Canada eTA 2026: Who Needs It, the CAN$7 Fee, and How to Apply

If you are one of the millions of visa-exempt travellers who can fly to Canada without a full visitor visa, there is still one piece of paperwork you cannot skip in 2026: the Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA). It is a small, cheap, digital permission that is electronically linked to your passport, and without an approved one an airline simply will not let you board your flight to Canada. The good news is that it costs only CAN$7, most applications are approved within minutes, and the whole thing is done online. The bad news is that a small industry of copycat websites exists purely to charge you many times that price for the same government form.

What the eTA actually is

Canada's official guidance puts it plainly: an eTA "is an entry requirement for visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to Canada by air." It is linked to the chip in your passport, so there is no sticker or stamp to collect — the airline scans your passport at check-in and confirms the authorization is there. With a valid eTA you can travel to Canada as often as you want for short stays, normally up to six months at a time. It does not, however, guarantee entry: when you land, a border services officer still checks your documents and decides whether you are admissible.

The one thing that trips people up: it is air travel only

This is the detail that catches travellers out. You need an eTA to fly to a Canadian airport. If you are a citizen of an eTA-required country arriving by car, bus, train or boat — including a cruise ship — you do not need one; you just need a valid passport. (The single odd exception is travelling by sea from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, which does require an eTA.) So a road trip across the US border works differently from a flight into Toronto or Vancouver.

Who needs an eTA — and who is exempt

Canada divides travellers into a few clear groups. The exemptions matter as much as the requirement, and one of them is very widely misunderstood, so read the green-card line carefully.

US citizens are exempt from the eTA requirement and simply carry proper identification such as a valid US passport. And here is the part people get wrong: US lawful permanent residents — green-card holders — are also exempt. Since 26 April 2022, they do not need an eTA for any method of travel to Canada. Instead they must show a valid passport from their country of nationality and a valid green card (or equivalent proof of status). If you hold a green card, you do not apply for an eTA — you travel on your passport and green card.

How the eTA compares with a visitor visa

An eTA is a lightweight digital authorization; a visitor visa is a much bigger process. You either need one or the other to visit Canada — not both. The eTA is applied for online in minutes, costs CAN$7, is tied to your passport chip and lasts up to five years. A visitor visa, by contrast, means a longer application, biometrics and a far higher fee, and is what you need if your nationality is not visa-exempt or if you are arriving overland from a visa-required country.

How to apply — the official way

1. Use only the official Government of Canada website. The application is a simple online form that takes a few minutes.
2. Have three things ready: a valid passport, a credit or debit card, and an email address.
3. Answer a short set of questions and pay the CAN$7 fee. You can only apply and pay for one person at a time.
4. Enter your passport number carefully. Use the number at the top of your passport photo page — the single most common mistake is a mistyped passport number, which will stop you flying.
5. Wait for the email. Most applicants are approved within minutes, but some requests take several days if supporting documents are needed. Apply before you book your flight, not the night before you leave.

What this means for Nepali travellers

One important note for readers at home: Nepali passport-holders are not in the visa-exempt group, so the CAN$7 eTA is not an option for a Nepali citizen. To visit Canada you need a full Canadian visitor visa, applied for through the visa process rather than the eTA form — a longer, more expensive route that requires biometrics. The eTA is the easy path for visa-exempt nationals; for Nepali passports, the visitor visa is the correct door.

If it is the mountains you are dreaming of rather than a Canadian city, that is a far simpler trip to plan. Nepal offers a tourist visa on arrival for most nationalities, and the trail to the world's highest places is closer than any eTA queue. When you are ready, our Everest Base Camp Trek and Annapurna Base Camp Trek are the two classic first Himalayan journeys. For the wider 2026 picture on electronic travel authorizations, our UK ETA 2026 guide and our 2026 entry-rule changes explainer break down how the UK, EU and US systems compare.

Cover photo: nappy via Pexels (Pexels License).