivers by using either newer Ontario 
health cards, which include the card holder's 
picture or the photo ID cards issued by the 
provincially-owned Liquor Control Board of 
Ontario.  However it is not uncommon for 
non-drivers in Ontario to have no photo ID at 
all.  With the passing of the 2008 Photo Card 
Act, Ontario will start issuing a non-driver's 
license photo ID card for the first time. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
A Documentary Process to Determine Citizenship 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4.  (U) A contact at Ontario's Ministry of 
Transportation (MoT) explained that the Ministry 
will use what he called a documentary process to 
certify the citizenship of applicants.  EDL 
applicants will be required to submit birth 
certificates if they are natural born Canadians, 
or naturalization documents if they are 
naturalized Canadians; proof of identity; and 
proof of residence in Ontario.  Service Ontario, 
a provincial agency, will process such 
applications.  Service Ontario employees, who 
will undergo advanced fraud training, will 
review documents to confirm an applicant's 
citizenship.  In addition, applicants will 
also be asked to answer a federally mandated 
questionnaire.  The Ontario MoT will issue the 
EDLs and EPCs after applications are approved. 
According to our contact, the MoT has consulted 
with the Canadian federal government to mirror 
the EDL and EPC processes after the passport 
application process.  Post understands there is 
an Ontario/CBP MOU on the EDLs, but we have not 
seen it.  It is our understanding that to date 
the WHTI program office at CBP has neither 
received nor approved Ontario's business 
proposal to issue its EDLs. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
EDLs to Become Available as Early as Winter 2008 
-2009 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5.  (U) The Ontario Government is targeting 
 
 
winter 2008-09 for EDL availability at selected 
Service Ontario locations across the province. 
Additional locations may be added in the future. 
The fee for an EDL will likely be C$40 above the 
regular C$75 driver's license fee for a total of 
C$115.  EDLs will have five-year validity.  This 
price is C$30 more than the cost of an adult 
Canadian passport which currently costs C$85 for 
five year validity.  Photo cards for non-drivers 
have a target launch in spring 2010 and will be 
available at Service Ontario, which is the 
clearing house for Ontario Government services. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
EDLs Expected to Facilitate Trade and Tourism 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) More than 92,000 cars and 22,300 trucks 
carry almost C$800 million in goods across the 
Ontario-U.S. border daily.  Peter Fonseca, 
Ontario Tourism Minister at the time that the 
EDL legislation was introduced, said that 
Ontario will work closely with neighboring 
U.S. states as they implement similar EDL 
initiatives.  The Ontario government's goal is 
to minimize any disruptions in cross-border 
travel, he added, and that Ontario will 
"welcome to Ontario with open arms," U.S. 
citizens with EDLs issued by their own state. 
 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Ontario Privacy Commissioner's Security and 
Privacy Concerns 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The Information and Privacy 
Commissioner of Ontario (IPCO), along with 
private groups, raised concerns about the 
EDLs and made recommendations during 
legislative deliberations of the bill in 
October 2008.  One particular stated concern 
was adequate oversight of how U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection receives and uses the 
personal information of Canadians.   Another 
claimed concern was the risk RFID technology 
embedded in the cards poses to privacy and 
security.  Possible cloning of the chips was 
another concern.  According to IPCO, such 
scenarios could put users at risk for 
identity theft, unauthorized identification, 
and covert surveillance of individuals. 
 
¶8. (U) The recommendations put forward by 
IPCO included minimizing the duplication of 
data, with Ottawa solely responsible for 
keeping a citizenship database.  IPCO also 
recommended that the Ontario government pursue 
adding a privacy-enhancing on/off switch for 
the RFID tag embedded in the card.  According 
to an IPCO contact, the Commission is currently 
working with two European firms to develop an 
on/off switch, which would enable the cardholder 
to control when information is being transmitted 
from the card.  That technology would not be 
available for the first roll out of the cards 
this winter, but IPCO hopes it will be offered 
in future cards.  Meanwhile, EDLs and EPCs will 
be issued with an "electronically opaque" sleeve 
called a Faraday Cage, to store the card when not 
in use.  In total, IPCO presented 20 
recommendations covering the collection, usage, 
and protection of private information.  While 
the legislature did not follow all of the 
recommendations, our IPCO contact stated that 
IPCO is satisfied that the bill sufficiently 
addresses privacy concerns. 
 
¶9.  (U) Comment:  Costs and availability may not 
be the only limiting factors for the EDLs and EPCs. 
The first cards issued this winter will only be 
available in limited locations.  Also, residents 
may decide to wait until their current drivers' 
licenses expire, instead of paying for a new 
license right away.  Moreover, the market for the 
EDLs and EPCs may be limited to residents living 
within a couple hours drive from the border and to 
those who do not travel frequently enough to have 
a passport.  We are concerned that while the 
province plans to begin issuing EDLs in winter 
2009, it may not have completed its due diligence 
with the USG.  Post will ask that DHS review its 
contacts to see whether further consultation is 
needed in advance of the start of issuance of 
the new Ontario documents. 
 
NAY