Canadian Passport Photo Size — Check It Before You Pay

Exactly 50 millimetres wide by 70 millimetres high — 2 inches by 2¾ inches — which is taller than the American 2 × 2 inch square and larger than the European 35 × 45 mm. Your face has to measure between 31 and 36 mm from the chin to the crown of your head, so printed at the wrong size the face will measure wrong too.

No, and this is worth saying out loud at the counter: a US photo is 51 × 51 mm square while Canada needs 50 × 70 mm. They look similar enough that the wrong preset gets used, especially near the border or anywhere the clerk has not been asked for Canadian specifically, and it will be refused.

The chains people actually search for are Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs, followed by Staples, Walmart, Costco photo counters, CAA offices and UPS Store locations, along with independent studios near Service Canada offices. Ask specifically for a Canadian passport photo, check the back of one print for the studio details before you leave, and keep the digital file if you plan to renew online.

Typically somewhere in the region of $15 to $25 for two prints at the pharmacy chains, with independent studios charging more. The real cost of a bad set is the second trip, which is why checking size, face proportion, background and clothing against IRCC's ranges before you go is worth doing first — checking here costs nothing.

Not for the photo you submit. IRCC requires it to be taken in person by a commercial photographer or photo studio and professionally printed on photographic paper — home prints are refused, and editing software, filters and AI tools are explicitly listed as alterations that get an application rejected. What you can usefully do at home is check a practice shot against the size and lighting rules so the studio visit goes right first time.

On the back of one print, the photographer must write or stamp the date the photo was taken, the studio name and its complete address — stick-on labels are not accepted. For a first adult passport you also need a guarantor to write the true-likeness declaration and sign it; renewals do not require a guarantor.

A JPEG in portrait orientation at a 3 : 2 aspect ratio, at least 1 200 pixels wide by 1 800 high and no more than 3 000 by 4 500, between 200 KB and 5 MB, with your chin-to-crown measurement at 45–50 % of the image height. It has to be saved from the original camera file the photographer took — IRCC does not accept scans of printed photos, and the file, like the prints, must be unaltered.

Yes, if the lenses are untinted and your eyes are clearly visible with no glare on the glass. Sunglasses and tinted eyeglasses are not accepted, including tinted prescription lenses, even when your eyes can be seen through them. Hats and head coverings worn daily for religious or medical reasons are fine as long as your full face stays visible and unshaded.

Taken no more than six months before you submit your application. You will see twelve months quoted in places — that figure appears in some IRCC guide PDFs for other immigration programs — but the passport photo page says six, and it is the one to work to, since an officer checks the date written on the back.

Yes. The same 50 × 70 mm size, face proportion and plain background apply to infants, and IRCC makes allowances that are worth using: a white blanket propped behind a sleeping baby's head gives you the plain background without holding them upright, and nobody expects a relaxed neutral expression from a newborn.