There are a growing number of countries that require a passport to be valid for at least six months past your intended period of travel. So, if you are planning to travel in April of 2012 your passport needs to be valid until at least October 2012.
Every island/country is developing their own rules as it relates to how long your passport should be valid for after your period of travel. Bahamas and Jamaica for example, say that they need to be valid for six months. Costa Rica for example is 90 days. You really have to check with the consulate of the country you are travelling to, so that you can confirm what the validity needs to be.
It also means that your passport isn’t really valid for 5 years, it is valid for 4 1/2. We are not like our friends south of the border or our British cousins across the pond, that have passports valid for 10 years. That would really be too smart for our Canadian Government.
I would assume that the costs would be relative to the number of years that a passport is valid, but I think most people would agree that they would pay more money to not have to deal with this issue every 4 1/2 years. I know I would.
I should also add to my earlier comments about the Service Ontario offices. If you take your passport there, you need to be careful, because the wait time is longer than going to the main offices. In person at a main office, the delievery time is 10 business days, at a service ontario office it is 20 business days.
Be aware...and if you have a passport that is getting ready to expire, you really should take care of it sooner rather than scrambling at the last minute.
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