Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sundubuman]

Okay was hanging with a canadian yesterday and for the 1000th time in a decade I heard the whole "less than 10% of Americans have passports" thing. And of course, this person claimed over half of Canadians own passports. This apparently was due to the insularity of Americans and the worldiness of Canadians.

I'm not trying to start a US-Canada thread, I just wanted to post some facts. Here are the number of passports issued by the State Department over the last few decades

1974 - 2,415,003
1975 - 2,334,359
1976 - 2,816,678
1977 - 3,107,122
1978 - 3,234,471
1979 - 3,169,999
1980 - 3,020,468
1981 - 3,222,346
1982 - 3,763,995
1983 - 4,121,534
1984 - 4,718,205
1985 - 4,967,895
1986 - 4,109,132
1987 - 4,872,403
1988 - 4,060,803
1989 - 3,690,830
1990 - 3,688,689
1991 - 3,387,245
1992 - 3,282,488
1993 - 4,207,716
1994 - 4,895,151
1995 - 5,263,989

U.S. Passports Issued per Fiscal Year (1996 - present) Note: As of 1996, passport statistics are tabulated for the fiscal year.
1996 - 5,547,693
1997 - 6,295,003
1998 - 6,539,864
1999 - 6,722,198
2000 - 7,292,182
2001 - 7,119,506
2002 - 7,001,482
2003 - 7,300,667
2004 - 8,825,410
2005 - 10,123,424


that means nearly 73,000,000 Americans now hold passports, or about 25% of the country.

And the percentage is rising rapidly. For what it's worth.

[sundubuman]

and according the official Canadian passport agency, roughly 40% of Canadians have passports. That's about 13 million folks.

So, there are more than five times as many Americans with passports than Canadians.

[igotthisguitar]

[Ya-ta Boy]

If you lived in a place where it gets down to 9,000 degrees below zero F every winter for multiple months, wouldn't you get a passport? America is a continental country. Minnesotans don't need a passport to get to Florida, for example. Canada is also a continental country, but they (essentially) huddle on the southern border. If they go anywhere else in Canada, it's going to be pretty much the same thing, in terms of weather. Or worse. Why isn't Moose Jaw a major winter tourist hot spot? So to speak.

Canadians who make an issue of passports are not really any more or less worldly than Americans. They are just more desperate to escape the nasty winter weather and make a virtue of necessity.

[laogaiguk]

Well, sundubuman, while not defending the most definitely not worldly Canadian moron you met, I think he meant percentages, so the fact that there are more Americans number wise means nothing for his/her argument (which should never have come up, most likely a stupid liberal arts degree new grad, eh?)

Anyways, many Canadians (percentage wise) may have a passport, but many of them only use it to go to America (snowbirds) or their birth countries. Americans don't have that much need to go to Canada, though Ya-ta boy, you are a little wrong about the weather. There are some large differences. I am hoping to retire on the west (not east) coast (if I settle down in Canada, not sure yet). Americans don't really have to go to Canada to see anything (except specific things, like the CN tower, or Anne of Green Gables house, etc) as they can do or see practically anything in America. For traveling purposes, Americans don't really need a passport if they are only going on vacation (Alaska to Hawaii to Montana, everything is there) unless they want to experience a totally different culture. And then , if you compare statistics, you would probably find Canada and America the same (though just a guess).

[Nowhere Man]

Actually, good on ya sundub.

Could I ask for a link to your info?

[sundubuman]

the us stats are from the state department passport statistics page, and the canadian stats are from their official passport agency page.

it's interesting that both countries are issuing record numbers of passports in recent years. I'm guessing it's a global trend.

and remember Americans don't need passports to enter Mexico, Canad (unless that has changed) and virtually every Caribbean nation.

[Nowhere Man]

Thanks, but it would've been nice for you to just link without anyone asking.

That IS what others do. No?

[sundubuman]

[laogaiguk]

[Rteacher]

Missing link?... Ha!

[Wangja]

[bucheon bum]

[Gopher]

"More Canadians have passports and travel than Americans."

But what exactly is the point of such assertions and why do only Canadians make them?

[cwemory]