Child Canadian Passport 2026: How to Apply

What a child passport is

A Canadian child passport is issued to applicants under 16. It is valid for a maximum of five years, regardless of how soon the application is made, and it cannot be renewed. Each time it expires, a fresh child passport application is required, with its own documents, its own guarantor requirements and its own parent or guardian consent.

An important detail is that the passport remains valid until its printed expiry date even after the child turns 16. A sixteen-year-old holding a valid child passport can travel on it; the passport does not become invalid on a birthday. What changes at 16 is that the young person becomes eligible to apply for an adult passport, which may be worth doing for the longer validity rather than waiting for the child passport to lapse.

The other structural difference is that the long-form validity choice does not exist. Adults may choose five or ten years; children receive five years and no alternative.

Who is allowed to apply

A child passport application must be made by an adult with the legal standing to make it. The rules describe this as decision-making responsibility, which replaced the older language of custody when the Divorce Act was amended.

• A parent, where the parents are not separated or divorced.
• The parent who holds decision-making responsibility, where the parents are separated or divorced.
• A legal guardian, where a guardian rather than a parent has responsibility.

All parents or guardians with decision-making responsibility should sign the application, and IRCC may contact the other parent or guardian to confirm consent. This is not a formality. The consent requirement exists to prevent a child being taken out of the country without the knowledge of a parent who shares responsibility.

Where only one parent can be located, or where the other parent has died, or where a court order governs the arrangement, IRCC requires supporting evidence to go with the application. In those situations the document list is longer, and it is worth reading the IRCC child passport page in full rather than relying on a summary.

Documents, including proof of parentage

Since November 5, 2024, proof of parentage must accompany every child passport application. This is the change most likely to catch families who have applied before, because it applies even where nothing else about the child’s circumstances has changed.

• Proof of parentage for the child — a detailed birth certificate or equivalent document naming the parents.
• Proof of the child’s Canadian citizenship — a birth certificate or citizenship certificate. A paper certificate must be the original; a citizenship e-certificate must be a printed copy.
• Identification for the child or for the applying adult, depending on the circumstances.
• Two identical passport photos meeting the Canadian specification.
• A guarantor who knows the applying adult and knows of the child.
• Two references who have known the applying adult for at least two years.
• The child’s current passport or travel document, if still valid.

Where a court order, separation agreement or custody arrangement exists, send a copy. IRCC uses it to establish who holds decision-making responsibility, and an application that names one parent without explaining the arrangement invites a follow-up request that delays everything.

Signatures and consent

Every person with decision-making responsibility should sign. For a young child, the child does not sign; the applying adult signs on the child’s behalf where the form requires it.

If one parent cannot sign because they cannot be found, because the parental relationship ended formally, or because a court has removed their responsibility, the application must explain that and include the supporting documents. A written explanation alone is usually not enough.

Where a child of 16 or 17 is applying for their first adult passport, the adult signature rules apply instead, but the previous child passport still needs to be sent in if it is valid.

The guarantor for a child application

The guarantor requirement is slightly stronger for a child than for an adult. The guarantor must have known the applying adult personally for at least two years and must know of the child.

Beyond that, a child-passport guarantor must satisfy the same tests as any guarantor: be 18 or older, be a Canadian citizen, hold a Canadian passport that was issued for five or ten years and is either valid or expired for less than a year, have been at least 16 when that passport was issued, be contactable, and be able to communicate in English or French. They sign the guarantor section of the form, one of the child’s photos, and dated copies of the identification documents.

Two references are also required. They must be 18 or older, have known the applying adult for at least two years, agree to their name and contact details being used, and not be the guarantor or a member of the immediate family.

Photos for a child

The frame and measurement rules are identical to an adult application: two identical photos, taken within six months, 50 mm by 70 mm, with the face measuring 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown, against a plain white or light background.

