The editor opens on the printed Canadian passport photo size, 50 × 70 mm, 591 × 827 pixels at 300 DPI. Renewing online is a different size, a 3:2 portrait JPEG (2:3 width to height) of at least 1200 × 1800 pixels. canada.ca wants a commercial photographer to take both, so use these numbers to brief the studio and check its print. One of the passport size photo sizes.
Canadian passport photo size
Printed size
50 × 70 mm (2 × 2 3/4 in)canada.ca
In pixels at 300 DPI
591 × 827 pxcomputed at 300 DPI
Face height, printed
31 to 36 mm, chin to crowncanada.ca
Online renewal photo
at least 1200 × 1800 px, JPG, 200 KB to 5 MBcanada.ca
Background
plain white or light-colouredcanada.ca
Taken by
a commercial photographer, in personcanada.ca
Output format
– / –
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The same editor, the size already pressed. Pick the document or the platform.
Source: photo.jpg, 576.8 KB at 1920×1280, through the preset this page opens on (the centre cropped to the ratio and scaled to the size), then the engine at its defaults. The row is the real output.
Every byte count is the size of the actual file our engine produced from the named source, the same bytes you would download, not an estimate. The reference photo is one of our own photographs, an iguana on a branch, and the camera photo is a real one too. Drop your own file into the tool above to rerun any of them. How we measure names the sources and the settings.
Answered
What is the Canadian passport photo size in mm and pixels?
50 mm wide by 70 mm high, which canada.ca also gives as 2 inches by 2 3/4 inches, and 591 × 827 pixels at 300 DPI: millimetres times 300, divided by 25.4, each side rounded.
That is the printed photo, and the preset this page opens on. It is a 5:7 portrait, taller than the US 2 × 2 inch square and larger than the 35 × 45 mm frame the UK and France use, so neither of those can be cut down to it. The online renewal is measured in pixels, not millimetres, and its minimum is 1200 × 1800, a 2:3 shape: another size altogether, covered in the next section. Three hundred dots per inch is the print resolution a passport counter assumes when the rule is in millimetres; the renewal states pixels outright, so no conversion is involved there.
Two routes
Print or online: which rule applies to you?
Canada has two, both on canada.ca’s passport photo page, and they do not overlap.
A commercial photographer takes both. Here is what each one must be.
1
Printed photo: 50 × 70 mm, 591 × 827 px
The preset pressed on arrival, locked to 5:7. Face 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown, 44% to 51% of the frame; plain white or light-coloured background; taken no more than six months before you apply. canada.ca says to go to a commercial photographer or photo studio, which writes or stamps its name, address and the date on the back. Photos printed at home are refused.
2
Online renewal: at least 1200 × 1800 px
The 2:3 portrait canada.ca calls 3:2, at most 3000 × 4500. A .jpeg or .jpg between 200 KB and 5 MB, the chin to the crown taking 45% to 50% of the height. A commercial photographer takes it in person, and the file goes up as the camera saved it: canada.ca refuses a photo altered in any way.
Answered
Why is the online renewal photo 3:2 when the printed photo is 50 × 70?
Because canada.ca sets two rules for two routes, and the print’s frame fails the online one twice: too few pixels and the wrong shape.
50 × 70 mm is a 5:7 frame; the renewal wants a 3:2 portrait, 2:3 width to height, a slightly taller shape, so the crop differs. At 300 DPI the print is 591 × 827 pixels, under the 1200 × 1800 minimum. So a scan of the printed photo cannot stand in for the digital one, and canada.ca rules that out anyway: the online file must be saved directly from the original the camera captured. A 300 DPI conversion of a physical size is an assumption to state, never a rule a portal is bound by. The renewal states pixels, and the studio’s camera supplies them.
Answered
What must the 1200 × 1800 online renewal file be?
A .jpeg or .jpg from a commercial photographer’s camera: at least 1200 × 1800 pixels, at most 3000 × 4500, between 200 KB and 5 MB.
canada.ca wants a 3:2 portrait taken in person, with the chin to the crown at 45% to 50% of the height. The file must be saved directly from the original the camera captured, and the photo must not be altered in any way. canada.ca counts photo-editing software, filters and AI tools as altering, and names cropping around the head and shoulders. So do not crop, resize or compress the file yourself, here or anywhere. If it falls outside the window, ask the studio for a new file. When you upload it, the form asks for the studio’s name and address and the date the photo was taken.
Answered
How big must the face be in a Canadian passport photo?
About half the frame on both routes.
In print, canada.ca wants the face between 31 mm and 36 mm from chin to crown, which is 44% to 51% of the 70 mm height. Online, the same span must take 45% to 50% of the photo’s height. Both come to about half the frame: the chin about a quarter of the way up, the crown about a quarter of the way down. The photographer frames it. Use the numbers to check the print or the proof before you send the application, and ask for a retake if the face is far off.
Answered
Can I wear glasses in a Canadian passport photo?
Yes, if the eyes are clearly visible and there is no glare on the lenses, with the mouth closed and no smile or frown, on canada.ca’s page.
That is the loosest glasses rule among the countries on this site. The State Department’s rules, as a US mission page restates them, accept glasses only when needed for medical reasons, with a certificate. gov.uk says not unless you have to, and never sunglasses or tinted glasses. service-public.gouv.fr allows only thin frames that do not hide the eyes, untinted and without reflection. Glare is the usual fault, so check the lenses on the studio’s proof before you leave.
