Does anyone know why Canadian passports are valid for only five years and not ten?

I ask this because most countries require you to have a passport that is valid for at least six months after you leave the country that you are visiting. Yet you can't renew a Canadian passport more than six months before it expires. That seems to mean that you can't travel much during the last six months of your passport's validity.

I am in this situation. I tried to renew my passport eight months before it expired, but the passport office refused. Fortunately I have dual citizenship (my other passport is valid for ten years) so I am able to find a way round it, but what do people do who have only one passport? That must surely be the majority of Canadians.

Excellent question Vorkuta, I have wondered the same thing myself, I only have a Canadian passport and often wondered why it was only valid for 5 years. You would think that it would save the Canadian Government lots of time and money to have them valid for a full 10 years.

Then again, our government is notorious for NOT wanting to save money.

A co-worker has just told me that in the USSR, where he grew up, you had to apply for an (external) passport every time you went abroad. In other words, your passport was valid for one trip only. He adds drily that few Soviet citizens were ever permitted to travel abroad, so for most people the irritation of constantly renewing a passport never arose.

Still, I'm puzzled by the short validity period of Canadian passports.

Well, to be picky - it's harder to plan long trips that start around month 51 (for example) and extend past month 54 because then you're caught in that limbo period when you can't renew (because you're passport isn't old enough) but liable to get stuck in a country where your passport isn't young enough. But you could travel a lot in the last six months, provided that: (i) you don't start travelling until that six month period starts; and (ii) you get your passport renewed just before you go.

Also, can't you get your passport renewed at the Canadian embassy in a foreign country?

Canadian Passports are not renewed, you actually have to apply for a new one every five years.

Yes - okay - but whether you "renew" a passport or get a new one, it's still a problem during the last six months of your passport's validity (or the first months of the new passport's validity, as Kate W mentions.) And I'm still curious to know why the passport is valid for only five years. It's not a new security requirement: it was like this even before the "war on terrorism" got underway. Just wondering.

>>>>>>And I'm still curious to know why the passport is valid for only five years.<<<<<<

Canada is not alone in issuing passports that are valid for five years. Between the two of us, my husband and I have held passports from four countries over our lifetimes. Only one of the four countries issued a passport that was valid for ten years. The others issued passports that were valid for five years. And the passports that we received from other countries, prior to our becoming Canadian citizens, were issued way before the "war on terrorism."

I submitted a question about the six month dilemma to the Canadian Passport Office's website. I received the following confirmation:

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Confirmation of form submission

Thank you for your message!

Thank you for contacting the Canadian Passport Office. Your request has been received and is now being forwarded to the appropriate department.

Given the very high volume of enquiries, your request will be actioned in order of priority.

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I will post their reply here when I receive it.

Thanks, Judy. I always enjoy your posts.