Canadian passport: which application you are doing, and what to gather

A person without a valid or recently expired eligible adult passport uses the full application. Source phrase: "If you already have an adult passport, you may be able to renew your adult passport."

What to gather:

• Proof of Canadian citizenship, which "can be a birth certificate or citizenship certificate"
• An identity document: "a document to support your identity"
• Two identical photos
• A guarantor
• Two references

In Canada at a Service Canada Centre or passport office, from the United States, or from outside Canada and the US through a Canadian embassy or consulate.

There is no online option for a new adult application. canada.ca's online service is named and framed as passport renewal ("Renew a passport online in Canada"), and its eligibility list requires that "you're applying to renew your own passport."

A first adult passport is the full application: proof of citizenship, a guarantor and two references. New to Canada: the paperwork guide →

Renewal is described as "simpler than applying for a new one": you do not need a guarantor, proof of Canadian citizenship, or supporting identification.

To use the simplified renewal, your expiring or expired passport must meet all five of these:

1. It was issued as an adult passport when you were 16 or older
2. It was issued within 15 years of the date of your renewal application
3. It was valid for 5 or 10 years
4. You want the same name, date of birth and place of birth on the new passport
5. You want the same gender identifier (printed, or via the "X" observation sticker) on the new passport

One "no" means a full new adult application (section 2). You submit:

• The renewal application form
• Two photos (no guarantor certification on the back, because no guarantor is used)
• Two references

You can't renew a child passport. You need to apply for a new one each time it expires.

Renewing online

As of July 28, 2026, online passport renewal is open to all eligible adults in Canada; the earlier participant cap was removed. For an online renewal, the current passport is not mailed in: "Your current passport will be cancelled and will not be valid after you apply for your renewal." On top of the five conditions above, online renewal requires:

• You are applying to renew your own passport
• Your home and mailing address are in Canada, and you will be there to receive it
• Your passport expires within 6 months or is already expired
• "You're not travelling in the next 20 business days"
• Your current passport is not damaged, seized or surrendered, with no lost or stolen complications
• No observations in the current passport
• A commercially taken digital photo only

canada.ca: "If you're travelling in the next 20 business days, don't apply online. Delivery can add an extra 5 business days to the 20 days."

For a mail or in-person renewal, canada.ca did not state on the pages we read whether the old passport is included with the application. Check the renewal page before you send it. Check canada.ca →

A child passport is for a child 0 to 15 years old. At 16 the person applies for an adult passport instead. A child passport is valid for a maximum of 5 years.

Who applies and who signs

Both parents (if not separated or divorced); the parent with custody or decision-making responsibility (if separated or divorced); or the child's legal guardian. Source phrase: "All parents or legal guardians should sign the application form."

Custody and consent documents

You submit "all legal documents that contain valid clauses related to custody, decision-making responsibilities, access, parenting time or mobility, including any document that contains a specific clause about your child's passport." If a parent is deceased, an official death certificate is required.

Photos and the guarantor

Two identical photos. The photographer writes the studio name, complete address and date on the back of one photo, and the guarantor signs that same photo ("I certify this to be a true likeness of [child's name]"). Handwriting or a stamp is acceptable; a stick-on label is not. A parent or guardian submitting a child's application cannot be that child's guarantor. The other parent or guardian may qualify.

You can't renew a child passport. You need to apply for a new one each time it expires.

A child passport (age 0 to 15, valid for a maximum of 5 years, with the custody and consent documents) is a common next step after the birth certificate. New baby paperwork, by province →

Passport renewals don't need a guarantor. A new adult application and a child's application do. For a regular passport applied for in Canada, the guarantor must:

1. Be 18 or older
2. Have known you for at least 2 years
3. Be a Canadian citizen
4. Hold a 5- or 10-year Canadian passport that, on the day you submit, is valid or "expired for no more than 1 year"
5. Have been 16 or older when they applied for their own passport
6. Be available for contact, and not charge money for the service

A parent or guardian submitting a child's application cannot be that child's guarantor. The other parent or guardian may qualify.

What the guarantor signs

• Four fields on the application form: signature, place signed, date, and years known
• The certification statement and signature on the back of one passport photo ("I certify this to be a true likeness of [applicant's name]")
• For adult applications, the photocopies of each supporting identity document

From outside Canada and the US

For applications from outside Canada and the US, or for a certificate of identity or refugee travel document, the guarantor can instead be occupation-based: someone "registered/licensed with the appropriate local authority to practice their profession" and "currently working in that field", from a defined list (for passports abroad: judge, dentist, pharmacist, veterinarian, police officer, notary public, lawyer, medical doctor, a dean or head of a university or college, or "a signing officer of a bank or trust company").

If you have no guarantor

If you cannot find a guarantor, canada.ca names a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor. "It's not available online." It is sworn before a notary public, justice of the peace or commissioner for oaths (in Canada), or a Canadian or British diplomatic representative or local official (outside Canada). The person administering it does not need to know you personally, and the references used for it cannot be the same references used on the passport application.

The Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor is a named canada.ca process, but its form number does not appear on any canada.ca page or PDF we could reach, so no form number is quoted here. Ask at the passport office. Check canada.ca →

They must be 50 mm wide by 70 mm high (2 inches wide by 2¾ inches high). Face height between 31 mm (1¼ inches) and 36 mm (1⁷⁄16 inches) from chin to crown.

Plain white or light-coloured background, with "a clear difference between your face and the background." Photos must be "taken in person by a commercial photographer or photo studio."

The photographer must clearly write or stamp the date the photo was taken and the name and complete address of the photo studio. For a child application specifically, a stick-on label is explicitly not acceptable; handwriting or a stamp is.

Adult passport renewals do not require the guarantor's signature or certification on the photo, because no guarantor is used.

As of March 31, 2026, most fees for passports and travel document services have increased. canada.ca calls it "the first update to passport fees since 2013." Every amount below is the current fee as of March 31, 2026, in Canadian dollars, quoted from canada.ca on September 2026. Fees change; the source pages are linked under each figure and at the end of this guide.

Lost or stolen: Regular application fees plus the extra $45 fee for replacing a lost or stolen passport. The page carrying this fee does not mention the March 31, 2026 increase and still reads $45, so this fee was not part of that increase. A damaged but still-valid passport is replaced at the regular fees, with no $45 surcharge.

Express pick-up is a distinct paid tier ("extra fees may apply"): "2 to 9 business days", with some locations at a 3 to 4 business day minimum.

Express pick-up has its own fee. canada.ca did not state the figure on any page we could read, so it is not quoted here. Check canada.ca →

Whether standard pick-up ("on or after 10 business days") carries its own charge was not stated on any canada.ca page we could read. Check the fee finder before you go. Check canada.ca →

The published service standards, as of September 2026. canada.ca's own caveat on every one of them: "This doesn't include mailing time."

• In person at a passport office or certain Service Canada Centres10 business days
• In person at a regular Service Canada Centre20 business days
• By mail20 business days
• From abroad, regular applications at Government of Canada offices20 business days
• Online renewalup to 20 business days, plus mailing time

The clock starts once the government has received "your application form...all your supporting documents, and payment of your fees": at receipt of a complete application, not at mailing.

The actual processing time can run longer than the published service standard if corrections, extra photos or security checks are needed, and the government states it is not liable for losses if it cannot deliver in time. canada.ca's own advice: "don't finalize any travel plans" before the passport arrives.

If you're travelling in the next 20 business days, don't apply online. Delivery can add an extra 5 business days to the 20 days.

Budget the processing time before a trip, and remember canada.ca's own caveat: "This doesn't include mailing time." Travelling with your pet in Canada →

Call 1-800-567-6868 "as soon as possible" for a passport lost or stolen in Canada or the US. For a certificate of identity or refugee travel document, call 1-800-242-2100. Outside Canada and the US, contact the nearest Government of Canada office.

The form is the Declaration concerning a lost, stolen, inaccessible, damaged or found Canadian travel document (PPTC 203), filed with a new application. Regular application fees plus the extra $45 fee for replacing a lost or stolen passport. The government "may review or investigate how your passport was lost, stolen or damaged before issuing you a replacement," which can delay issuance.

A damaged but still-valid passport needs form PPTC 203 filed with a new application, but no $45 surcharge. An already-expired passport is simply renewed or replaced normally: no PPTC 203 and no surcharge.

Whether a replacement for a lost or stolen passport can be issued with a shorter validity was not stated on the pages we read. We do not assert it either way. Check canada.ca →

Lost, stolen or damaged passport: report it to 1-800-567-6868, file PPTC 203, and expect the $45 surcharge on a lost or stolen replacement. Replace lost documents, by province →

In Canada

Service Canada Centres and dedicated passport offices (some offering the 10-business-day in-person service, others 20 business days), or by mail. Find a passport service location (IRCC) →

From the United States

From the United States: a parallel set of canada.ca pages for Canadians applying from the US, submitted by mail or through a Canadian consulate or embassy.

Outside Canada and the US

Outside Canada and the US: through a Canadian embassy or consulate. Source phrase: "Get passport services at embassies and consulates abroad."

Online

Online application exists only for eligible adult renewals, open to all eligible adults in Canada as of July 28, 2026. New adult applications and all child applications have no online submission option.

There is no simplified name-change path; a full new application is required. canada.ca: "The process is the same as applying for a new adult passport. However, because we're changing the name on your passport, you need to give us some extra documents."

What counts as a name change: Marriage, civil partnership, divorce, a legal name change, a court order, an adoption order, or "the reclamation of your Indigenous name."

For a relationship-based change: one of a marriage certificate, common-law relationship certificate, court order, or resumption-of-surname certificate, plus supporting ID showing the new name.

For a legal, court or adoption change: supporting ID with the new name, and if the citizenship proof does not show the new name, citizenship proof in the old name plus a legal name change certificate, an adoption order, or a court order.

Damaged passports: A damaged but still-valid passport needs form PPTC 203 filed with a new application, but no $45 surcharge. An already-expired passport is simply renewed or replaced normally: no PPTC 203 and no surcharge.

A name change on a passport is a full new adult application with extra documents; there is no simplified path. Change your name, by province →