Canadian Passport Guarantor: Who Qualifies, Rules, and Duties

A Canadian passport guarantor is a person who signs your application to confirm you are who you say you are and that your photo really looks like you. For applications filed inside Canada or the United States, that person has to be a Canadian citizen aged 18 or older who has known you for at least two years and who holds a five- or ten-year Canadian passport that is either still valid or expired by no more than one year on the day you apply.¹

When You Actually Need One

You need a guarantor whenever you’re applying for a first passport, or when your situation doesn’t qualify for a simple renewal. Straightforward renewals skip the requirement entirely. If your previous passport was lost, stolen, damaged, or has been expired for a long time, you’ll be treated as a new applicant and will need someone to vouch for you.¹

Who Qualifies as a Guarantor

For applications submitted from within Canada or the United States, the person you ask must meet every one of these conditions:

Be a Canadian citizen, 18 or older.
Have known you personally for at least two years.
Hold a five-year or ten-year Canadian passport that is currently valid, or expired by no more than one year on the day you submit your application.
Have been at least 16 when they applied for that passport.
Be reachable if the passport office needs to verify anything.

The passport itself has to be in good standing. A guarantor’s passport cannot be damaged, suspended, revoked, or reported lost or stolen. If any of those apply, the person doesn’t qualify even if the printed expiry date is still in the future.¹

Family Members Are Allowed

A widespread misconception is that relatives can’t sign as guarantors. They can. Your spouse, parent, sibling, or any other relative is eligible so long as they meet the standard requirements. Members of your household also qualify.¹ The family ban you may have heard about applies to references, which is a separate role.

Who Cannot Sign

Your guarantor cannot charge you for the service, and you cannot help them fill in their part of the application. If you are a parent or legal guardian submitting a passport application for your child, you cannot sign as the guarantor on that application. The other parent or legal guardian can sign instead if they meet the standard rules.¹

Rules for a Child’s Application

The two-year rule works differently when the applicant is a child. The guarantor doesn’t have to have known the child for two years. They must have known the parent or legal guardian submitting the application for at least two years, and they must know of the child.¹

Applying From Outside Canada

If you’re applying from outside Canada, you can still use a standard Canadian-citizen guarantor. You also gain a second option: a guarantor identified by profession, who does not need to be a Canadian citizen or hold a Canadian passport.¹ The person must be licensed or registered with the appropriate local authority, currently working in their field, and practicing one of these occupations:

Judge
Medical doctor
Dentist
Pharmacist
Veterinarian
Lawyer or notary
Notary public
Police officer
Dean or head of a university or college
Signing officer of a bank, trust company, or financial institution offering full banking services

A retired professional in one of these fields can still sign if their professional association still lists their name.¹

What the Guarantor Has to Do

Signing your name at the bottom isn’t the whole job. The guarantor has three separate tasks, and errors on any of them can delay your application.

On the Application Form

The guarantor section asks for the person’s name, occupation, telephone number, employer, and business address. Either of you can fill in most of these fields, but four must be completed by the guarantor personally: their signature, the city where they signed, the date, and the number of years they’ve known you.¹

On the Back of Your Photo

On the back of one of your passport photos, the guarantor writes “I certify this to be a true likeness of” followed by your full name, or the child’s name if the application is for a child. They sign the same photo.¹

On Your Supporting Documents

For adult applications, the guarantor signs and dates the photocopies of each supporting identity document you send in. This step only applies when you’re submitting photocopies rather than originals.¹ You are not allowed to help with any of it.

References Are a Separate Requirement

Your application also asks for two references, and the rules are not the same as for a guarantor. References must be 18 or older, must have known you for at least two years, and must agree to have their name and contact information included on your application. Family members cannot serve as references. That ban covers spouses, common-law partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, and anyone else related to you by blood, marriage, adoption, or guardianship who lives at the same address.¹ Your guarantor cannot double as one of your two references. You need three different people.

If You Cannot Find a Guarantor

When no one in your life meets the requirements, you can file a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor, Form PPTC 132, instead. The form isn’t posted online. You get a copy by visiting a passport service location or a Canadian embassy or consulate, or by contacting the passport agency directly.¹

You have to sign the declaration in front of someone authorized by law to administer oaths, such as a commissioner of oaths, a lawyer, a notary, or a justice of the peace. That official checks your identity against other government-issued ID before witnessing your signature. There is usually a fee for the witnessing service, and using a statutory declaration can add processing time, so build in extra room if you have a travel date.

What a Guarantor Is Legally Signing Up For

A guarantor who knowingly makes a false or misleading statement to help someone get a passport is exposed to criminal charges. Under the Criminal Code, that offence is punishable on indictment by up to two years in prison, or on summary conviction.² Possessing a passport obtained through a false statement carries a maximum sentence of five years. The penalties apply whether the conduct took place inside or outside Canada.

1
Government of Canada. References and Guarantors for Canadian Passport and Other Travel Document Applications
2
Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) – Section 57