Your Citizenship Certificate After the Ceremony

After the ceremony, your citizenship certificate is the document that proves you are Canadian. You need it for your first passport and for other government services, so it is worth understanding before the day. This is from IRCC's page on what happens after the ceremony, checked on 23 September 2026.

Paper or electronic

You choose the format in your application, and IRCC asks you to confirm your choice at the ceremony. Either way, the certificate shows the date you became a citizen.

An electronic certificate

If you choose an e-certificate, IRCC emails you an instruction letter explaining how to download it from the IRCC Portal. You get that email once three things have happened:

• you have attended the ceremony
• you have signed, dated and returned your Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form
• IRCC has confirmed in its system that you are a citizen

IRCC says the e-certificate is available in the Portal within five business days of receiving your signed form. Keep the email, because it is how you download the certificate again whenever you need it.

A paper certificate

How you receive it depends on the ceremony:

• In person: you get it at the ceremony, after you take the oath, and you receive your child's there too if they are under 14.
• Virtual: it comes by mail to your Canadian address, two to four weeks after IRCC receives your signed oath form.

Looking after it

IRCC asks you to:

• keep it in a safe place
• check the personal information on the front and back, and correct any mistake through IRCC
• not laminate it or add any plastic coating

The last one matters more than it sounds. Lamination can damage the certificate and stop officials confirming its information or reading its barcode, which is exactly what happens when you apply for a passport.

What it is not

A citizenship certificate is not a travel document. You cannot use it to enter Canada. After the ceremony your permanent resident card is collected or destroyed, so until you have a Canadian passport, you have no document to travel on and return with. Plan any travel after your passport arrives.

Using it

• Passport: you can only apply once you have the certificate. An e-certificate must be printed for a passport application.
• Other services: keep it with your other important documents, and a photocopy separate from the original.

If the rest of your family is still on the way to their own ceremony, our free practice questions and study guide are there for the test.