Does my Baby Need a Canadian Passport?

This is a question I get all the time: Does my baby need a passport? If you’re planning on traveling by air to the US or to any other country then the answer is YES! If you’re baby is Canadian then your baby needs a passport.

Back in the day children were listed on their parents’ passports. This changed several years ago. Now all children (including tiny little babies) need their own passport.

Facts about children’s passports:

All children require a passport
A child’s passport is valid for only 5 years
The child’s parent or legal guardian must apply for the child’s passport
A child passport is currently $57.00 CAD
Application forms can be downloaded here or picked up at a Canada Post Office outlet.
A child requires one guarantor to validate that they know the child
A guarantor can be a family member or someone that lives in the same house as the child

Be sure to find a store that will take photos of babies for passports. Not all stores do since taking pictures of tiny babies can sometimes be a challenge.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get your baby’s passport! If you are dropping off your documents at a passport office processing time is about 10 days. If you are mailing in your documents processing time can be about 20 days.

For more information about Canadian passports check out the Canadian Passport Help website now.