Originally Posted by
guflyer
I noticed that Canadian driver's licenses are on the TSA list of acceptable identification. do provinces have to follow the REAL ID Act? Is it even possible for them to do so? Why is there no threat of the TSA no longer accepting these as identification?
Canada has required the same id as RealID for many years now to get a driver's license. At least here in BC, you must present primary and secondary id which show your citizenship and legal staus in Canada, such as a Passport, Canadian Birth Certificate, Citizenship Card or Immigration document showing your status. There are other options as well.
http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing...cepted-ID.aspx.
When it was changed several years ago, anyone who had never shown a valid immigration document or proof of Canadian citizenship was required to do so at their next renewal. They got only a temporary, paper license until the proper ID was presented. There was a ton of yelling and screaming from those who had only visitor status in Canada amongst others. If one has Immigration papers that have an expiry, only an interim drivers license is issued and you must present updated visa status to get a full d/l.
And since about 15 years ago, Canada has only allowed your full, legal name on your drivers license. No nicknames or shortened versions. People whose passports didn't match had to have them changed to match their birth certificate/citizenship/immigration docs before they could renew. In fact, until just a few years ago, a passport was not considered a primary id to get a drivers license because up until that time, you could have whatever name you wanted on your passport, such as a shortened version of your name (Bill instead of William), an English name that an immigrant chose to use but is not their legal name, omitting a first name when using a middle name as their 'name', etc. People could not inderstand why a passport was not acceptable but a passport was really just proof of citizenship. Thst changed after 9/11 and people had to have their passports changed to reflect their full, legal name. It is now valid id for a d/l. The id requirements also apply to provincial ID cards. We also have an Enhanced D/L which serves as a border crossing document but it is not mandatory.
So yes, a Canadian D/L would be in compliance with Real Id I would think.