What it is, and the two rules people get wrong
An authorisation is the cheap, fast counterpart to a visa, and its limits are the interesting part. It covers flying and nothing else, and for one group of travellers the position reverses depending on how they arrive.
| Visitor visa | Electronic travel authorisation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Visa required nationals | Visa exempt nationals |
| Modes of arrival covered | All of them, being air, car, train, bus and boat | Air only. Visa exempt travellers arriving by land or sea need neither in most cases, the published exception being travel by sea from Saint Pierre and Miquelon other than by cruise ship, which needs an authorisation to board |
| Fee | $100 per person, family maximum $500 | $7 |
| Validity of the document | Up to 10 years, never past the passport | Up to 5 years, never past the passport |
| Effect of biometrics | Separate from the visa. The Regulations end your authorised stay 10 years after the last day you gave biometrics, among other dates | Separate from the authorisation, on the same basis |
| A new passport | The old visa can still be used, carrying both passports | A new authorisation is required |
| Work or study | Neither authorises it | Neither authorises it |
| Guarantee of entry | No | No |
The two are connected, though more narrowly than is often said. If you already hold an authorisation and a visa is then refused on the ground that the officer was not satisfied you would leave, you become ineligible to hold that authorisation and it can be cancelled. Applying for an authorisation after a refusal is a different matter, and the department encourages refused applicants to apply, each case being assessed on its own.
The expanded list, and the trap inside it
Seventeen visa required nationalities can fly on an authorisation
Citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay may use an authorisation rather than a visa, on three cumulative conditions. They held a Canadian visitor visa in the past ten years, or currently hold a valid United States non immigrant visa. They are coming for a temporary stay of normally up to six months. And they are flying to or transiting a Canadian airport.
The trap is the mode of arrival. For this group the ordinary rule is reversed. Because they are visa required nationals, they need a visitor visa to arrive by car, bus, train or boat, including a cruise ship stopover even if they do not disembark, and including a cruise that leaves from and returns to Canada by way of somewhere else. An authorisation will not carry them.
Note also that having held an authorisation in the past ten years does not count. The condition is a previous visa, or a current United States non immigrant visa valid on the day you apply.
- Mexico moved to visa required on 29 February 2024. Mexican citizens now use the expanded route only when flying and only on those conditions. Authorisations already held on Mexican passports were cancelled unless tied to a valid work or study permit.
- The United States visa must be valid when you apply. Not necessarily when you travel, which is a useful distinction.
- Most approvals arrive within minutes, and some take days. The department publishes that most applicants get their approval by email within minutes, and that some requests can take several days to process if you are asked to submit supporting documents. We could not source any fixed period within which a document request is made, so do not plan on one.
- The list changes. It has changed twice in three years. We check it against the source at the time of travel rather than relying on what was true when a page was written.