The distinctive rule is the ban on hands. No parent or guardian hand may appear anywhere in the image, and no part of the child’s own hand may appear either. A sleeping newborn laid on a plain white surface and photographed from directly above is the standard solution, and it is worth telling the photographer that this is a Canadian passport photo before the sitting begins.

Newborns are allowed a wider range of facial expressions than adults, so a slightly open mouth or a frown on a very young baby is not automatically a rejection. Older children should still aim for the neutral adult expression with eyes open and mouth closed.

How to apply, and how long it takes

Child passports can be applied for by mail or in person. The channel determines the service standard in the same way it does for adults.

Mailing time is additional and usually about five business days. The 10-business-day standard is only available in person at a passport office or at a Service Canada Centre that offers 10-day processing, so a mail application should be planned against the 20-business-day figure even if a shorter wait is hoped for.

Urgent and express service is generally harder to obtain for a child application because it requires proof of travel and the consent of everyone with decision-making responsibility. Where a family needs a child passport quickly, applying in person is usually the only realistic option.

Child safety and travel consent

IRCC operates a passport programme that lets a parent or guardian ask for a child to be flagged in its system. Once a child is flagged, IRCC will not issue a passport for that child without the requesting parent being notified. This exists to prevent a child being taken out of Canada on a passport obtained by the other parent without the first parent’s knowledge.

Separately from the passport itself, most airlines and many border agencies expect a child travelling with one parent, or with someone who is not a parent, to carry a consent letter. The letter is not a passport requirement and it is not issued by IRCC, but it prevents real problems at check-in and at the border. It should name the child, both parents or guardians, the accompanying adult, the destination and the dates, and it should be signed by the non-travelling parent.

Keep the names consistent. The child’s name on the ticket, the passport and the consent letter should match exactly. A mismatch between a booking made in a nickname and a passport issued in a legal name is one of the standard causes of a denied boarding.

When the child turns 16

At 16, a valid child passport continues to work until it expires, but the holder becomes eligible for an adult passport. Because adult passports can be issued for ten years while a child passport lasts only five, applying for an adult passport at 16 is often better value than waiting.

An adult application at 16 is a new adult application, not a renewal, because the previous document was a child passport. That means a guarantor and two references are required, and the adult validity options become available.

If a family is planning significant travel, the timing is worth thinking about. Applying once for a ten-year adult passport at 16 avoids a second application at 21, and it avoids the risk of a child passport expiring mid-trip.

Child passports when you live outside Canada

A child passport can be applied for from outside Canada, but the route is by mail or through a Canadian government office, and the fee is higher. As of March 31, 2026 a child passport costs CAN$102.50 outside Canada against CAN$58.50 inside, because the overseas fee includes a consular services component.

The document set does not shrink. Proof of parentage is still required with every child application, the guarantor must still know the applying adult and know of the child, and the consent signatures of everyone with decision-making responsibility are still needed. What does change is how the file is submitted and how long it takes, since mailing runs in both directions.

Families posted abroad should plan the timing around the child passport’s five-year life rather than around a specific move. Because the document cannot be renewed, a passport with a year left on it will force a fresh application soon after arrival, at the higher overseas fee, complete with a new guarantor and a new set of consent signatures. Where a move is known in advance, applying before departure is often the cheaper and simpler sequence.

What goes wrong with child applications

These are the recurring failures, and most of them are about consent or parentage rather than the passport itself.

1. Missing proof of parentage. Required with every child passport application since November 5, 2024, even where nothing else has changed.
2. Only one parent signing. Every person with decision-making responsibility should sign, and IRCC may contact the other parent to confirm.
3. Hands in the photo. No parent hand and no child hand may appear in the image.
4. Trying to renew. A child passport cannot be renewed; a new application is always required.
5. Assuming the passport expires at 16. It stays valid until its printed expiry date.
6. Sending a photocopy of the citizenship certificate. A paper certificate must be the original.

A court order or separation agreement solves several of these at once, because it tells IRCC who holds decision-making responsibility. If one exists, send a copy with the application.

Frequently Asked Questions