Be sure first
When the 50 × 70 preset is the wrong tool
A US passport or visa?
That is a 2 × 2 inch square, 600 × 600 pixels. The 2 × 2 inch page and the 600 × 600 page open on it.
A Canadian visitor visa, or one that names 35 × 45 mm?
canada.ca's visa photo frame is at least 35 × 45 mm, with the head 31 to 36 mm. Other countries' 35 × 45 mm photos carry their own rules; the 35 × 45 mm page opens on that frame.
The passport photo itself, printed or online?
canada.ca wants a commercial photographer for both, refuses home prints and refuses an online file altered by any editing software, ours included. Hand the studio the numbers on this page.
A background swap or a compliance verdict?
We frame and size; we do not replace a background or judge a photo. canada.ca's page is the rule book and the office's check is the last word.
The size is already pressed above. One drop settles most of these.
Q:What size is a Canada passport photo in mm and pixels?
50 mm wide by 70 mm high on canada.ca, which it also gives as 2 inches by 2 3/4 inches, and 591 × 827 pixels at 300 DPI, the preset the editor opens on. That is the printed photo. The online renewal is measured differently: a JPEG of at least 1200 × 1800 pixels in a portrait canada.ca calls 3:2 (2:3 width to height), not the print's 5:7. A commercial photographer takes both.
Q:What are the digital photo rules for renewing a Canadian passport online?
A .jpeg or .jpg file at least 1800 pixels high by 1200 wide and no larger than 4500 by 3000, between 200 KB and 5 MB, all on canada.ca's passport photo page. The shape is a 3:2 portrait (2:3 width to height), with the chin to the crown taking 45% to 50% of the photo's height. A commercial photographer takes it in person, and the file must come straight from the camera, never edited.
Q:Can I wear glasses in a Canadian passport photo?
Yes, if the eyes are clearly visible and there is no glare on the lenses, on canada.ca's page, with the mouth closed and no smile or frown. That is looser than the US rule, where the State Department accepts glasses only for medical reasons, and the UK's, where gov.uk says not unless you have to. Check the lenses for glare on the studio's proof.
Q:How big must the face be in a Canadian passport photo?
Between 31 mm and 36 mm from chin to crown on the printed photo, canada.ca says, which is 44% to 51% of the 70 mm frame. On the online renewal's digital photo the same span must take 45% to 50% of the height. Both come to about half the frame. The photographer frames it; check the share by eye on the proof.
Q:Does a Canadian passport photo need a white background?
Plain white or light-coloured, on canada.ca's page, so a pale grey or cream backdrop also passes. canada.ca also says a commercial photographer or photo studio takes the photo, so the studio's backdrop is the one the passport office sees. For the online renewal, canada.ca counts changing the background as altering the photo. The photo must be taken no more than six months before the application.
Q:Why is the online renewal photo 3:2 when the printed 50 x 70 mm photo is not?
Because canada.ca states two rules for two routes. 50 × 70 mm is a 5:7 frame; the digital photo is a portrait canada.ca calls 3:2, 2:3 width to height, of at least 1200 × 1800 pixels. A 591 × 827 export at 300 DPI is too small for the minimum and the wrong shape, so a print cannot serve the online route. For the renewal, ask the studio for the digital file: canada.ca wants it saved straight from the camera.
Q:What is a 50x70 mm photo in inches?
1.97 × 2.76 inches, which canada.ca rounds to 2 inches wide by 2 3/4 inches high. It is not the US 2 × 2 inch square: the Canadian frame is taller, a 5:7 portrait, and a square cannot be cut from it without losing the face band. Whichever unit the form or the printer uses, it is the same frame in pixels, millimetres or inches.
Q:How recent must the photo be?
Taken no more than six months before the application, on canada.ca's passport photo page. A photo from an older passport fails on age whatever its quality. The studio writes or stamps the date the photo was taken on the back of a print, and the online form asks for that date. Book a new photo and apply within the six months.
Q:Can I use the 50x70 export for the online renewal?
No, and no editor's export qualifies. canada.ca says the online photo must be taken in person by a commercial photographer, saved directly from the camera's original file and not altered in any way, photo-editing software included. The 591 × 827 print size is also under the 1200 × 1800 minimum and a 5:7 shape rather than 2:3. Ask the studio for the digital file.
Q:Will the online renewal file be between 200 KB and 5 MB?
It must be, on canada.ca: a .jpeg or .jpg between 200 KB and 5 MB, 1200 × 1800 to 3000 × 4500 pixels. Do not compress or resize the studio's file yourself, because canada.ca counts photo-editing software as altering the photo. If the file falls outside the window, ask the photographer for one that fits.
Q:Can I take or print a Canadian passport photo at home?
No. canada.ca says to go to a commercial photographer or photo studio, and adds: "We don't accept photos printed at home or on heavyweight paper." The online renewal photo comes from a commercial photographer too. Take the numbers on this page with you: 50 × 70 mm, the face 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown, and a plain white or light-coloured background.
Q:Do you keep my passport photo?
No. We keep nothing: files are processed and wiped automatically, never archived and never used for anything else. Saving strips EXIF metadata, including the GPS location a phone writes into the file, so a photo you crop here carries no record of where it was taken. There is no account, no watermark and no charge.
50 × 70 mm is pressed above: drop a photo to see the frame and the face band at the printed size. For the passport itself, canada.ca wants a commercial photographer's print or file.
