Find out what documents you need to enter Canada if you are not a citizen. Then learn about the locations you can go to while you are here.
U.S. citizens must have a current passport to fly to or transit through a Canadian airport. Americans traveling to Canada by car, bus, train, or boat must have valid identification and meet the country’s entry requirements. To board a flight from the United States to Canada, United States citizens who are also Canadian citizens must have both a valid Canadian passport and a valid U.S. passport or another travel document. Both your entry into Canada and departure from Canada are simple if you carry both documents.
A valid Alien Registration Card and a passport are both required for entry into Canada for permanent residents of the United States.
Canada Travel Restrictions Update
The COVID-19 border restrictions are over. All COVID-19 border requirements, such as vaccinations, the need to use ArriveCAN, any testing requirements, and any quarantine or isolation requirements, will be lifted as of October 1, 2022, for all visitors entering Canada by land, air, or sea.
The travel restrictions listed below continue to apply to the majority of travelers. The preceding modifications to the travel restrictions listed below provide context:
- As of August 9, 2021, if a person has proof of receiving all necessary vaccinations, they do not need to be traveling for a non-discretionary reason. Citizens and residents of the United States who are not fully immunized must still travel for non-discretionary reasons.
- All other foreign nationals do not have to travel for a non-discretionary reason as of September 7, 2021, as long as they can show proof of having received all necessary vaccinations. Foreign nationals without all the required vaccinations will still need to qualify for an exemption.
But beginning on January 15, 2022, unless otherwise exempt, all foreign nationals entering Canada must be fully immunized. Those who are unvaccinated and newly granted permanent residency, refugees, temporary foreign workers engaged in agriculture or food processing, asylum seekers, and some minors under the age of 18 are notable exclusions.
Canada to U.S. Travel Restrictions
Different entry requirements might be necessary when traveling with a temporary passport or an emergency travel document. Consult the nearest diplomatic mission to your destination before you depart.
- Foreign diplomats present in Canada
- Canadian ID cards
Although dual citizens are not legally required to have both a U.S. and a Canadian passport, having both as proof of citizenship may make entering and leaving the United States and Canada easier.
Typically, Canadian visitors don’t need a visa to stay in the United States for six months. Upon entering the United States, you must specify how long you plan to visit.
There are some exceptions, but for the most part, Canadian citizens can enter the United States from Canada without needing a visitor, business, transit, or other types of visa.
A non-immigrant visa may be required for Canadian permanent residents to enter
the U.S.
Before entering the country, you must obtain this visa from the American authorities. Additionally, it would help if you had a current passport from your nation of citizenship.
Canada Entry Requirements Covid
Due to Canadian travel restrictions, foreign nationals are discouraged from visiting Canada for “optional or discretionary” (i.e., non-essential) purposes during the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic. The entry of foreign nationals traveling to Canada from the United States and foreign nationals traveling to Canada from any other country were both subject to separate sets of travel restrictions that were put in place by parallel Orders-in-Council until relatively recently.
On October 1, 2022, Canada will remove its COVID-19 requirements and travel restrictions. The following are some of the factors that, according to the Canadian government’s news release, helped to facilitate this development:
- modeling showing that the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 wave’s peak has passed chiefly;
- high vaccination rates, low hospitalization and mortality rates in Canada; and
- the availability and application of booster shots.
All travelers (including Canadian citizens, Canadian permanent residents, and foreign nationals) will no longer be required to do the following as of October 1, 2022:
- demonstrate your COVID-19 vaccination status;
- demonstrate your COVID-19 vaccination status;
- Undergo pre- or post-arrival COVID-19 testing;
- abide by the COVID-19-related guidelines for self-quarantine and self-isolation; and
- Observe/report any COVID-19 symptoms or signs that appear after they arrive in Canada.
