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IMM 5669 (Schedule A): How to Fill Out the Background/Declaration Form for Canada

IMM 5669 is the Schedule A Background/Declaration form, the IRCC form that asks for your personal history with no gaps in time: education, activities, addresses, organizations, government positions and military service. It exists so an officer can account for every period of your adult life before approving permanent residence.

Hands methodically fill out IMM 5669, referencing a stack of sorted physical documents—a Canadian passport, a university degree, a lease agreement, and past contracts—on a wooden desk. A large computer monitor displays the digital IMM 5669 interface, showing Question 8: Personal History with a precise, gapless timeline of consecutive dates and activities. This detailed close-up photograph illustrates the meticulous attention required to build an unbroken history, complete with a pen poised to write and a coffee cup suggesting careful focus. Soft, natural light illuminates the organized workspace.

Who must complete IMM 5669

IRCC's official form page states that Schedule A must be completed by the principal applicant, by the spouse or common-law partner (whether or not they are coming to Canada), and by dependent children aged 18 or older (again, whether or not they are accompanying). For refugee protection claims made in Canada, only the family members included in the claim who are with you in Canada must complete this form.


Two versions exist: a digital version inside the Permanent Residence Portal and a PDF for paper applications. The instruction guide for your specific program tells you which one to use, so check that guide before you download anything.

What each section of the Schedule A form asks for

The form runs in a fixed order, and the last six questions are where files go wrong.

  • Question 1: Names exactly as they appear on your passport or identity document. No initials.

  • Question 2: Your name in your native script, if applicable.

  • Question 3: Date of birth. If part of it is genuinely unknown, IRCC's guidance is to use an asterisk for the unknown year, month or day.

  • Questions 4 and 5: Your father's and mother's details: names, dates of birth, town and country of birth, and date of death if it applies.

  • Question 6: The background questionnaire. Any "Yes" answer must be explained in the space provided.

  • Question 7: Education: years of formal education completed, and every secondary and post-secondary institution with dates, city, country, certificate issued and field of study. On the PDF, write "N/A" if no diploma was issued. In the portal, IRCC says to leave the certificate or diploma field blank instead.

  • Question 8: Personal history since your 18th birthday or the past 10 years, whichever is most recent, starting with the most recent. Working periods need a specific job title; non-working periods need an explanation such as unemployed, studying, travelling or retired.

  • Question 9: Membership in organizations, including political, social, student, trade union and professional bodies. If you have never been a member, IRCC does not want "not applicable". It asks you to write out the full sentence: "I have never been a member of an organization or association."

  • Question 10: Government positions held, with the country, the level of jurisdiction and the department. No abbreviations.

  • Question 11: Military or paramilitary service, with no gaps. Write "NONE" if there was none.

  • Question 12: Residential addresses since your 18th birthday or the past 10 years, whichever is most recent, with postal codes. No P.O. boxes.

Then the declaration. On paper you sign and date it, and IRCC states plainly that if you do not sign and date, your application will be returned to you. In the portal you type your full name into the signature field, which is your digital signature.

From Amir's desk: the two things that actually sink a Schedule A

In practice, almost every Schedule A problem I see comes down to one of two things.

The first is gaps. Applicants assume a three-month gap between finishing a job and starting a program is too small to matter, so they leave it out. It matters. The form is built to produce an unbroken timeline, and IRCC's own instructions warn that unaccounted time delays processing. An officer reading a file with a hole in it does not think "harmless." They think "what is not being said here," and now your file has a question attached to it.

The second is accuracy treated as approximate. People fill in a parent's date of birth from memory, round a start date, spell a former employer differently than they did on another form. Accuracy is the whole point of this document. In a family-class sponsorship appeal I reviewed (Yeboah, 2025 CanLII 143068), Schedule A forms were provided late and then contained multiple date errors, including a parent's birth and death dates entered wrongly and repeated across several children's forms. The application was refused for failing to provide the requested documents, and the errors on the forms became something the decision-maker had to weigh. The case was ultimately saved on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, but nobody should want their PR file to depend on that.


