Residency
Canada — Residency: Required Documents
Exact document requirements vary by immigration pathway, but most Canadian immigration applications require a passport or travel document, police certificates, and (for economic pathways) proof of language ability, education credential assessment, and employment records. Police certificates are required from every country where an applicant lived 6+ consecutive months in the last 10 years, must be submitted as colour scans of the original (certified or notarized copies are rejected), and the certificate for the applicant's current country of residence must be dated within 6 months of application submission.
VerifiedGovernment / official sourceImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Key facts
- A passport or travel document (clear, legible copy of the biodata page and any visas/stamps) is required for identity verification in nearly all IRCC applications.
- Police certificates are required from every country where the applicant resided 6 consecutive months or longer, going back 10 years.
- Police certificates must be colour scans of the original document — certified true copies or notarized copies are not accepted and can cause rejection.
- The police certificate for the applicant's current country of residence must be issued no more than 6 months before the application is submitted.
- Documents not in English or French must be submitted with a certified translation alongside a copy of the original.
- Economic-class pathways (e.g. Express Entry) additionally require language test results and, where applicable, an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA).
Required documents
- Passport or travel document
- Police certificate(s) covering the last 10 years of residence history
- Certified translations of any non-English/French documents
- Language test results (for applicable economic pathways)
- Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), where required
Common mistakes
- Submitting a certified/notarized copy of a police certificate instead of a colour scan of the original — IRCC rejects these.
- Letting the current-country police certificate age past 6 months before submission.
- Forgetting to obtain a certificate from a past country of residence because the stay felt short, when it in fact exceeded the 6-consecutive-month threshold.