According to the news release, using ArriveCAN’s Advance Declaration reduces a traveler’s time spent at a kiosk by about one-third. Even though this statement is true, it is still targeted at how many travelers will still use ArriveCAN as of October 1, 2022. Naturally, suppose the Canada Border Services Agency also creates a separate inspection line for people who have completed an advance declaration before arriving (which should speed up the inspection process even more). In that case, this may encourage travelers to continue using ArriveCAN after it is made optional.
Can Unvaccinated People Travel to Canada?
On or after October 1, 2022, the following applies to all visitors entering Canada by air, land, or sea:
- There is no need for COVID-19 vaccination documentation.
- There is no requirement for COVID-19 pre-entry or arrival testing.
- Quarantine, after you enter Canada, is not required.
- Using ArriveCAN is optional. You can still use ArriveCAN to finish your advance CBSA declaration if you’re flying into Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, or Montréal-Trudeau international airports to save time upon arrival.
- Passengers on cruises are exempt from pre-boarding inspections.
- As usual, travel documentation is necessary.
- Health checks to board planes and trains are not required.
- It is not necessary to wear a mask on trains and airplanes. Wearing a high-quality, adequately fitted mask or respirator is highly advised.
You shouldn’t go to Canada if you have COVID-19 symptoms. When traveling to Canada or once there, if you feel ill or exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms, you should:
- Inform a border services officer, cruise staff, or flight attendant when you arrive.
A quarantine officer for a health evaluation and more guidance comes to your aid.
- Avoid taking public transportation.
- Consult your province or territory when determining what to do if you have COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test.
Does Canada permit unvaccinated visitors?
Can those who haven’t had their shots enter Canada?
You can enter Canada without a vaccination starting on October 1, 2022, as the travel ban has been called off.
Will Canada Require the Covid Vaccine
The U.S. continues to require travelers to have certain vaccinations, and some U.S. lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to relax the remaining restrictions.
Earlier this year, entry requirements for Covid dropped by several nations, including the U.K.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa against the Covid-19 mandates were held in support of truckers who refused to get immunized to cross the US-Canada border.
Numerous factors show that Canada has primarily passed the peak of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 fuelled wave, Canada’s high vaccination rates, and lower hospitalization and death rates. Availability and use of vaccine boosters (including new bivalent formulations), rapid tests, and treatments for COVID-19, as well as the availability of these factors, have made the removal of border controls possible.
Transport Canada is also getting rid of the current requirements for travel. Beginning on October 1, 2022, travelers won’t need to:
- Undergo health checks for travel on air and rail; or
- Wear masks on planes and trains.
Arrive Canada
Technology is being made available at the border by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to give visitors a more advanced and quick experience.
Presently, ArriveCAN provides the CBSA Advance Declaration feature. By sending their customs and immigration declaration to the CBSA beforehand, travelers can reduce wait times at a few Canadian international airports by using this optional feature.
New border-related features will become available in ArriveCAN over the coming months and years, improving the experience at the border.
Canada Border Crossing Requirements
Make sure you have valid identification on you, as well as for any minors or children who may be traveling with you. At the border, you must be able to prove that you have the legal right or authorization to enter Canada.
When traveling with a child, you ought to
- Carry copies of any custody agreements, including custody rights, if necessary
- Arrive in the exact vehicle as the child at the border
- Request a consent letter when: The other parent or legal guardian with whom you share custody of the minor is not accompanying you on this trip. You are not the minor’s parent or legal guardian.
Canada Travel Restrictions End Date
The press release states, “Factors indicate that Canada passed the peak of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 wave. Canada’s high vaccination rates, lower hospitalization and death rates, and the availability and use of vaccine boosters (including new bivalent formulation), rapid tests, and treatments for Covid-19” have made it easier to remove border controls.
Canada has reached the point where they can safely lift the sanitary measures at the border, largely thanks to Canadians who have rolled up their sleeves to get immunized. However, we expect Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses to continue circulating over the cold months. Canada encourages everyone to stay up-to-date with their Covid-19 vaccination, including booster doses, and exercise individual public health measures on their website.
