Entry requirements by country
Citizens of certain countries and territories need a visa to visit or transit Canada. Others need an eTA.
Starting March 15, 2016, visa-exempt foreign nationals who fly to or transit through Canada will need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA). Exceptions include U.S. citizens and travellers with a valid visa. Read about the changes and how they may affect you.
If you travel before March 15, 2016, you do not need an eTA but you can still apply for one. For now, make sure you travel with acceptable travel documents and identification, such as a valid passport.
- Countries and territories whose citizens need a visa to travel to Canada
- Countries and territories whose citizens need an eTA to travel to Canada
- eTA Exemptions
Countries and territories whose citizens need a visa to travel to Canada
Note: Holders of Alien’s passport and Stateless individuals need a visa to visit or transit in Canada.
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- 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 - holders of 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
- Mexico
- 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
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Sao Tomé e Principe
- Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines (St. Vincent)
- Sudan
- Surinam
- Swaziland
- Syria
- Taiwan – Note: Taiwanese citizens who hold a passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan thatdoes not include their personal identification number need a visa to come to Canada. Taiwanese citizens who hold a passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes their personal identification number need an eTA to come to Canada.
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Countries and territories whose citizens need an eTA to travel to Canada
Foreign nationals from the following countries will need an eTA before boarding their flight to Canada as of March 15, 2016:
- Andorra
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belgium
- British citizen
- British overseas citizen who is re-admissible to the United Kingdom
- British overseas territory citizen who derives that citizenship through birth, descent, naturalization or registration in one of the British overseas territories of:
- Anguilla
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Falkland Islands
- Gibraltar
- Montserrat
- Pitcairn Island
- Saint Helena
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Brunei Darussalam
- Chile
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Federal Republic of Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Portugal
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Other foreign nationals who need an eTA to travel to Canada
The following foreign nationals will need an eTA before boarding their flight to Canada as of March 15, 2016:
- Persons who have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (United States Permanent Residents).
- Holder of a passport or travel document issued by the Holy See.
- Holder of a national Israeli passport.
- Holder of a passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
- Holder of a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British National (Overseas), as a person born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong.
- Holder of a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British Subject which contains the observation that the holder has the right of abode in the United Kingdom.
- Holder of an ordinary passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes the personal identification number of the individual. Note: Taiwanese citizens who hold a passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that does not include their personal identification number need a visa to come to Canada.
eTA Exemptions
The following foreign nationals will be exempt from the eTA requirement:
- Nationals of the United States.
- Her Majesty the Queen of Canada and any member of the Royal Family
- Citizens of France who are residents of St. Pierre and Miquelon who seek to enter Canada directly from St. Pierre and Miquelon.
- Visitors, students and workers, who seek to re-enter Canada after solely visiting either the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, providing that they return to Canada by the end of the period initially authorized for their stay or any extension to it.
- Foreign nationals who are passengers on a flight stopping in Canada for the sole purpose of refuelling and
- possess proper documents to enter the United States and their flight is bound for that country, or
- They were lawfully admitted to the United States and their flight originated in that country.
- Foreign nationals who are passengers on a flight that, owing to an emergency or other unforeseen circumstances, makes an unscheduled stop in Canada.
- Foreign nationals seeking to transit through Canada under Transit Without Visa or China Transit Program.
- Foreign nationals who hold a passport that contains a diplomatic acceptance, a consular acceptance or an official acceptance issued by the Chief of Protocol for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on behalf of the Government of Canada and are properly accredited diplomats, consular officers, representatives or officials of a country other than Canada, of the United Nations or any of its agencies, or of any international organization of which Canada is a member.
- Foreign nationals seeking to enter and remain in Canada solely:
- As a crew member of a means of transportation that may be used for transportation by air or to become a member of such a crew; or
- To transit through Canada after working, or to work, as a crew member of a means of transportation that may be used for transportation by air, if they possess a ticket for departure from Canada within 24 hours after their arrival in Canada.
- Foreign nationals seeking to enter and remain in Canada solely to carry out official duties as a member of the armed forces of a country that is a designated state for the purposes of the Visiting Forces Act, unless they have been designated under that Act as a civilian component of those armed forces.
- Foreign nationals seeking to enter and remain in Canada solely to conduct inspections of the flight operation procedures or cabin safety of a commercial air carrier operating international flights, if they are a civil aviation inspector of a national aeronautical authority and possess valid documentation to that effect.
- Foreign nationals seeking to enter and remain in Canada solely to participate as an accredited representative or as an adviser to an aviation accident or incident investigation conducted under the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act, if they possess valid documentation to that effect.
