Documents used to establish date of birth

This page provides details regarding the use of identity documents for establishing and recording a client’s date of birth by line of business.

On this page

• Quick summary: Order of priority table
• Temporary resident or permanent resident
• Refugee claimants
• Protected persons
• Refugee Assistance Program (RAP)
• Grants of citizenship
• Certificate of citizenship (proof of citizenship)

Quick summary: Order of priority table

See the Order of priority table for a quick reference chart that indicates the order of priority of identity documents to be used when establishing and recording a client’s date of birth by line of business.

Temporary resident or permanent resident

The vast majority of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) applicants applying for temporary or permanent residence will have a foreign-issued passport. As an official document that shows the identity and nationality of a person for the purpose of facilitating international travel, the foreign passport is the primary document to be used to establish a date of birth record for IRCC purposes.

See Date of birth structures in travel documents (MRZ, MRC, VIZ) for how to determine dates of birth based on the:

• Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ)
• Machine Readable Chip (MRC)
• Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ)

In cases where an individual does not possess a passport, but has another travel document, the date of birth recorded on that travel document will be used to establish the date of birth for IRCC purposes.

Refugee claimants

If the applicant holds a passport or travel document issued by their country of nationality, refer to the procedures in date of birth structures in travel documentss.

If no passport or travel document issued by country of nationality

If the applicant holds no passport or travel document issued by their country of nationality, use the date of birth listed on other documents (or photocopies thereof) that they have provided, cross-referencing with the date of birth the person has listed on their application forms.

Learn more:

• Conflicting date of birth records
• Accepting oral evidence

For refugee selection overseas, if the applicant holds no passport, or any other travel and non-travel documents, the date of birth will be recorded as written on the referral document from a recognized international referral body or a group that has signed an agreement with an IRCC minister.

Protected persons

If the applicant holds a passport or travel document issued by their country of nationality, refer to the procedures in Date of birth structures in travel documents (MRZ, MRC, VIZ).

If no passport or travel document issued by country of nationality

If a protected person does not hold and cannot obtain a passport or travel document issued by their country of nationality or if the applicant is stateless, any of the following documents may be accepted for the purpose of establishing identity, including the date of birth record in IRCC’s system of record:

• an identity or travel document issued by a country to non-national residents, refugees or stateless persons who are unable to obtain a passport or other travel document from their country of citizenship or nationality, or who have no country of citizenship or nationality
• a travel document issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland to enable and facilitate emigration
• a passport or travel document issued by the Palestinian Authority
• an exit visa issued by the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to its citizens who were compelled to relinquish their Soviet nationality in order to emigrate from that country
• a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British National (Overseas), as a person born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong
• a passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
• a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British subject

If the applicant is a protected person and does not possess any of the above documents, refer to Identity documents and statutory declarations for guidance on determining the date of birth that will be entered into IRCC’s system of record.

Identity documents and statutory declarations:

As provided by section 178 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), protected persons who are applying for permanent residence and do not possess one of the documents listed in subsection 50(1) or refugee claimants: Referral document from a recognized international referral body or a group that has signed an agreement with an IRCC minister may submit one of the following documents, which will be used to establish the date of birth record:

1. any identity document issued outside Canada before the person’s entry into Canada; or
2. if there is a reasonable and objectively verifiable explanation related to circumstances in the applicant’s country of nationality or former habitual residence for the applicant’s inability to obtain any identity documents:
   • a statutory declaration attesting to the applicant’s identity made by a person who knows the applicant, a family member of the applicant, or the applicant’s father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather or grandmother prior to the applicant’s entry into Canada, or
   • a statutory declaration made by an official of an organization representing nationals of the applicant’s country of nationality or former habitual residence attesting to the applicant’s identity.

In accordance with subsection 178(2) of the IRPR, such alternative documentation shall be accepted if:

• in the case of an identity document, the document
  • is genuine
  • identifies the applicant
  • constitutes credible evidence of the applicant’s identity
• in the case of a statutory declaration, the declaration
  • is consistent with any information previously provided by the applicant to IRCC or the Immigration and Refugee Board
  • constitutes credible evidence of the applicant’s identity

Refugee Assistance Program (RAP)

The date of birth established during the permanent resident process and recorded in IRCC’s system of record will be the date of birth associated with the RAP record.

Children born to RAP recipients after arrival in Canada

If a child is born in Canada to an individual receiving assistance under the RAP program during the period of assistance, the child’s date of birth will be added to the record, and the birth certificate issued by a Canadian province or territory will be used to establish the date of birth for the child.

Grants of citizenship

Permanent residents: Immigration Record of Landing, Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) or permanent resident card (PR card)

For persons applying for a grant of citizenship under subsection 5(1) (adult), paragraph 5(2) (minor) or section11 (resumption) of the Citizenship Act and who are permanent residents, the date of birth that was established during the immigration stream (on the record of landing, COPR or PR card), will be the date of birth used for the citizenship record.

If the applicant has had an approved correction of date of birth as per Correction of date of birth due to clerical/administrative error or a correction of date of birth as per Correction of date of birth for reasons other than clerical/administrative error made by IRCC, the applicant must provide appropriate documentation in order to correct their date of birth in IRCC systems. The date of birth to be used as the primary date of birth in IRCC’s record is the date of birth that is supported by the documentary evidence of the date of birth correction. The date of birth that was previously recorded as the primary one should be recorded as an AKA (alias) or “other”.

Non-permanent residents

Birth certificate issued by a Canadian province or territory

In exceptional cases, an applicant born in Canada, who is not currently a permanent resident or Canadian citizen^{Footnote 1}, may request a discretionary grant of Canadian citizenship under subsection 5(4) of the Citizenship Act to alleviate special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada. If they have not previously held a certificate of citizenship, the primary document for establishing the date of birth in IRCC’s system of record is a birth certificate issued by a Canadian province or territory.

Previous citizenship certificate

If a former Canadian, who once held a certificate of citizenship, is no longer a Canadian citizen and is not a permanent resident, and has applied for resumption of citizenship and to reacquire Canadian citizenship with a request for a discretionary grant under subsection 5(4) of the Citizenship Act to alleviate special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada, the date of birth will be recorded as it was on the applicant’s previous citizenship certificate.

For procedures to correct the applicant’s date of birth with IRCC, refer to Types of date of birth.

Foreign passports or other travel documents

For persons seeking a grant of citizenship who were not born in Canada and are not permanent residents, the primary document used to establish the date of birth on the citizenship record is a foreign passport.

In cases where an individual does not possess a foreign passport, but has another travel document, the date of birth recorded on that travel document will be used to establish the date of birth on the citizenship record.

In cases where an applicant who is a minor born in the United States^{Footnote 2} and does not possess a foreign passport or another travel document, the date of birth recorded on the birth certificate will be used to establish the date of birth on the citizenship record.

Other immigration documents

For persons applying under subsection 5 (1.3) (Canadian Armed Forces-personnel attached or seconded) of the Citizenship Act, the date of birth established during the immigration stream (on the work permit or visitor record), will be the date of birth used for the citizenship record.

Adopted persons

For persons applying for a grant of citizenship under section 5.1 of the Citizenship Act (for an adopted person), the primary document used to establish the date of birth in the citizenship record is the adoption order.

The adoptive parents do not know the date of birth of the child at the time the application is submitted to IRCC

For overseas adoptions, there may be instances where the adoptive parents will not know the identity of the child at the time Part 1 of the application is submitted to IRCC. In the case of an unknown child, the date of birth will be recorded as “Year/**/**. The year recorded in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) will reflect the year the Part 1 application was received at the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, for example, 2016/**/**.

Once the child’s date of birth is known, the temporary date of birth indicated in GCMS, will be changed to “entered in error”, and the date of birth will be recorded.

Certificate of citizenship (proof of citizenship)

Applicants seeking proof of citizenship for the first time may have been born outside of Canada to a Canadian parent, or inside Canada. The document used to establish the date of birth record differs as indicated:

• Born outside Canada to a Canadian parent and resides in or outside Canada
  • For persons born outside Canada to a Canadian parent, the primary document used to establish the date of birth record is the applicant’s foreign birth certificate.
  • If the applicant is unable to provide a foreign birth certificate, the date of birth indicated on their foreign passport or travel document will be used to establish the date of birth. 
  • In rare instances when an applicant is unable to provide a foreign birth certificate, passport or other travel document, another authoritative national or federal document issued by the country of residence may be used to establish the date of birth.
• Born in Canada
  • For persons born in Canada, the primary document used to establish the date of birth record is a birth certificate issued by a Canadian province or territory.

Replacement certificates (also known as replacement proofs)

The date of birth on the replacement certificate will be the same as that indicated on the applicant’s previous certificate of citizenship, unless the applicant requests a change of date of birth and meets the requirements set out in the Request to correct date of birth section.