A safety plan for Canadian ID copies on your phone
Keep only the copies you actually use, such as a passport page or PR card, in an app that encrypts them and opens with Face ID, and leave your SIN letter at home. Lock the phone itself, send each copy once for one purpose, and delete the exports you no longer need.
Document by document
Not every card earns a place on your phone. Here is how official guidance treats the ones Canadians are asked for most.
| Document | A copy on your phone? | What the official source says |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian passport | The information page, locked away | IRCC: never give a photocopy unless you are sure it is going to a trusted organization or person |
| Driver’s licence | Front and back, if you share it | Privacy Commissioner: not a universal identity card, and the number is valuable to identity thieves |
| PR card | Yes, to watch the expiry date | IRCC: the valid card itself is needed to return by plane, bus, boat or train |
| Health card | Only if you use it for care | Ontario: only providers of provincially funded health services may require it |
| SIN card or letter | No | Service Canada: not an identity document; store it in a locked cabinet or safe |
Health cards differ by province. In Quebec, RAMQ treats lending, giving or selling your card as illegal use and lists a bar code next to the Health Insurance Number on the card, so a photo of it carries more than your name.
Three habits that do most of the work
Lock the device and the app. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recommends your phone’s automatic lock and password protection, prompt updates and a careful read of app permissions. Then put the documents behind a second lock; the comparison of built-in iPhone locks shows what each covers.
Limit what leaves. Each request gets its own copy for one recipient. Ask whether seeing the card is enough, watermark the copy and hide the numbers they do not need. The checklist for sending ID covers who can insist on what.
Clean up after. Delete exports from Downloads, Mail, chats and the photo library when the application is done, then empty Recently Deleted. Deleting your copies does not delete the ones you sent.
If a copy goes astray
IRCC says your risk is low while you still hold your travel document, proof of citizenship and supporting identity documents, but that a lost or stolen photocopy, or a scan sent to the wrong person, can put you at risk; contact the Passport Program if you suspect identity theft. For a licence or health card, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says to contact the issuing province or territory. And a lock is not a backup: copies synced through iCloud come back on a new iPhone, while a copy kept only on a lost phone does not.
How Dokus handles it
Dokus encrypts every document on the device, opens with Face ID or Touch ID and works offline, with no Dokus account or document server; optional sync uses your own iCloud. Screenshots of a document come out blank. Every sharing tool is free, and Dokus Plus removes the document limit and adds expiry reminders.
Safety questions
Is it safe to keep a photo of my health card on my phone?
Keep one only if you use it when getting care, and lock it. In Ontario, nobody outside provincially funded health services may require you to produce the card, so a copy has little use elsewhere.
Where should the original passport live?
IRCC suggests somewhere safe and dry, such as a filing cabinet, a personal safe or a bank safety deposit box. Keep a locked copy of the information page on your phone for reference.
Does Dokus remind me when my PR card expires?
Expiry reminders are part of Dokus Plus. Recording an expiry date on any document is free, and so are storage, iCloud sync and every sharing tool.