Did a gap or a small error on your paperwork cost you time with IRCC? Share what happened in the comments, keeping it general, since other applicants learn more from real timelines than from any checklist.

Working through your personal history and not sure whether a period counts as a gap? That is a 30-minute question. Ask Ansari Immigration's licensed RCIC directly ($80): book a consultation.


A top-down photograph shows a hand conducting a meticulous self-audit on a wooden desk, comparing data on a printed IMM 5669 PDF (specifically Question 6) with handwritten notes in an old notebook and a faint photocopy of a parent's old identity document. The index finger points precisely at a conflicting date entry between the form and the notes, capturing the critical importance of verification and the danger of approximate memory. Crumpled drafts and reading glasses sit nearby, illustrating the tension of self-review. Focused light highlights the paper discrepancies, and a blurred monitor displays a general data list.

Why IMM 5669 matters more than it looks

Schedule A is not an administrative formality. Under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a person who makes an application must answer truthfully all questions put to them for the purpose of the examination. The Act also makes a person inadmissible for misrepresentation where they directly or indirectly misrepresent or withhold material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of the Act. That inadmissibility lasts five years, running from the final determination of inadmissibility if it is made outside Canada, or from the date the removal order is enforced if it is made in Canada, and a person cannot apply for permanent resident status during that period.


That is the real gap between "I was not sure so I left it blank" and a properly completed form. If you cannot remember an address or an exact date, the correct move is to explain and document what you can, not to invent a tidy answer. This is the same discipline that governs the rest of a PR file, from the Express Entry e-APR through to landing as a permanent resident, and it is why the forms deserve more time than most applicants give them. If you want to see what an officer eventually wrote about your file, the GCMS notes will show you.

Frequently asked questions about IMM 5669

How do I fill out IMM 5669 correctly?

Work backwards from today, account for every month since your 18th birthday or the past 10 years (whichever is most recent), and use no abbreviations. Write "N/A" where a question does not apply, with two exceptions: question 9 requires the full sentence about never having been a member, and question 11 requires "NONE" if you had no military service. Then check every date against a document rather than your memory.


What if there is not enough space on the form?

IRCC's instructions say to attach a separate sheet of paper if you need more space. Do not compress or drop entries to make them fit.


What do I do about gaps or overlaps in my personal history?

Fill the gaps with what you were actually doing, including unemployment, travel or study. Overlaps are fine when they are true, for example working while studying. What is not acceptable is unaccounted time.


How do I sign IMM 5669?

On the PDF you sign and date the declaration by hand. In the Permanent Residence Portal you type your full name into the signature field, which is your digital signature.


What is the difference between IMM 5669 and eIMM 5669?

They are separate forms. IMM 5669 is the general Schedule A. The eIMM 5669 is the Schedule A used only when applying for refugee protection within Canada under Guide 5746. Use the one your program's instruction guide names.

Where do I download the IMM 5669 form?

From the official IRCC forms page only. Third-party sites host outdated versions of the form, and IRCC can return an application that is submitted on the wrong version. The PDF currently posted by IRCC is dated May 2021.

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Why work with Ansari Immigration: Flat, transparent fees quoted upfront. Every file is handled personally by the firm's licensed RCIC, regulated by CICC: all forms, IRCC correspondence and follow-ups included, with direct access to your consultant throughout. Practicing since 2019 with 6,000+ cases, so whatever your personal history looks like, it has crossed this desk before.

If a period of your history is hard to document, bring it to a $80, 30-minute consultation with Ansari Immigration and get it sorted before it reaches an officer: reserve a time. And if a question in this guide still leaves you unsure, ask it in the comments, keeping it general, since for advice on your specific case a consultation is the right place.

This article is for general information only. It is not legal advice. Program criteria, requirements, processing times, and selection approaches can change without notice. Always confirm details on official government websites or consult a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) for advice specific to your situation.

 
 
 
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