New photo app available for Secure Certificate of Indian Status applicants

Indigenous Services Canada is proud to announce the launch of a new photo app designed to simplify the application process for a Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS). The photo app lets applicants take a photo with a smartphone and submit it online as part of their SCIS application.

Available as a free download from Google Play and App Store, the new app will allow applicants to capture their own, eliminating the cost of a photographer and making the application process more accessible and convenient to First Nations people and communities across the country.

The SCIS Photo App will allow the department to receive photos transmitted straight from smartphones into a secure database exclusively for SCIS applications. The photos can then be easily matched to the completed application form. All information provided through the app is encrypted, and collection and use of personal information is in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Quotes

"We are simplifying the way that Indigenous people, wherever they are, can provide important information for services. The new SCIS Photo App will eliminate photo costs and make the application process more secure and accessible for First Nations."

The Honourable Seamus O'Regan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Indigenous Services

Quick facts

• The Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS), also known as a secure status card , was introduced in 2009 to reduce instances of fraud and identity theft by including security features and a photo.
  
• This innovative app makes it easier to take and submit a photo to include with the application by eliminating the need to get to a photographer and pay to have a photo taken.
  
• The app is easy to use and free to download on both Apple and Android smartphones.
• To protect the privacy of applicants, the app's data is encrypted and sent over Internet to a secure departmental database as soon as the send button is pressed. No data is saved to the phone.

Associated links

• Are you applying for a status card?
• SCIS Photo App

Contacts

For more information, media may contact:

Kevin Deagle
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Seamus O'Regan
Minister of Indigenous Services
873-354-0987

Media Relations
Indigenous Services Canada
819-953-1160
SAC.media.ISC@canada.ca

Stay connected

Join the conversation about Indigenous peoples in Canada: