Quick answer: Canadian passport, citizenship and permanent resident card applications all use a printed photo 50 mm wide by 70 mm high, with the face 31 mm to 36 mm from chin to crown. A temporary resident visa photo is smaller: at least 35 mm by 45 mm, same face height. IRCC still says citizenship photos are not passport photos.
That last line is the trap. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publishes a separate photo specification page per application, and the pages disagree with each other. Some gaps are millimetres. Most are not.
Supreme Pictures can shoot document photos at 7025 Tomken Rd Unit 4, on Tomken Road near the Derry Road intersection in northeast Mississauga, minutes from Malton and a short drive from Brampton. Tell us which application you are filing before we shoot. The answer changes the crop, the print count and what gets written on the back.
What are the photo size requirements for each Canadian government application?
Every published number, side by side. Each column is taken from the IRCC specification page for that application, fetched on 2026-09-08.
| Requirement | Canadian passport | Citizenship (grant or proof) | Permanent resident card | Temporary resident visa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printed photo size | 50 mm wide by 70 mm high | 50 mm wide by 70 mm high | 50 mm wide by 70 mm high | At least 35 mm by 45 mm |
| Face height, chin to crown | 31 mm to 36 mm | 31 mm to 36 mm | 31 mm to 36 mm | 31 mm to 36 mm |
| Printed photos required | 2 identical | 2 identical colour photos on a paper application | 2 identical | 2 |
| Colour | Colour | Colour on the printed application | Colour | Black and white or colour |
| How recent | Taken no more than 6 months before you submit | Taken no more than 6 months before you submit | Taken no more than 12 months before you apply | Taken within the last six months |
| Background | Plain white or light coloured | Plain white or light coloured | Plain, untextured and white | Plain white or light coloured |
| Written on the back of one print | Studio or company name, complete address, date the photo was taken | Applicant’s first and last name, photographer or studio name and complete address, date the photo was taken | Your name and date of birth, photography studio name and complete address, date the photo was taken | Not required |
| Guarantor signature on a photo | Yes for a new adult application. No for a renewal | Not required | Not required | Not required |
| Digital file, where accepted | Online renewal: 3:2 portrait, at least 1,800 by 1,200 pixels, no larger than 4,500 by 3,000 pixels, face 45% to 50% of the photo height, 200 KB to 5 MB | Online: 1 photo, at least 420 by 540 pixels, about 240 KB and no more than 4 MB, JPG or JPEG with minimal compression, saved directly from the camera without any changes | 1 photo, 715 by 1000 up to 2000 by 2800 pixels, 4 MB or less | Printed only |
Sources in column order, all IRCC pages on canada.ca: Canadian passport photos; citizenship photograph specifications, grant by mail and grant online; permanent resident card photos; temporary resident visa photograph specifications.
The passport column, in short
The table above covers the printed side. One rule is worth pulling out of it: a guarantor signs one photo for a new adult passport, and a renewal needs no guarantor at all, so nobody signs anything.
The online renewal path swaps the prints for a single digital file with its own arithmetic, listed in full in the table. Our Canadian passport photo requirements guide works through that specification line by line, so the passport column stops here.
Why citizenship is the one that catches people out
IRCC writes the warning itself, in plain words, on its citizenship photograph specifications page: citizenship photos do not use the same specifications as passport photos.
Set the two columns beside each other and the printed dimensions look identical. Same 50 by 70. Same 31 mm to 36 mm face. So people hand over the spare passport print and assume it will pass. Three things break it.
The back of the print is different. A passport photo carries the studio name, the complete address and the date. A citizenship photo carries all of that plus the applicant’s own first and last name. A missing name is a returned application, and nothing on the front of the photo tells you it is wrong.
The digital file is a different file. Citizenship online asks for one photo at least 420 by 540 pixels, around 240 KB, no more than 4 MB, JPG or JPEG with minimal compression, saved directly from the camera without any changes. Passport online renewal asks for at least 1,800 by 1,200 pixels at 200 KB to 5 MB. 420 by 540 is under a quarter of a megapixel. 1,800 by 1,200 is more than two. A file built for one specification usually misses the other.
Colour is mandatory on the printed citizenship photo. IRCC asks for 2 identical colour photos there. A visa photo may be black and white. A citizenship photo may not.
None of that is intuitive, which is why IRCC bothered to write the warning at all. If you are filing a citizenship grant or a proof of citizenship, start from our citizenship photo page and say which one at the counter.
The visa photo is the only different size
The temporary resident visa is the outlier on the size row. Its frame is at least 35 mm by 45 mm, not 50 by 70. The head size does not move with it. That stays at 31 mm to 36 mm chin to crown. So a visa photo puts the same size head inside a smaller frame, which means a tighter crop with less shoulder and less headroom above the hair.
You cannot make one by trimming a 50 by 70 print. Trim it and the face ends up too large for its frame, so the photo fails on proportion rather than on quality. It has to be cropped that way from the first frame.
The rest is short: two photographs, taken within the last six months, black and white or colour, on a plain white or light coloured background. Details for other visa categories sit on our visa photo page.
Which rules apply to every Canadian document photo?
Six rules repeat across all four IRCC pages. Get these right and everything else is measurement.
- Neutral expression with the mouth closed. No smiling, no frowning. All four pages say it.
- Eyes open and clearly visible. Hair off the eyes, spectacle frames off the pupils.
- No sunglasses and no tinted lenses. Non-tinted prescription glasses are allowed as long as your eyes are clearly visible and there is no glare on the lenses.
- A plain background. White or light coloured for passport, citizenship and visa photos. The permanent resident card page is the strictest of the four and asks for a background that is plain, untextured and white.
- No editing and no retouching. IRCC counts colour changes, brightness and contrast, sharpening, cropping, red eye removal, reshaping a feature and swapping a background as alterations.
- Face and shoulders square to the camera. Centred, looking straight down the lens.
Rule 5 quietly kills modern phone photos. The camera app has already edited the picture before anyone has looked at it. Skin smoothing, tone mapping, sharpening on export: all of it counts as an alteration, and on most handsets none of it is optional.
What happens if your photos do not meet the specifications?
The application stops moving. IRCC uses a different verb on each page, and every one of them costs you weeks. The citizenship page says it will return your application if your photos do not meet the specifications. The passport page says it will refuse your application if the photos do not meet its requirements. The visa page says you will have to provide new photographs before the application can be processed.
There is no partial credit and no fixing it by email. You supply new photos and the processing clock restarts. For a citizenship grant that restart is measured in months.
Two habits prevent almost all of it. Name the application before the shutter fires, so the crop, the colour and the print count are right from the start. Then keep the second print clean. Only one photo ever gets written on, and once a guarantor has signed the wrong one, you are buying photos again.
Get document photos measured and printed in Mississauga
Bring the name of the form you are filing and wear a light top. We measure chin to crown in millimetres, crop to the specification for that application, print two identical copies, and write the studio name, our complete address and the date on the back of one. Passport photos are $9.99 for two.
Start at the passport photo service page if a passport is what you are filing, or ask us which specification applies to your form through the contact page.
Supreme Pictures
7025 Tomken Rd Unit 4, Mississauga, ON L5S 1R6
Phone: (905) 956-7400
Hours: Monday to Friday 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM; Saturday 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM; Sunday closed
Frequently asked questions
Are Canadian passport and citizenship photos the same size?
Yes on paper and no in practice. Both are 50 mm wide by 70 mm high with a face of 31 mm to 36 mm. IRCC still states that citizenship photos do not use the same specifications as passport photos, because the writing on the back and the digital file rules differ.
What size is a Canadian visa photo?
A temporary resident visa photo must be at least 35 mm by 45 mm, with the head measuring 31 mm to 36 mm from chin to crown. You provide two photographs taken within the last six months, black and white or colour, on a plain white or light coloured background.
What size is a permanent resident card photo?
A PR card photo is 50 mm wide by 70 mm high, with the face 31 mm to 36 mm from chin to crown, on a plain, untextured and white background. It must be taken no more than 12 months before you apply, which is longer than the 6 month window for passport and citizenship photos.
Can I use one photo for more than one Canadian application?
Rarely. A passport print and a PR card print share the same 50 by 70 size, but the writing required on the back differs and the PR card needs your date of birth. Citizenship needs your name on the back. A visa needs a different frame size entirely.
What happens if IRCC rejects my document photos?
Your application stops. IRCC returns a citizenship application whose photos miss the specifications, refuses a passport application on the same grounds, and asks visa applicants for new photographs before processing. You supply fresh photos and the processing clock restarts, which can cost weeks or months.
