High-tech driver's licences will soon make their debut in British Columbia to help prevent identity theft and fraud.

Solicitor General John van Dongen said Friday the new licences will be hard to forge or get under false names.

"Driver's licences are widely trusted as ID and, when tampered with, can cost people, business and financial institutions millions of dollars each year," van Dongen said in a statement.

Security features will include facial recognition technology that analyzes facial characteristics that do not change, such as the size and location of cheekbones and the distance between the eyes.

The technology does not include collecting any new information about drivers, van Dongen said.

"The use of facial recognition technology has been reviewed for privacy implications and has been found to meet the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act."

The high-tech licences will include counterfeit-prevention devices like holographic overlays and laser-engraving or raising of features like the cardholder's image and signature.

The cards will also provide additional information for cardholders under age 19, so it will be easier for police and retailers of alcohol, tobacco and lottery products to quickly verify a person's age.

Sgt. Rick Koop of the RCMP's B.C. Commercial Crime Section said the secure cards will be difficult for criminals to counterfeit.

B.C. is joining other provinces and 30 U.S. jurisdictions by introducing the licences, which will be issued starting March 2 to drivers who apply for a new, renewed or replacement card.

A year ago, B.C. began issuing what it calls one of the world's most high-tech birth certificates, with more than 20 security features.

With files from The Canadian Press