Canada Post strike not so long time ago! Someone might not even receive it.
Which is mostly harmless if it's just a reminder, agreed. They'll probably still get the email reminder. If they're unlucky enough to both lose the postal reminder (as a consequence of the strike) and the email (to spam folder or something) then hopefully their calendar app reminds them. Alas, even this can fail... but at this point I figure other ideas like automated phone calling and texting are too expensive (unless it's an optional service that the PR holder can sign up and pay for, but at that point the gov't no longer needs to be involved: there are things like
https://www.lettertoyourself.com/ to snail mail yourself reminders and
https://mygoodtrust.com/future-message for text messages)
If they don't travel or move to another province, no need to renew.
So in British Columbia - the province with the strictest rules that I could find - to renew your combined health card/DL there, as per
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/government-id/bc-services-card/your-card/get-a-card - you need two pieces of ID, which are listed on
https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/visit-dl-office/Accepted-ID
Importantly, a foreign passport is not accepted as a primary ID for this. A canadian passport, PR card, or (some types of) permits* issued by IRCC are.
Now my guess is, normally your about-to-expire or recently expired old BC card is the primary ID and then your foreign passport or credit card is your secondary ID. The BC card is accepted even if it's been expired, as long as it expired three years ago or less. If you're living in BC it's unlikely you'd let your card be expired for that long.
However, let's say your wallet is stolen and you lose your card. Without a PR card, a PR holder doesn't have the required primary ID to renew. Similar situation applies to a PR holder who had both PR card and the BC card in the (now stolen) wallet.
From
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...vices/application/check-processing-times.html current processing time is only 31 days to renew a PR card. On the other hand, for the BC cards, you get a paper copy as soon as you apply, so you basically have them right away. So this isn't quite the end of the world... but it could be quite inconvenient. (Imagine having to quit your job because you're required to drive, but you can't drive for a month because you're waiting for the PR card renewal.)
* Even the permits are not accepted as primary ID for the BC Photo ID or the combined BC card. It seems in this situation what would have to happen is that the permit holder would apply for a B.C. identification card (BCID) first using the permit as primary ID and foreign passport as secondary ID, and then later perhaps the eligibility would open up for the broader IDs using the BCID as the primary ID.
Why they don't keep track themselves?
I've already answered this and don't see a need to repeat myself. But, to repeat myself anyways, of course they should keep track themselves too, but this is a case where the gov't can be helpful.
So I guess, what's the compelling reason to make the gov't less helpful and less useful than it already is?
Now, to repeat another question,
Canada Post strike not so long time ago! Someone might not even receive it.
This happened to us during a previous strike (the same one as this thread is referring to if memory serves correctly,
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...estion-about-mailing-passport-to-ircc.597628/ )
Sent Passport to IRCC (as the actual passport was required), then Canada Post promptly lost it. We then went to the local police station, where the officer we spoke to said repeatedly that she'd never once ever trust her passport in the mail, ignoring the fact that we told her that we had no choice and the law requires this.
It seems that Canada Post also regularly loses PR cards in the mail, see
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...n-the-mail-how-to-apply-for-a-new-one.543344/ and
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...oard/threads/pr-card-lost-in-the-mail.481180/ and
Basically, I'm okay to have Canada Post mail a reminder to renew something, mostly because if the reminder gets lost it's not a big deal, I probably have other reminders set up like on my calendar app. However, thanks to multiple bad experiences, I viscerally hate trusting Canada Post with important documents and argue the law should be changed require IRCC to offer other options like UPS and FedEx (or anything really that's not Canada Post).
The system is fuc*ed.. as with all government systems. Our country is broken
Agreed. We should be asking how this can be made better. Especially those of us who are already citizens or about to become as such.
We got it..in the nick of time. Luckily we were visiting Moscow and took the passport to the office..it arrived back by courier like 3 hours before we had to fly out. It was not very fun waiting.
I can imagine. Glad to hear it worked out for you, though!
Applying for her passport as soon as I get home.
Oh, are you already a Canadian citizen - just traveling on your other passport? Or do you mean you'll start the citizenship application as soon as you return here (and get the passport ASAP as soon as that comes thru, which fyi can take close to a year nowadays).
