IOC rules contain stringent requirements covering the sections of the grandstands reserved for the Olympic family, so its members had to be clearly and positively identified. In Montréal, there were three major categories:

1. Olympic family. 
Officials of the IOC, ISFs, NOCs and their guests, dignitaries, COJO executives, Olympic attachés and chefs de mission, journalists, athletes and team officials, sports officials, Youth Camp delegations and observers from Innsbruck, Lake Placid, Moscow, and Munich.

2. Personnel. 
Employees of COJO, the Olympics Radio and Television Organization (ORTO), and private companies under contract to COJO.

3. Security. 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Department of National Defence (DND), Québec Police Force (QPF), Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and police forces of towns and cities involved in the Games. Accreditation for all three categories took place simultaneously, and produced three different types of cards:

1. Cards for the Olympic family were filled in by COJO or sent blank to Olympic organizations. In the latter case, they served as Olympic passports, except for the press. Once accepted by the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, these cards were in effect official documents permitting entry into Canada for the Olympic Games. They were validated upon arrival in Montréal once the bearer's identity was verified.

2. Cards for personnel were always filled out and issued by COJO.

3. Security cards were completed and issued by Security.
 

Accreditation of the Olympic Family

Approximately one-third of those provided with official identification, (29,554 people) were part of the Olympic family, and, like all cards issued, theirs were printed on watermarked paper similar to that used for bank notes.
For easy identification of a pass holder's privileges and functions, it was suggested that a seven-color code be used: yellow, brown, blue, green, purple, pink, and white. The characteristics of the paper used, however, forced COJO to modify the recommended colors somewhat.
 

Holders: Members of the IOC and one member of their family. Privileges: Access to section " A " at all competition sites and to all training sites, residential and international zones of all Olympic Villages, ORTO offices, and press centres. Reserved parking.	Holders: Presidents and secretaries-general of NOCs and one guest each; presidents, secretariesgeneral, and two technical delegates from each ISF and one guest each; members of the joint IOC/NOC and IOC/ISF commissions and one guest each; one delegate from each of the following Olympic cities: Innsbruck, Lake Placid, Moscow, and Munich. Privileges Access to section " B " at all competition sites and to all training sites and residential and international zones of all Olympic Villages. Reserved parking.
Holders: Jury members, judges, and international technical officials. Privileges: Access to section " D " at Olympic Stadium as well as to those competition and training sites re sports to which holders were connected, in addition to the international zones of all Olympic Villages.	Holders: Written press. Privileges Access to section " E " at all competition sites and to all training sites if bearing no code or with a special code for photographers (if coded TECH, no limitation) as well as international zones of all Olympic Villages and press centres.

Validation

Generally speaking, validation was the same for all members of the Olympic family. The holder first presented his card at the validation centre. After checking their lists, security agents verified the holder's identity and stamped the card with a validation seal. One of the three flaps was detached and kept for reference, while the other two were folded, coded, sealed with two eyelets in a plastic envelope, and the whole unit returned to the holder. In case of errors, erasures, or unsuitable photographs, the card was redone in an identical manner.

To facilitate this operation, each COJO directorate responsible for a category of the Olympic family assigned employees to the different validation centres. And Accreditation sent along someone to solve special problems. Validation centres were located in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the Olympic Equestrian Centre at Bromont, the Olympic Yachting Centre in Kingston, the Olympic Village, the main press centre, the Sheraton-Mount Royal Hotel, and the International Youth Camp.
 

(Source Document:   Official Report 1976,   Vol. I,  page 532 ) 
Read more:  Official Report 1976,  Vol. I,     page 532 bis 540