Canada Birth Certificate

The individual information certificate contains child's name, date of birth, place of birth and sex. The certificate is 12.5 cm wide by 17.6 cm high.

Size

The certificate (12.5 cm x 17.5 cm) is intentionally awkward to carry with you in a purse or wallet. Birth certificates are not for day-to-day identification, so store them in a safe place when they are not in use.

Complex Design

The birth certificate has many features that make it difficult to copy:

※ Two transparent windows — one with a colour-shifting property and one with three floating maple leaves

※ Two watermark/ shadow features — maple leaves and Canada geese

※ A thread repeating the word “Canada” that runs from top to bottom

※ Raised lettering similar to that found on Canadian money

※ A colour-shifting window with the word “CANADA” in three waves below the clear window containing the maple leaves (purple/green)

※ The provincial/territorial coat of arms in colour with the jurisdiction's seal and a signature

※ A one-dimensional bar code containing the birth certificate number in the bottom right corner

※ A two-dimensional bar code containing the same information about the certificate holder that is on the front of the document