Canada · PR card
Canada PR card photo
IRCC's PR card photo looks like the passport one — 50 x 70 mm, face 31 to 36 mm — but the background must be plain, untextured white, the photo can be up to 12 months old, and online renewals upload a 715 x 1000 to 2000 x 2800 pixel JPEG under 4 MB. A commercial photographer has to take it either way, so what we offer is a free check on the studio's photo.
Requirements verified September 18, 2026 — always confirm with the issuing authorityFree, on-device check. This document's rules mean there is nothing to buy.
The exact specification
The same numbers the checker applies. The official source of each value is listed under the table.
- Printed size
- 2 × 50 × 70 mm
- Print rules
- Two identical prints taken by a commercial photographer or photo studio. The back of each carries your name and date of birth plus the studio's name, complete address and the capture date.
- Digital file
- JPEG/JPG · 715 × 1000 to 2000 × 2800 px · 4 MB max
- Head size
- 31–36 mm chin to crown
- Background
- Plain, untextured white
- Glasses
- Allowed as long as your eyes are clearly visible behind the lenses with no glare.
- Taken within
- the last 12 months
Where these values come from
- Printed size, Print rules, Digital file, Head size, Background, Glasses, Taken within: checked against IRCC - Permanent resident photos (modified March 26, 2026); IRCC - Guide 5445: Applying for a permanent resident card (modified June 1, 2026); IRCC - Guide 5530: Request to Reissue a Permanent Resident Card; IRCC - Photos for Canadian passports.
Free check only. IRCC requires a commercial photographer or photo studio to take the photo and, for an online application, to confirm that (for example with a receipt); paper prints carry the studio's name, address and date on the back. No software can supply that. What we offer is a free pre-submission check of framing, tilt, background and lighting on the photo your studio gave you.
About background editing. IRCC rejects photos altered in any way and counts a changed background as an alteration. Off by default; leave it off for this document.
What the free check covers
We measure
- Head size against the published window
- Eye position, where the authority sets one
- Head tilt and rotation
- Background brightness and evenness
- Sharpness and exposure
Only you can confirm
- Glasses — we can't reliably detect them, so we flag rather than pass
- Expression and mouth position
- Red eye
- Filters, retouching or AI edits made before upload
We are an independent service, not affiliated with any government. The issuing authority always makes the final decision — a pass here means your photo meets the published measurements we can check.
What does a failure look like? See our accepted and rejected passport photo examples, with the fix for each one.