Certifying a Passport Copy: Which Pages, and Why the Rules Differ

"A certified copy of your passport" sounds like one fixed thing. It is not. The pages that go into the copy, the people allowed to certify it, and the wording the certification has to carry are all set by the body that asked for it — and two offices of the same federal department can ask for quite different copies. The instruction sheet in front of you is the only reliable description of what is needed.

The pages depend on what the copy is for

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it directly on its page about supporting documents: each program has its own list, and the guide and checklist for that program are what decide what goes in. Two of its own documents show how far apart the answers can be.

Where the copy goes	Which pages IRCC asks for
Verification of Status or replacement of an immigration document (guide IMM 5545)	Only the pages showing the passport number, the dates of issue and expiry, the photo, name, date and place of birth, and any amendments to the name, date of birth, expiry or other information
Adult citizenship application (checklist CIT 0007)	A colour photocopy of all pages in each passport or travel document held during the five-year eligibility period, including the biographical page, plus any page with an extension stamp if the validity was extended

The reason for the difference is what each file is trying to establish. A request to correct or verify a status document is about identity, so the biographical page and any amendments are enough. A citizenship application is about physical presence in Canada, which is why the stamps matter and why every page from the relevant years is asked for rather than a selection.

Outside immigration, the variation is wider still. A bank opening an account, a university admissions office and a foreign consulate each write their own instructions, and there is no Ontario or federal rule that standardises them. The practical consequence is simple: a copy prepared to one institution's list is not automatically right for another's.

Who may certify it also depends on who is asking

IRCC's guides name the people it accepts as certifiers in Canada: a notary public, a commissioner of oaths, or a commissioner for taking affidavits. They also name the people it does not accept, whatever their profession: the applicant, and the applicant's parent, guardian, sibling, spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, grandparent, child, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or first cousin.

The same guides add a sentence that explains most of the confusion: authority to certify varies by province and territory, and for documents from abroad it varies by country. In Ontario, certifying and attesting a true copy of a document is listed among a notary public's powers in the Notaries Act, while a commissioner's role is administering oaths and affirmations. So IRCC accepting a commissioner for its own files does not mean every other institution will, and a foreign authority almost always expects a notary. The article on certified true copies covers that distinction in more depth.

Some bodies publish their own list of acceptable certifiers, and some accept only a copy they make themselves from the original at their counter. Where an instruction names a certifier, that instruction governs.

What the certification has to say

For IRCC, the wording is spelled out. The authorized person prints "I certify that this is a true copy of the original document" on the copy, together with:

• the name of the original document;
• the date of the certification;
• the name of the person certifying;
• their official position or title;
• their signature.

A notarial certification carries the same substance whatever the destination: it states that the original passport was produced and examined, that the copy was compared against it, and that the copy is a true reproduction, and it is dated, signed and sealed. The comparison is the whole act, which is why the original has to be on the desk. A scan on a phone or an earlier certified copy gives the notary nothing to compare against.

Two points about what the certification does not do. It does not confirm that the passport is valid on the day someone reads the copy; it records that the document existed and matched on the certification date, which is why that date matters to the receiving body. And it does not vouch for the information inside the passport — only that the paper is a faithful reproduction of it.

The passport office's own certified true copy

For a Canadian passport there is a second route that people often do not know exists. IRCC's passport program issues its own certified true copy on request, using form PPTC 516. Its description of that product is precise: a reproduction of part of the travel document, validated against the electronic passport record, certified as a true and authentic copy of the original, signed and dated.

Its limits are just as precise. It does not include any pages with visas or stamps, so it cannot serve an application that needs travel history. A copy bearing a stamp, or wet seal, is available only with a clear and strong reason and a showing that no other option exists. There is a fee, and the processing times are measured in business days rather than minutes. It is also available only for Canadian travel documents; a passport issued by another country can be copied and certified by a notary from the original, but the Canadian passport office has no record to validate it against.

The two routes answer different requests. Where an institution asks for a copy issued by the passport authority itself, a notarial copy is not a substitute. Where it asks for a notarised or certified copy made from the original, the notarial route is the one it describes.

When the copy is going outside Canada

A foreign bank, registry or consulate has no way to check an Ontario notary's seal by itself. That is the gap the apostille fills: since Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention in January 2024, Ontario issues a single certificate that confirms the signature and seal on an Ontario public document, including a notarial certificate on a copy. The apostille page explains that second step and the timing around it.

Two things follow for a passport copy heading abroad. The certification has to be made in a form the provincial authentication office will act on, and the destination's own instructions on pages and wording still apply on top of that. Checking both before the appointment is what keeps the job to a single visit.

A short checklist before the appointment

• The original passport, signed, with every page intact. Where the instructions cover previous passports too, those originals as well.
• The written instructions from the body that asked: which pages, colour or black and white, how many sets, and any required wording.
• Whether the copy leaves Canada, since that adds the apostille step.
• Photo identification, since the holder normally attends when the copy is of their own identity document.
• The certifier restriction, if the instructions name one — a family member making the certification is excluded by IRCC regardless of profession.

With those in hand, the certification itself is short. The certification of documents page describes the service, and booking a time takes a minute.