Canada passport (online) photo requirements

A Canada passport (online) photo is 1200 × 1800 px on a white or off-white background, saved as a JPEG 200 KB – 5 MB. The head must measure 864 px (48% of the height) from chin to crown, which is the part most photo tools ignore — a photo can be exactly the right size and still be rejected for a head that fills too much or too little of the frame.

1800 px 1200 px head 48% eyes 55%
Head height and position are drawn to the published figure. The shaded band is the tolerance the photo is checked within.
Canada passport (online) photo specification
Photo size1200 × 1800 px
Head height (chin to crown)864 px (48% of the height)
Eye line, up from the bottom990 px (55% of the height)
BackgroundWhite or off-white
File size200 KB – 5 MB, JPEG
UseOnline upload only
ExpressionNeutral, mouth closed, both eyes open and visible
NotesThe file should be between 1200×1800 and 3000×4500 px, and no larger than 5 MB.
Official sourcecanada.ca

How to make one

  1. Choose a well-lit, front-facing photo of yourself — a phone photo is fine.
  2. The head is measured and framed to the Canada passport (online) rule automatically.
  3. The background is replaced with white or off-white by a matting model.
  4. Download a JPEG at exactly 1200 × 1800 px, compressed to 200 KB – 5 MB, ready to upload.

Is my photo uploaded anywhere?

No. There is no server to upload it to — the cropping, face detection and background removal all run inside this browser tab, and nothing is stored. Turn off your Wi-Fi once the page has loaded and it still works.

Other Canada documents

Passport

Visa

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ID card

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Education & exams

Other

Other Americas requirements

Requirements change, and the issuing authority's own guidance is always the authority. These figures are transcriptions of published requirements, offered as a convenience and not as legal advice.