Documents for entry into the United States

Enhanced Driver's Licence/ Enhanced Identification Card

Technology

The enhanced driver's licence (EDL) and enhanced identification card (EIC) incorporate a machine-readable zone and a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. No personal information is stored on the chip.

Note: all subsequent information about EDLs in this Web section equally applies to EICs.

The RFID chip has a unique identifier number that points to information in a secure database stored at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). U.S. land border crossings equipped with RFID readers will read the unique identifier as the traveller approaches (RFID chips can be read by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from a maximum of 4.5 metres away). Officers then use the identifiers to access information about specific EDLs from the CBSA's secure database, which helps to facilitate and expedite traveller processing at the U.S. border.

The inclusion of RFID technology in the EDL is a U.S. requirement; however no personal information can or will be transmitted via the EDL RFID chip.

As an additional security measure, all provincial EDL programs are required to provide holders with a security sleeve. EDL holders can use this sleeve to stop their unique identifier from being skimmed from the RFID chip when the EDL is not being used to cross the border. Refer to the privacy section for more about EDL privacy features.

The EDL also has a machine-readable zone that can be scanned by a border officer should the border crossing not be equipped with RFID reading technology or if the RFID readers are not functioning.