The federal government unveiled the design for the new Canadian passport on Wednesday morning, boasting several new state-of-the-art security features.

The new design was shown off to the public during a press conference at Ottawa International Airport by representatives of the federal government.

Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary for the ministry, were on-hand to reveal the new passport, which has been in the works since 2013.

What do they look like?

The new design is quite the shift from the current passports in terms of aesthetics, replacing the previous passport covers with an updated version bearing a large stylized maple leaf.

On the rear, a shot of colour has been added in the form of eight red maple leaves.

Inside, the 37-page document replaces the images of historic Canadians used in the current passport with less colonial symbols of Canadiana, including wildlife and Indigenous imagery.

During the unveiling, officials confirmed that this is the first passport design in the world to mention the new monarch, King Charles III, though it maintains the existing Canadian coat of arms using the Canadian Crown under the late Queen Elizabeth.
 

How have they improved over the current passports?

Updated passports are to include new security features and design techniques implemented in an effort to prevent counterfeiting.

Some of these advanced security features include temperature-sensitive ink, including a driver's licence-style data page with a heat-sensitive red maple leaf emblem that disappears when the body heat of a finger is applied.

Images of wildlife on visa pages will appear and disappear under UV light.

The passport-holder's photo will appear three times across the document, with one of the images taking the form of a security hologram within a maple leaf emblem.

Anti-tampering features have been introduced as well, including the passport chip being placed in a clear plastic page so holders can tell if it has been tampered with.

The use of polycarbonate thermoplastic allows passports to be laser-engraved instead of printed with ink, further improving security.

When will people get them?

New passports will be rolled out starting this July, however, Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, says that "Some Canadians will still receive the older version of the passport as Service Canada works through and printing capacity comes online."

"For those who have recently received an updated passport, you will still be carrying the older version of the passport for years," said Gould. "Depending on when you receive it, you might have it for up to 10 years. And it's important to know that the previous generation of this passport remains secure and reliable."