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Ontario to introduce high-tech driver’s licences

TORONTO, Ont. — Ontario drivers will be issued a high-security driver’s licence that the province hopes will double as a passport, according to a report in the Toronto Star.

The licences will be issued by the end of the year in hopes the US will accept them in lieu of a passport under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requiring Canadians to show a passport upon entry into the US. The WHTI is to take effect at land crossings by as early as next January.

The Star reports Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will be visiting Washington next week to discuss border issues, including the use of the new high-tech licences.

“There’s a constant recognition you have to update these things and this is an opportunity to make our licences the most secure in North America,” a source told The Star. “The Americans seem open to alternatives to the passport.”

- With files from the Toronto Star