Canada Passport Photo Size

In short A Canada passport photo is 50 × 70 mm with the head measuring 31 to 36 mm from crown to chin, on a plain white or light grey background. That head range works out at 44 to 51 per cent of the image height, which is outside the 70 to 80 per cent ICAO Doc 9303 asks for, and deliberately so. That is precisely why a photo cut to another country's requirements is likely to be refused here even when the paper size matches. Canada frames wider than anyone: 50 × 70 mm with a 31–36 mm head, so the face fills less than half the picture. It is also the one specification here that a digital tool cannot fully satisfy, because the photographer's name, address and the date must be stamped or written on the back of the print. In pixels, the print needs 591 × 827 at 300 dpi, which is the normal minimum for printing, and 1182 × 1654 at 600 dpi, which is what many online applications ask for. Note that dpi is not a property of a file at all — it is the pixel count divided by the print size, so quoting megapixels answers a different question. What none of this settles is whether a particular photograph will be accepted: size, head height and background are the measurable part, while expression, lighting, shadow on the background, glare on spectacles and hair across the face are judged by a person, and any of them can fail a photo that is correct to the millimetre.