Canadian passport photo: the 50×70 rules, honestly.

50 mm wide by 70 mm high (2 x 2 3/4 inches), with the face measuring 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown. That is a different shape from the US 2x2 square, so a US photo cannot be reused for a Canadian application. You submit 2 identical, unaltered photos.

No, and this is the big difference from the US: Government of Canada rules require the photo to be taken in person by a commercial photographer or photo studio and professionally printed. Home-printed photos are not accepted, and this applies to the online renewal's digital photo too. Use this page to know exactly what to check before you pay, and use our tool to preview how the 50x70 framing works or to make photos for documents that do allow DIY.

On the back of one photo, the photographer must write or stamp the date the photo was taken and the name and complete address of the studio. For new adult and child applications, your guarantor also writes 'I certify this to be a true likeness of (name)' and signs it. Adult renewals do not need a guarantor.

No. Canada requires a neutral expression: eyes open and clearly visible, looking straight at the camera, mouth closed, not smiling or frowning. This follows the ICAO standard used by facial recognition systems.

Yes, if they are not tinted, your eyes are clearly visible, and there is no glare on the lenses. That is more permissive than the US, which has banned glasses since 2016.

Absolutely not, and Canada's definition of 'altered' is strict: any change counts, including brightness or contrast corrections, background cleanup, removing red eye or glare, and even cutting and pasting your image onto a white background. The photo must come out of the camera compliant.

Taken no more than 6 months before you submit the application. Both colour and black-and-white photos are accepted, as long as they are clear, evenly lit, and show your natural skin tone. Avoid wearing white: it blends into the background and gets photos rejected.

They are similar in spirit (photographer-taken, neutral expression, strict sizes) but each program publishes its own spec sheet with different dimensions, so check the IRCC page for that specific document and hand the spec to your photographer, the same way this page works for passports.

Three things: previewing how a 50x70 with a 31 to 36 mm face is framed before you go (so you can sanity-check the studio's work on the spot), making compliant photos for the many countries and visa applications that do accept self-taken photos, and US passport photos, where DIY is officially allowed.

Five things: the print is exactly 50 x 70 mm; your face measures 31 to 36 mm chin to crown; the expression is neutral with mouth closed; the lighting is even with no shadows or glare; and the studio's name, address, and the date are on the back of one photo. Rejected photos are a leading cause of returned applications.