CNIB Guide Dogs adopts new digital ID card for guide dog handlers

CNIB Guide Dogs has officially adopted a new internationally recognized digital identification card for its guide dog handlers. Developed by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), the joint digital ID card serves as a standardized form of verification that a handler’s guide dog or assistance dog has been formally trained by an ADI or IGDF accredited organization.

A smartphone screen displays the new ADI-IGDF digital ID.

Stored on your smartphone in the ID123 Digital Card App, the digital ID card display’s the handler’s photo, contact information, and accredited training organization. It has security features, like screenshot prevention, animated card displays and encrypted data storage, to help protect cardholder information and make it very difficult to forge or copy.

This initiative is part of a broader collaboration among ADI and IGDF accredited member organizations, including CNIB Guide Dogs, to improve identification for its graduates, reduce access refusals for guide dog and assistance dog teams, and address the fraudulent misrepresentation of dogs as guide dogs or assistance dogs.

“CNIB Guide Dogs is excited to align with ADI and the IGDF to offer this new internationally recognized joint digital ID card to our guide dog handlers,” said Robert Gaunt, President of CNIB Guide Dogs. “As the ID becomes more widely adopted by handlers and increasingly recognized by businesses and service providers, we believe it will help reduce access refusals, reinforce the legal rights of guide dog handlers, and ultimately remove barriers for guide dog teams around the world.”

While CNIB Guide Dogs encourages its handlers to adopt the digital ID card to support broader recognition, participation is entirely voluntary.

Regardless of whether a guide dog handler chooses to use the ADI-IGDF digital ID card, they cannot be discriminated against or denied access. Guide dogs and their handlers have the legal right to access any premises that the public would normally have access to and in most instances, it’s not acceptable to ask a handler to provide proof that their dog is a certified guide dog.

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