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Canada Readies Iris Scanning Kiosks at Airports

September 27, 2002 By Government Technology

OTTAWA -- The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency said that CANPASS-Air, a joint initiative of the CCRA and Citizenship and Immigration Canada that uses iris-scanning kiosks at airports to validate travelers' identities, will be deployed at the Vancouver and Pearson (Toronto) International Airports in early 2003.

Officials of the CCRA said the kiosks will subsequently be deployed in airports in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg.

The program will initially be open to citizens or permanent residents of the United States or Canada, and will be extended in the future to other visa-exempt countries and North American Free Trade Agreement business travelers.

CANPASS-Air will allow pre-approved travelers to clear customs by simply looking into a camera that recognizes the iris of their eyes as proof of identity. Officials said the kiosks will facilitate ready identification of pre-screened, frequent travelers, allowing enforcement activities to be targeted elsewhere.

CANPASS-Air participants will also be required to complete an application form and undergo security checks upon initial registration and at every annual renewal.

Travelers using CANPASS-Air will receive an encoded identification card for use at dedicated lanes in Canada's international airports. When at the airport, the travelers insert their cards into a kiosk, allow their iris to be scanned and enter Canada without further interaction with customs.

The travelers could still be selected randomly for inspection, officials said.

This initiative evolves from the CANPASS-Airport pilot program, which has been operating at the Vancouver International Airport since 1995. CANPASS-Airport clients provide hand geometry biometrics as a means to verify their identities when entering Canada.

Officials also said that participants can be disqualified from CANPASS-Air if a participant or applicant has, at any time, been found guilty of a criminal offense; charged with a customs or immigration offense; been declared inadmissible to Canada; or provided false or incomplete information.

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency

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