Canada's new passport to show more nature and less history

Canada's passport is getting a makeover — with a new design that will feature more natural landscapes and wildlife and fewer Canadian historical moments and monuments.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser said the new design is the product of 10 years of consultation.

"We tried to take the feedback about what represents Canada," Fraser said.

"One of the things that I heard was we want to celebrate our diversity and inclusion, we want to celebrate our natural environment ... and [we] tried to bake those elements into the design."

The current passport pages feature images such as Parliament's Centre Block, the Stanley Cup, the famous photo of the last spike going into the Canadian Pacific Railway, and photos of Nellie McClung and Terry Fox. The new passport displays animals (bears, narwhals and owls) and natural scenes, such as children jumping into a lake.

Fraser said a complete change in theme was necessary to improve the passport's security.

"It makes it much harder to counterfeit," Fraser said.

"It does make it easier when you maintain the same images for a significant period of time for counterfeiters to abuse the document and to produce fakes."

The new passport cover bears the same coat of arms as the current passport, but adds a large maple leaf.

Gould said the new passport design reflects Canada.

"I think when you look at the images here, they are fairly traditional Canadian images," she said.

"I mean, if you look at polar bears, and people jumping into a lake, and birds in the winter, I mean I think it really captures the spirit of who we are as Canadians."

Gould defended the passport when reporters asked why historical Canadian figures, monuments and buildings are not on the pages.

"I think a couple of the questions have been suggesting that there's a partisan aspect to this," Gould said.