Immigrating to Canada is a crucial step for investors to enter the North American market, as Canada is located in North America—the world's largest capital, technology, and talent market—and possesses state-of-the-art technology and the most modern management models. Furthermore, the province of Quebec is within the framework of the North American Free Trade Agreement, boasting well-developed transportation networks and connections to international metropolises such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Chicago. In addition, living in a country as multicultural as Canada makes it relatively easy to integrate into the local culture and lifestyle after immigrating to Canada.
Precisely because of the various advantages of immigrating to Canada, the Canadian Permanent Resident Card (Maple Leaf Card) is highly sought after by many immigrants. To keep pace with modern technology and security systems, the new version of the Permanent Resident Card has recently been updated with enhanced security measures.
According to an announcement by the federal government on the 25th, new individuals eligible for a Permanent Resident Card will automatically be issued the new version during the immigration process. Existing cardholders will receive the new version only after their current card expires. In the meantime, their existing cards remain valid.
Changes to the new Permanent Resident Card include: new specifications for the holder's photograph, the removal of the immigration category from the card, and an increase in the character limit for the holder's name—from the original maximum of 20 letters for the surname and 15 letters for the given name, to a maximum of 28 letters for each. There are also new security measures, such as anti-counterfeiting ink, new foil patterns embedded in the card, and a Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) chip, with each card featuring a unique identification number.
The RFID chip will not contain personal information, but only a unique identifier. When a Permanent Resident Card holder exits via a land border, the card embedded with the RFID chip will be read securely and accurately by a card reader. Once the RFID chip is read, the chip's unique identifier is transmitted to a database, acting like a key to unlock the database and authorize the transmission of the holder's personal information to border officials for review. The installation of RFID chip card readers at land border crossings will begin in 2016.