There are no two ways about it — navigating the sea of travel documentation applications is a pain in the butt. There is so much confusion around what’s needed to obtain a Canada passport, how you can go about renewing it, and which applications need to be completed for each.

I recently experienced this first-hand… again. It was time to renew my passport – for the 5^th time if memory serves. It’s not like I’m new to this process, and yet again, without fail, I ran into speed bumps after every turn. It seems every time I go through this process there’s a glitch, an error, an issue – something that ends up slowing me down and ultimately frustrating the bugeezus out of me.

First I needed a form to renew my passport because it hadn’t quite expired – but then I needed another form because I wanted to change back to my maiden name – but then there was something wrong with a missing check box, so the whole thing was returned to me by mail. And of course by now my passport had expired, so I feared I’d need yet another form altogether. Meanwhile, my vacation departure date was quickly approaching and I was starting to sweat over whether or not I’d ever get the right paperwork submitted.

If you’ve ever tried to get help from a government website, you know that you’d better hunker down and settle in for a long evening of mind-numbing legalese and mumbo jumbo only to wind up right back where you started. Lost, dazed and confused.

So let me attempt to make things a little easier. Yes, I said “attempt.” Let’s start by breaking it down into some common scenarios that might fit your situation. Let’s assume you are an adult (over 16) and you’re a Canadian citizen:

• I need a Canada passport – I’ve never had one.
• I need to renew my passport before it expires.
• I need to renew my passport because it expired less than a year ago.

In all three cases, here’s what you need:

1. The application form, which you can pick up at your local post office or MTO or print it online here:
   New passport: http://www.pptc.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc153.pdf
   Renew a passport: http://www.ppt.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc054.pdf
   Renew expired passport: http://www.ppt.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc054.pdf

 

2. Passport photos – go to Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart, or a local photo store and ask if they do passport pictures. They tend to cost $12-$15 for a set of two, and they should be ready in about 10 minutes. The store will date stamp them both for you.

 

3. Birth certificate or proof of citizenship. Make a copy for yourself just in case something happens in transit, but be sure to send the originals and request to have them returned (if you’re sending by mail). The passport office won’t accept copies.

 

4. Photo ID – these can be photocopied and sent in the mail. Use your driver’s license or other photo ID. If you don’t have photo ID, use your social insurance card, a credit card or other government documents (anything issued by a federal, provincial/territorial/state or municipal authority) to prove your identity.

 

5. Passport fee. If you’re sending in your application by mail, give a credit card number or certified cheque/money order to process the fee. It’s about $87 nowadays. If you’re submitting your application in person (which really speeds things up, btw) you’ll need credit, debit or certified cheque/money order payable to “Receiver General for Canada.” They do NOT accept cash.

If you file the paperwork in person, your new passport will show up in a few weeks via registered mail. If you mail in your application, you need to account for a little more travel and processing time.

Some more Canada Passport advice—things you should know in advance

 
• To reiterate, they do not take cash! There’s nothing worse than waiting at the passport office for over an hour only to learn that they you can’t pay with cash. I made that mistake the first time around years ago.

 
• Whatever name is on your ID (driver’s license, for example) is the name that will be on your passport. So if you’ve recently been married or have had your name changed and you want the new name on your passport, you’ll need to change your photo ID first.

 
• If you’re submitting photocopies of your photo ID via mail, make sure you copy both the front and back, and have your guarantor sign the copies with a statement saying: I certify this to be a true likeness of {your name}. Your guarantor needs to do the same on the back of ONE of your passport photos.

 
• Guarantors are easier to find these days, as the criteria is much less specific than it used to be. It has to be someone who has (or has had within a year) a valid passport and has known you for at least two years.

Here’s a tip: do not use your doctor as a guarantor. You want to use someone who is readily available to take a phone call from the Passport office and who can easily answer questions about you – your doctor may need to pull your file to recall certain information, so it really slows down the process.

If you need your passport quickly, you have to apply in person. There are three levels of urgent processing:

• Urgent pickup   within 24 hours: $70
• Express pickup within 2-9 business days: $30
• Standard pickup within 10 business days: $10

I hope that helps get the ball rolling — at least for the more common passport application scenarios. Stay tuned for information about more complicated apps, as well as some details on obtaining Canada passports for children.