Visa Exempt countries to visit Canada

Canada is one of the most popular countries in the world to visit, and especially during the summertime. It is a country known to have wonderful friendly people, multicultural cities and diverse landscapes. From the rain forests of Vancouver to the mountains of Calgary, the dynamic city of Toronto and the multicultural island of Montreal, it would be very hard to visit this country in a single trip.

In order to visit Canada however, you must first determine if you need a visitor visa to enter the country. Once you obtain a visitor visa to Canada, you can usually stay for a period of 6 months and visit any city within the country. If you want to keep visiting or extend your stay in Canada, we recommend applying for a work permit, a study permit or a multi-entry visitor visa.

The Canadian government is constantly updating the list of countries which do not require a visa to enter Canada.

Recently, the Canadian Government has announced that it will lift visa requirements for citizens of the United Arab Emirates, starting June 5, 2018 at 5:30 AM Eastern Time. Emirati citizens will no longer need a visa to travel to Canada for short stays such as business trips, family visits or tourism.

If you have a valid passport from one of the following countries, you do NOT require a visa in order to enter Canada:

• 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

• Brunei Darussalam

• Bulgaria

• Chile

• Croatia

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Denmark

• Estonia

• Finland

• France

• Germany

• Greece

• Hong Kong, 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

• Samoa

• San Marino

• Singapore

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Spain

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Taiwan

• United Arab Emirates (Starting June 5 at 5:30 am Eastern Time)

• United States (including green card holders)

• Vatican City State

However, visitors from visa-exempt countries will need an electronic travel authorization (ETA) in order to board their flights to Canada. The ETA costs 7 $ CAD and is valid for 5 years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

If you are wondering about the ETA, take a look at our blog post about it here.