Do I Need a Visa to Go to Canada?

There are many people who want to go to Canada for various reasons since it is a highly developed country, but they usually ask themselves “Do I need a visa to go to Canada?” or “What do I need to go to Canada?”

Most people will need a Canadian visa which grants them entry, although there are nationals of countries which will only need an Electronic Travel Authorization for Canada, or they are completely exempt and can enter freely with their passports without needing a visa.

This article will go through the details and answer the question of who needs a visa to go to Canada.

What Determines if You Need a Visa for Canada?

There are different factors which influence if you need a visa for Canada or not. When you ask yourself do I need a visa for Canada, you must take these aspects into account:

• What type of travel document you will travel with (passport, national identification document, driver’s license, etc.).
• The country that issued that travel document.
• Your nationality.
• How you will travel to Canada (air, sea, or land).

In terms of the travel document, it is best to travel to Canada with a passport, and depending on the country that issued it, you can decide how to travel. The sections below will cover the countries which need a Canadian visa, those that only need a travel authorization, and the groups of people who are visa exempt.

Which Countries Need a Canada visa?

There are around 148 countries which need a visa to enter Canada. The nationals of these countries will have to go through the process of applying for a visa depending on their reason for wanting to visit the country. They can get different types of visas such as those for visiting, studying, working, or even immigrating. The countries in the table below will need a visa to enter 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)
British subjects, subject to control	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	North 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 include their 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

Which Countries Need a Canada eTA?

Some countries have more freedom of movement around the world and so they might not need a visa to enter Canada. They will however need an Electronic travel authorization.

With the development of technology, Canada has developed this system electronically. This means that the applicants will only need to enter their personal information and the system will evaluate whether they are allowed to go to Canada based on data it gets across different databases.

The nationals of these countries will only need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) if they are going to Canada by airplane. If they are not flying to Canada but will enter by land or sea, then they do not need an eTA so they can enter with only their passports.

Which Countries Do Not Need a Visa for Canada?

Finally, besides countries who need a visa and those that need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), there are instances when some people might not need either one.

These are groups which are Canadian visa exempt:

• Those who have a valid Canada visa from a previous application;
• Those who have a valid status in Canada and have left Canada to visit the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon;
• French citizens that live in Saint Pierre and Miquelon who are flying directly to Canada from Saint Pierre and Miquelon;
• Foreigners who are going to or coming from the United States on a flight that has to stop in Canada to refuel, who have:
  • Valid documents that allow them to enter the United States;
  • Have been lawfully admitted to the United States;
• Foreigners who are on a flight that has to make an unscheduled stop in Canada;
• Foreigners who are transiting through a Canadian airport and are allowed to transit without a visa or are part of the China Transit Program;
• Flight crews, accident investigators, or civil aviation inspectors who are or will be working while they are in Canada;
• Members of the Armed Forces (excluding civilian components of the armed forces) belonging to a country that is part of the Visiting Forces Act, who are coming to Canada on official duties and responsibilities;
• Diplomats who are accredited by the Government of Canada;