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Non-profit agencies: Secondary ID or alternative address attestation

To get a B.C. Services Card, driver’s licence, or B.C. identification card, applicants need to provide primary ID, a form of secondary ID (such as a bank card or credit card) and a legal residential address. However, providing these can be difficult for some, such as those living without a fixed address or for whom obtaining secondary ID is an undue hardship.

So, ICBC and the provincial government are working to reduce provincial photo ID access barriers by allowing non-profit agencies to:

  • attest to an individual’s identity in lieu of secondary ID
  • provide their agency as the residential address for individuals without a fixed address

Attest to an individual’s identity in lieu of secondary ID

Secondary ID attestation forms are only available through ICBC and SDPR offices. Individuals will only be provided with a form if obtaining any other acceptable secondary ID would be an undue hardship.

Applicants receiving SDPR assistance

Only those receiving SDPR financial assistance are eligible to use the SDPR secondary ID attestation process, and only SDPR representatives can act as attestors for individuals using this process.

Attestors - ICBC attestation:

  • can be employees or volunteers of a registered non-profit agency
  • need to have known the individual for a minimum of 6 months or have had at least one substantive interaction with the individual that helped you confirm their identity

Important: List of substantive interactions

When selecting a substantive interaction to confirm an applicant’s identity from the list provided on the ICBC Secondary ID Attestation form, to protect the applicant’s privacy please select the category only of the interaction (Housing, Primary ID Access, Federal Government Interactions, Legal, Health, Income or Disability Assistance Application). Please do not indicate the specific interaction completed. For more details, please refer to the form.

Don't see an interaction that matches the one you used?

If you don't see an interaction listed that matches the one you used to help confirm the applicant's identity, please fill out the bottom section of the form to provide details on the nature of the interaction and time spent.

Provide an alternative residential address

Non-profit agencies can act as the residential address for individuals without a fixed address.

An individual is considered to be without a fixed address if they have:

  • been living in public spaces (for example, on the streets, in abandoned buildings, in tent cities) and/or a homeless shelter for more than 30 days, or
  • been brought to a Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Office by a BC Housing outreach worker.

Non-profit agency representatives who authorize the use of their agency as a residential address must confirm that: 

  • they are able to accept this responsibility on their organization’s behalf, including safely receiving, storing and distributing mail
  • the applicant to the best of their knowledge is without a fixed address.

If the applicant needs both secondary ID and an alternative residential address, they must visit a Driver Licensing Office or an SDPR office (if receiving SDPR financial assistance) to obtain a secondary ID attestation form. This form can be used to apply for both secondary ID attestation and the use of a non-profit residential address.

If an applicant does not require secondary ID attestion but still needs an alternative residential address, a non-profit agency representative can authorize the use of their facility as an individual’s residential address through the following stand-alone form.

Alternative residential address form

Changes after an agency has acted as an alternative address

If an individual is permanently denied access to an agency (for example, over behaviour concerns) after an agency has agreed to act as their alternative residential address, the agency must inform the individual and make a note in the individual’s file before returning any ICBC mail. The individual is responsible for establishing a new residential address with ICBC for receiving mail.