By: Emmi Kivi
March 5 2024
No, Palestine was not removed from the list of countries for place of birth on new Canadian passports
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Source: Instagram/X
Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
Palestine was not removed from the list of countries; applicants can mark "Palestine" as a place of birth on Canadian passports.
Claim ID a788265a
The Context
Claims that Palestine has been removed from the listed options of countries on the new Canadian passport are circulating on social media. According to the posts, "no country of origin" should be opted for instead of Palestine.
The claim originates from two TikTok videos by user "Blair from Canada" posted on February 23. The videos describe how her grandmother was told by the Canadian passport services that she could not mark Palestine as her place of birth despite having done so in previous passports. The video also shows how Palestine is not included in the listed countries of birthplace in the online passport application form.
However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed to Logically Facts that persons born before May 14, 1948, can choose Palestine as their place of birth on Canadian passports. There have been no recent changes to this policy.
In Fact
On March 4, CBC News reported that a "clerical error" had caused a Palestinian-Canadian woman to be mistakenly told she could not mark "Palestine" as her place of birth on her new passport. The article identifies the woman as the grandmother of "Blair," who posted the aforementioned TikTok videos.
The online application for a new passport does not list Palestine as a pre-programmed option for the country of birth. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), a government department, explained to Logically Facts that "The process remains that if the applicant was born before May 14, 1948, and requests Palestine as their country of birth, they can do so by going into the application drop-down menu and clicking on the "Other" field followed by entering or typing "Palestine" in the "Please Specify" field." Accordingly, persons selecting "other" have the option to choose "Other" and specify "West Bank," "Gaza Strip," "Jerusalem" or "Jordan."
"There have been no recent changes to the country list available in the Canadian passport application form," the IRCC told Logically Facts. This procedure was earlier affirmed by the Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller on X.
Screenshot of the X post by the Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller affirming the procedure of listing "Palestine" as place of birth in passport applications. (Source: X)
The issue of Canadian passports and countries of birth was the subject of a 2006 federal court case. The court decision stated that "with respect to Palestine, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, Israel and Jerusalem, Canada has adopted a special policy" and cited the 2002 policy, "If an applicant was born before May 14, 1948, Palestine may be entered upon request." It was upheld a year later by the Federal Court of Appeal.
The Verdict
Palestine was not removed from the listed options of countries on the new Canadian passport. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed that persons born before May 14, 1948, may select Palestine as their place of birth when applying for a passport; this policy has remained the same since at least 2002. Instead, due to a "clerical error," a Palestinian-Canadian woman was mistakenly told she could not list "Palestine" on her new passport. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.