About 5 million people visit Canada every year, to take advantage of the plentiful opportunities available in Canada. Potential visitors must meet certain requirements before planning to visit Canada, and these requirements may or may not differ depending on where an individual lives and the reason for their visit. In certain cases, those individuals that plan to prolong their stay in Canada or stay in Canada for a certain period of time they would need to acquire a Temporary Resident Visa.
Requirements
There are certain requirements that all potential visitors must fulfill:
1. Have a valid travel document, such as a passport;
2. Be in good health;
3. Must be able to satisfy an immigration officer, that you possess a job, home or have a family that will eventually require or take you back to your country of origin at the end of your visit;
4. Must be able to satisfy an immigration officer that at the end of visit to Canada, you will be leaving Canada;
When staying in Canada, a visitor must have sufficient amount of money, and the amount of money required will depend on how long a person plans to visit Canada and how much they will be spending on accommodations. For instance a visitor might decide to stay in a hotel or stay with friends or relatives.
In addition to the above requirements, certain visitors need to also satisfy the following requirements:
- Temporary Resident Visa (Which is dependent on if one’s country of origin and citizenship) – (Listed Below)
- A medical examination
- A letter of invitation from a person who lives in Canada.
Visa-exempt (eTA eligible) travellers
The following travellers need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to board their flight to Canada. However, these travellers do not need an eTA if entering by land or sea – for instance driving from the U.S. or coming by bus, train, or boat, including cruise ship.
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belgium
- British citizen
- British National (Overseas)
- British overseas citizen (re-admissible to the United Kingdom)
- British overseas territory citizen with citizenship through birth, descent, naturalization or registration in one of the British overseas territories of:
- Anguilla
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Gibraltar
- Montserrat
- Pitcairn Island
- Saint Helena
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- British Subject with a right of abode in the United Kingdom
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Chile
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, must have a passport issued by Hong Kong SAR.
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel, must have a national Israeli passport
- Italy
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania (electronic passport holders only)
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan, must have an ordinary passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes the personal identification number
- United Arab Emirates
- Vatican City State, must have a passport or travel document issued by the Vatican.
eTA exemptions
Foreign nationals with official Canadian documents
- Travellers with a valid Canadian visa.
- Travellers with valid status in Canada (e.g. visitor, student or worker) who re-enters Canada after only visiting the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Foreign nationals in the following situations
- French citizens who live in Saint Pierre and Miquelon and are flying directly to Canada from St. Pierre and Miquelon.
- Foreign nationals who are passengers destined to, or coming from, the United States on a flight that stops in Canada solely to refuel and
- have proper documents to enter the United States, or
- were lawfully admitted to the United States.
- Foreign nationals who are passengers on a flight that makes an unscheduled stop in Canada.
- Foreign nationals who transit through a Canadian airport under the Transit Without Visaor China Transit Program.
Travel and official representatives
- Flight crew, civil aviation inspectors, accident investigators who are or will be working while in Canada.
- Members of Armed Forces (not including the civilian component of an armed forces) of a country designated under the Visiting Forces Actcoming to Canada to carry out official duties.
- Diplomats accredited by the Government of Canada.
Visa-required travellers
The following travellers need a visa to come to Canada by any method of travel – plane, car, bus, train, or cruise ship.
Note: Holders of Alien’s passport and Stateless individuals need a visa to visit or transit Canada.
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil (note: some Brazilian citizens may be eligible for an eTA if they meet certain requirements)
- Burkina Faso
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon, Republic of
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China, People’s Republic of
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Congo, Republic of
- Costa Rica, Republic of
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- East Timor
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel, must have a valid Israeli “Travel Document in lieu of National Passport”
- Ivory Coast
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea, North
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Macao Special Administrative Region
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives Islands
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia, Fed. States
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestinian Authority
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Romania (holder of a non-electronic passport, such as a temporary passport)
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Sao Tomé e Principe
- Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Kitts and Nevis
- Lucia
- Vincent and the Grenadines (St. Vincent)
- Sudan
- Surinam
- Swaziland
- Syria
- Taiwan, must have a passports other than ordinary passports issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includetheir personal identification number
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe