Originally Posted by
keitherson
Yes but what was unusual was that it did not work after I switched machines and told me to just go to an officer for processing. Hopefully this is a one-off as I've never experienced this before. Will find out next time I clear Canadian immigration in a few weeks.
Unless the chip in your card is malfunctioning or there is residue on the machine readable zone on the back, the error was more likely just a transient connectivity issue.
There are simple ways to check that the chip is still functioning. For example, if you tap it on a card sensor on a bus or at a metro station, if the sensor senses a card an error sound should be heard!