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Alberta\u2019s new integrated driver’s licences and identification cards are causing delays at registries across the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolled out on July 2, the new licences and identification cards now include an individual\u2019s citizenship status and health care number, eliminating the need for physical paper cards.<\/p>\n
As Albertans go to renew or apply for a new licence, registries across the province are reporting delays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally said that adding health care numbers and citizenship markers adds additional steps to the process, leading to longer wait times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it’s a new process, so it’s going to take a little bit longer initially,\u201d Nally said in a recent interview with CBC News. \u201cSo that’s what we’re seeing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To apply for a new card or renew an existing one, Albertans need to show proof that they are legally allowed to be in Canada, photo identification and their existing health care card.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previously, Albertans only needed their current licence or identification card and a piece of secondary identification, such as a credit card, to confirm their signature and name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The changes to what is considered proper identification is also contributing to longer wait times, Nally said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing that Albertans can do to make their experience as seamless as possible is to bring in the proper documentation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Alberta Motor Association and the Alberta Association of Registries both declined interview requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Confusion over necessary documents\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Volden has lived in Grande Prairie for more than 30 years, after immigrating to Canada from Germany in 1975. Volden holds two Canadian birth certificates \u2014 a government of national defence certificate of birth and a certificate of birth abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In late July, she had a trip planned to visit family in the Maritimes, but knew her identification card had expired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beginning in early July, Volden said she attempted to renew her identification card four times, and spent over four hours at the registry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the course of these four visits, Volden brought both birth certificates, her old identification card and her health care card.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI went into the licencing centre and they told me \u2018no,\u2019 they need to see a landed immigrant card of some sort. And I said well, I don’t have one of those,\u201d Volden told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Registry agents also requested to see her marriage certificate, and asked her husband to fill out a form, verifying they were actually married, Volden said.<\/p>\n
On her fourth and final visit to the registry, Volden was told she had to go to Service Canada and apply for a new certificate of birth abroad that included her photo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just doesn’t make sense,\u201d Volden said. \u201cI have my two birth certificates and one says I am a Canadian citizen and I got rejected on both.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I went home, very [heartbroken] because now I can’t get an identification card and I can’t get on the plane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others have reported similar issues.<\/p>\n
Ann Palmer has lived in Alberta since the early 1950s, when she immigrated to Canada from Germany. She currently lives in Edmonton with her husband.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, Palmer went to her neighbourhood registry to renew her identification card. Similar to Volden, Palmer was asked to supply her marriage certificate, along with a certificate of Canadian citizenship, birth certificate and health care card. Palmer and her husband spent two hours at two registries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she looked at my citizenship document, she said they couldn’t \u2026 use it,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cThey couldn’t take it because it doesn’t have a bar code.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahead of the upcoming October referendum, Palmer is worried she won\u2019t be able to vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t know if they’ll let me vote because my ID expires on September 14th,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cI don’t even know if I’ll get a new ID before then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nally said he has heard of other stories similar to Volden and Palmer\u2019s, and that he regrets the stress this new process may place on Albertans.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody would be experiencing that kind of anxiety,\u201d Nally said. \u201cIt’s certainly unfortunate, and I don’t want to discount that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Albertans who do not have the necessary documents, Nally said the provincial government is offering an interim 60-day drivers licence or identification card while they wait to get the documents needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Volden, she is frustrated by the whole process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to jump into hoop after they threw hoop after hoop,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-840551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}