Canada photo guide

Canada passport guarantor photo: who can sign it, what they write, and what to do when nobody fits

If you are applying for a Canadian passport for the first time, or you do not qualify to renew, someone else has to vouch for you. That person is called a guarantor, and part of their job happens on the back of your passport photo. It sounds simple until you start looking for someone who qualifies, and then the questions pile up. Does it have to be a professional? Can it be a relative? How long must they have known you? What exactly do they write on the photo, and what does the photographer have to write? And what if you genuinely cannot find anyone? The rules are published by IRCC, and several of them are more flexible than people expect. A few are stricter than they look. This guide takes them in order.

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KeywordCanada passport guarantor photo

UpdatedOct 22, 2026

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Important notice on IRCC requirements

Passport requirements, guarantor criteria, and photo rules can change over time. Readers should always check canada.ca for the current official guarantor and photo instructions before applying.

The practical answer

You need a guarantor for a Canadian passport if you are applying for the first time or if you are not eligible to renew. You do not need one for a passport renewal. For an adult renewal you do not need a guarantor, and for online renewals the guidance covers the digital photo and does not include a guarantor step. For a regular passport applied for in Canada, a guarantor must be 18 or older and a Canadian citizen, and must have known you personally for at least two years. For a child's passport, they must also know your child. The guarantor must hold a Canadian passport that was issued for 5 or 10 years and is either still valid or expired for less than one year, and they must have been 16 or older when they applied for it. That passport cannot be damaged, inaccessible, suspended or revoked, reported lost or stolen, or one that IRCC has asked to have returned. The guarantor must be available to confirm your identity and information and their own participation, and must be able to communicate in English or French. Notice what the list does not say. IRCC does not require the guarantor to work in a particular profession when the application is made in Canada, and it does not list relationship restrictions. The page says the guarantor can be anyone who meets the criteria, including a family member or a member of your household. The one relationship rule it gives concerns children: a parent who is the applicant on a child's form cannot also sign as guarantor, but the other parent or legal guardian can. Outside Canada the same basic requirements apply, and a guarantor can also be an occupation-based guarantor. IRCC's list of eligible occupations for passports outside Canada includes a judge, dentist, pharmacist, veterinarian, police officer, notary public, lawyer or notary, medical doctor, dean or head of a university or college, and a signing officer of a bank or trust company or a financial institution offering a full range of banking services. A family member or household member can also be a guarantor outside Canada.

What goes on the back of the photo

Two different people write on the back of one of your two photos, and it is worth getting the roles straight. The photographer must clearly write or stamp the date the photo was taken and the name and complete address of the photo studio on the back of one of the photos. IRCC's instructions treat this as part of the photo, whether it is for an adult or a child. The guarantor must clearly write the statement "I certify this to be a true likeness of" followed by the applicant's name, and then sign their name at the bottom. For a child, the statement uses the child's name. IRCC says to get your guarantor to sign one of your photos, not both. That is the same photo that carries the photographer's details, because both sets of information go on the back of one photo. The guarantor has other tasks as well. They personally complete four fields on the form: their signature, "Signed at", the date, and the number of years they have known you. For adult applications, they sign and date photocopies of each supporting identity document, which is not needed for originals. They cannot charge you for any of this, and you cannot help them complete these tasks, although you can contact IRCC if they need help.

Where people get surprised

The first surprise is how open the guarantor rules are. Many people assume a guarantor has to be a doctor, a lawyer or a bank manager, because that is how some other countries work. In Canada, for a regular passport applied for in Canada, the rule is about who the person is, how long they have known you and what passport they hold, not about their job. A neighbour, a friend, a colleague or a relative can qualify if they meet the criteria. If you are moving between systems, the contrast is real: the UK, for example, rules out relatives and people who live at your address. The second surprise is the guarantor's own passport. The person must hold a Canadian passport issued for 5 or 10 years, valid or expired for less than a year. A friend with an expired passport from several years ago does not qualify, and neither does someone whose passport is damaged or has been reported lost or stolen. Ask to see the passport before you ask them to give up an afternoon. The third surprise is the difference between a guarantor and a reference. You need two references for a passport as well as a guarantor in the cases above. References must be 18 or older, have known you for at least two years, and agree to your using their details. They cannot be your guarantor, and they cannot be certain family members, including anyone related to you who lives at your address. IRCC may ask for additional references at any time. Guarantors, unlike references, can be family or household members. It is common to mix the two up, and an application with the wrong person in the wrong role is a delay waiting to happen. The fourth surprise is the photographer's part. IRCC's instructions say the photographer must write or stamp the date and the name and complete address of the photo studio on the back of the photo. That works smoothly if you have your photo taken at a studio or shop that does this routinely. It raises a fair question if you take the photo yourself at home, because there is no studio to name. IRCC's page does not say how a self-taken photo should be handled for a paper application. If you plan to apply on paper, check the current instructions or contact IRCC before relying on a photo you took yourself. The page does say, for online renewals, that you provide the studio or photographer's name and address and the date the photo was taken when you upload, and it recommends asking the studio for both a digital and a printed copy. The fifth surprise is that the guarantor signs only one photo and that the photo must be a real print. Pen on the back of a photo needs a surface that takes ink cleanly, and a smudged inscription is a poor start to an application. The sixth surprise is that you cannot sign or complete anything for the guarantor, and neither can you pay them. IRCC says explicitly that the guarantor cannot charge for the service.

