Canadian permanent residents may apply for a Canadian Permanent Resident Card at any time after landing in Canada. This card confirms their status as a permanent resident of Canada.
The Canadian Permanent Resident Card is a wallet-sized plastic card containing pertinent information (height, eye colour, gender, etc.) on the cardholder as well as a laser-engraved photograph and signature. Other personal data are encoded on the card and are accessible only by authorized Canadian Immigration Officials.
Canadian permanent residents planning to re-enter Canada on commercial carriers (plane, train, bus and boat) will be required to show their Permanent Resident Card to confirm their permanent resident status before boarding. Canadian Permanent Residents not in possession of a Permanent Resident Card, will have to apply for a Temporary Travel Document from the nearest Canadian Immigration Visa Office in order to travel to Canada on a commercial carrier.
Canadian permanent residents may now receive renewed cards through the mail.
In order to qualify for urgent processing of a Permanent Resident Card, applicants must demonstrate that they require their card urgently (within the next three months) for one of the following reasons:
Applicants must submit all of the following documents to support their request for urgent processing:
Applicants may request urgent processing when they submit their application for a permanent residence card to the Case Processing Centre in Sydney (CPC-S) or after it is already in process by contacting the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Call Centre through the IRCC Webform.
