Translation of documents that accompany a passport application
All documents submitted with your passport application must be in French or English. If the document is not in French or English, it must be translated. You must submit both
- the original document in the original language and
- the translated version of the document
On this page
Translation requirements
Documents submitted with your passport application that are not in English or French must be translated by either
- certified professional translators or
- non-certified professional translators
Third party translators
If the document is not a court document or legally binding agreement made between 2 or more parties, then a translation done by a third party is acceptable.
Translations done by you or by your family members are not acceptable.
Translation requirements vary depending on the translation service you use: certified professional, non-certified professional or third party.
Certified professional translators
A certified professional translator is a member of a professional translation organization in Canada or abroad.
A certified professional translator
- certifies translations using a seal or stamp
- can be validated through their member organization
A translation produced by a certified professional translator must include
- a certification stamp or seal
- contact information for the translation organization
- name
- phone number
- address
- email address (if available)
- information about the translator
- name
- signature
- membership number (if available)
- the date of the translation
- a completed Statutory Declaration for Translators [PPTC 659E] (PDF, 2 MB) form confirming the translator’s skills and the accuracy of the translated documents
Non-certified professional translators
A non-certified professional translator is a member or an employee in good standing of an official organization.
Official organizations include, but are not limited, to
- translation organizations
- government institutions
- private agencies
Unlike translations done by certified professional translators, the translations of non-certified professional translators are not certified by a stamp or seal.
A translation done by a non-certified professional translator must include
- contact information for the translation organization
- phone number
- address
- email address (if available)
- information about the translator
- name
- signature
- membership number (if available)
- the date of the translation
- a completed Statutory Declaration for Translators [PPTC 659 E] (PDF, 2 MB) form confirming the translator’s skills and the accuracy of the translated documents
Third party translators
A third party translator is an individual who is not a translator by profession but has the required language skills and knowledge to translate documents.
Translations done by you or by your family members are not acceptable.
We don’t accept translations of court documents and legally binding agreements that were done by a third party. These documents must be translated by a certified professional translator or a non-certified professional translator.
A translation from a third party translator must include
- information about the translator
- name
- signature
- phone number
- address (if available)
- the date of the translation
- a notarized Statutory Declaration for Translators [PPTC 659 E] (PDF, 2 MB)
- confirming the translator’s skills and the accuracy of the translated documents
- notarized by a
- lawyer
- notary
- commissioner of oaths
We may contact your translator to confirm that they produced the translation. If we aren’t sure the translation is accurate, we may ask you to have the document translated again.
Proof of death
The translation requirement is different in the case of proof-of-death documents submitted to report the death of the bearer of a passport. Proof-of-death documents include, but are not limited to, death certificates and United Nations, Red Cross, allied forces, and police death records.
In such a case, a signed and dated statement indicating the content of the document must be presented. Should the accuracy of the statement appear suspect, the Passport Program reserves the right to request a translation produced by a certified translator.
If the document is presented for any reason other than to cancel the passport of the deceased, a translation produced by a certified translator will be required.
For more information, please contact the Passport Program.
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