🇨🇦 Canada

When to renew your documents in Canada

Start your Canadian Passport renewal 6 months ahead of its expiry date, and Provincial Driver’s Licence closer to the date. The table below gives the window for every Canadian document DueTrack tracks, and links to the official page to renew on.

Canadian documents DueTrack tracks, and when it warns you
Document Usually valid for DueTrack warns you Renew at
Canadian Passport (IRCC) 10 years 6 months ahead Official page
Provincial Driver’s Licence 5 years 3 months ahead Varies by state or province
Permanent Resident Card 5 years 6 months ahead Official page
Provincial Health Card 5 years 2 months ahead Varies by state or province
Vehicle Permit & Plate Sticker 1 year 45 days ahead Varies by state or province
NEXUS Card 5 years 6 months ahead Official page

Last reviewed 7 September 2026. The “warns you” column is DueTrack’s own reminder schedule, not a government processing time — only the issuing office can tell you how long a renewal is currently taking, and the official links above are where to check.

Why the warning windows differ

A reminder is only useful if it leaves you time to act. DueTrack sets each window in proportion to how long the document lasts and how painful it is to replace: roughly a fifth of its validity, held inside sensible limits for that document type. A passport valid for ten years warns you months out. A one-year vehicle document warns you weeks out, because that is all the notice it needs.

Documents that block travel get the longest windows of all. Anything you cannot board a flight without is worth knowing about early, and that is a judgement about consequences rather than about paperwork.

Questions

When should I renew my PR card?

DueTrack warns you six months ahead — far earlier than it warns about anything you could replace in a fortnight. An expired PR card does not affect your status, but it does stop you boarding a flight or ship back into Canada, and replacing one is measured in months rather than weeks.

When should I start renewing my Canadian passport?

DueTrack starts reminding you 6 months ahead, and again at 30 and 7 days. That head start matters more than it looks: many countries require six months of validity left on your passport before they will let you in, so a passport can stop being useful for travel months before the date printed in it. The issuing office is the only source for how long processing currently takes — the official link above is the one to check.

Does DueTrack keep a copy of my Canadian passport?

No. A photo or PDF is held in memory only for as long as it takes to read the dates off it, then dropped. There is no image column in the database and nothing is written to disk. What gets saved is the expiry date, the issue date, and the last few characters of the reference number.

Is it free to track Canadian documents?

Yes, for up to five of your own documents. Premium adds unlimited documents and a separate vault for each family member or business, and removes the ads.

Track it once, and stop checking

Scan a document and DueTrack reads the expiry date off it, then counts down and tells you before it lapses — by email and on your phone. Free for five documents.

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Other countries · The six-month passport rule