Canadian Passport Digital Photo: Why You Cannot Fix It Yourself
Please do not run a Canadian passport photo through our tool. For online renewals, Canada says the photo must not be altered in any way, counts cropping around the head and shoulders as alteration, and requires the file to be saved directly from the original. Re-saving it here would break that rule, even if the numbers came out right.
If your file misses a limit, the fix is to ask the commercial photographer for a new export. Scanned copies are not accepted either.
| Who takes it | In person, by a commercial photographer |
|---|---|
| File format | .jpeg or .jpg |
| Pixel size | From 1,800 high × 1,200 wide to 4,500 high × 3,000 wide, 3:2 portrait |
| File size | Between 200 KB and 5 MB |
| Editing | Not altered in any way, including cropping; saved directly from the original file |
Source: Government of Canada. Last checked by us on October 31, 2026. Rules change, so confirm on the official page before you apply.
Check these yourself
- The file came directly from your commercial photographer.
- Colour or black and white are both allowed.
For forms that do allow resizing, the Document Requirement Fixer can fit a file to custom limits.