If you cannot find a guarantor

IRCC has an alternative. You can get a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor form from IRCC. It is not available online. You then need someone to administer the oath and sign the form, and that person does not need to know you personally. In Canada this can be a notary public, a justice of the peace or a commissioner for oaths. Outside Canada it can be a Canadian or British diplomatic or consular representative, or a qualified local official such as a civil servant or Member of Parliament. For passports, you can get the form at a passport service location in Canada, at a Canadian embassy or consulate in the United States, or from the nearest Canadian embassy or consulate elsewhere. You cannot use the same references that you used for your passport application.

How PassSnap fits

PassSnap helps you prepare the photo itself: a guided capture that checks head size, eye line and framing, with a Canadian passport photo type, a print layout, and an optional AI verify step that flags glasses, expression and background problems before you print. Nothing is retouched or beautified, and that matters because the photos must be unaltered. PassSnap cannot find you a guarantor, cannot supply the photographer's details that IRCC asks for, and cannot tell you whether IRCC will accept a particular photo for a paper application. If you decide to prepare a photo with PassSnap, print it on photo paper that takes pen cleanly, and check IRCC's current instructions on the photographer's details before you submit. For a paper application, the safest route may be to have the photo taken at a studio that provides the details on the back, and to use PassSnap for the practical checks and for any other market.

Before you ask someone to be your guarantor

Work out whether you need one at all. IRCC says a guarantor is required if you are applying for the first time or are not eligible to renew, and not required for passport renewals. If you are renewing, read the renewal instructions instead.

Check the guarantor's eligibility before you ask. They must be 18 or older, a Canadian citizen, and have known you personally for at least two years, and for a child's passport they must also know your child. Ask whether they hold a Canadian passport issued for 5 or 10 years that is valid or expired for less than a year, and whether it is in good condition and has not been reported lost or stolen.

Keep the roles separate. A guarantor and a reference are different people with different jobs, and the same person cannot be both. For a child's application, remember that the parent who is the applicant on the form cannot also be the guarantor, although the other parent or legal guardian can.

Get your photos taken within the last six months, as two identical prints in the 50mm by 70mm format with the face between 31mm and 36mm from chin to crown, unaltered. Make sure the paper will take ink, because the back of one photo will carry the photographer's details and the guarantor's statement and signature.

Sort out the photographer's details. IRCC asks the photographer to write or stamp the date the photo was taken and the name and complete address of the photo studio on the back of one photo. If your photo is taken at a studio, ask them to do this. If you are taking it yourself, check IRCC's current guidance before relying on it for a paper application.

Let the guarantor write the statement, and do not help. They write "I certify this to be a true likeness of" and your name on the back of one photo, then sign it. They also complete their own fields on the form and, for an adult application, sign and date photocopies of your supporting identity documents. Do not pay them, and do not fill anything in on their behalf.

Keep the fallback in mind. If you cannot find anyone who qualifies, ask IRCC for the Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor form, which is not available online, and arrange for a notary public, justice of the peace or commissioner for oaths in Canada to administer the oath.

FAQ

Can a family member be my Canadian passport guarantor?

For a regular passport, IRCC's guidance does not list relationship restrictions for guarantors and says a guarantor can be anyone who meets the criteria, including a family member or a member of your household. The criteria still apply: 18 or older, a Canadian citizen, known you personally for at least two years, and holding a qualifying Canadian passport. For a child's application, the parent who is the applicant on the form cannot also be the guarantor, but the other parent or legal guardian can. References are different, and they cannot be certain family members.

What does the guarantor write on the back of the photo?

They clearly write "I certify this to be a true likeness of" followed by the applicant's name, then sign their name at the bottom. They sign only one of the two photos, and for a child's photo the statement uses the child's name. The photographer separately writes or stamps the date the photo was taken and the name and complete address of the photo studio on the back of one of the photos.

What if I cannot find anyone who can be my guarantor?

IRCC offers a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor. You get the form from IRCC, since it is not available online, and have someone administer the oath and sign it. In Canada that can be a notary public, a justice of the peace or a commissioner for oaths, and they do not need to know you personally. You cannot use the same references that you used for your passport application.