This article is excerpted from the 6 April 2009 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.
Canada’s West Coast made the country’s first bow to the United States’ new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
British Columbia said April 6 it is accepting applications for an Enhanced Driver’s License that embeds the data of a passport but costs less.
B.C. announced the establishment starting May 1 of 12 EDL centers around the province. The government is also providing a Web address and a toll-free telephone number for booking appointments starting immediately. Officials say they are “expecting high interest in the new cards and applicants are encouraged to book online to avoid phone wait times.”&hellip
While B.C. and Washington will be the first for the program, other Canadian provinces and American states are in various stages of preparing EDLs. &hellip. [O]ne province has suspended its preparation. The reason is growing publicity by interest groups saying that too much private information can leak from these documents into private and foreign hands.
B.C. says its EDL meets all provincial and federal privacy legislation requirements.
The EDL is for British Columbia residents who would enter the U.S. by land or water. There also is an Enhanced Identification Card for persons who do not drive or who are young adults over the age of 12.
The Enhanced documents with their radio frequency identification chips embedded can be had for $28.19 above whatever the resident pays for his or her normal driver’s license&hellip.
