All about Canada entry requirements: be ready for your trip

by Catherine Carey | April 6, 2023

Canada is one of the countries with some of the most majestic landscapes in the world. There is Niagara Falls, The Moraine Lake, the CN Tower and the Casa Loma castle in Toronto, the Canadian Wild West with the city of Calgary, and many other things to do in Canada.

All of these things are waiting to be explored by you, pack your bags with all the necessary documents, learn about some travel tips for Canada and be ready to be amazed by the second largest country in the world and the second best country to live in.

Requirements to visit Canada

Passport

You will need to show a valid passport in order to be identified and allowed to enter Canada. This a mandatory Canada entry requirement for everybody.

Visa

If you want to travel to Canada depending on your nationality, duration and motive of your trip, you will need a Visa.

Nevertheless, the Government of Canada has exempted a lot of nationalities from requiring a visa, instead they must need to get an ETA Canada, an Electronic Travel Authorization. They will be exempted from getting a visa if they are travelling to Canada for tourism purposes and stay less than 6 months, but must have an ETA.

This is a mandatory document similar to a visa, but can be fully processed online. You will simply need to fill in a form. With Visagov.com you can forget about going to consulates or embassies or having any problems during the process of applying for your ETA for Canada. Complete the online form, add any documents and wait for your ETA to arrive in your email.

Check your nationality to find out if you are eligible for the ETA or if you will need to apply for a Visitor Visa. There are more than 50 countries eligible to apply for the Canadian ETA.

If your trip is for longer than six months or you want to work, study, undergo a medical procedure or any other reason, you will need to get another visa to enter the country. You can get more information about other types of visas and how to get a visa for Canada with our guide.

Travel insurance

Having travel insurance is not a mandatory requirement to enter Canada. Yes, there are certain cases where travel visa applicants need to provide proof of medical insurance coverage for their entire stay in Canada, but, in general, visitors are not required to have travel insurance upon entry in Canada.

Nevertheless, we recommend you to take out a travel coverage policy in case anything happens during your trip to Canada. If something were to happen, in Canada the cost of medical treatment can be expensive, so having travel insurance will reduce the amount of these costs.

Currency

Canada currency is the Canadian dollar and its symbol is C$. If you travel to that country, you will see that bills of 1,000; 100; 50; 20; 10 and 5 dollars are used. The coins are 1 and 2 dollars and 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents.

Cash can be exchanged at the exchange offices in central areas of cities and airports. There are a lot of ATMs that you can find in bank offices, shopping centres, hotels and service stations. You can check the official page of the Bank of Canada to see up-to-date exchange rates.

All about Canada entry requirements and Canadian banknotes and coins

Vaccines, health and Covid-19 restrictions

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and other vaccines is not required. However, there are recommended vaccines for when you travel internationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these: