Visiting Canada: Do I Need a Tourist Visa? How do I Acquire One?

The nature, the views, the food and the people are all magnificent here! There’s incredible activities in every season and weather. Why wouldn't you want to come visit Canada?

Many countries are required to have a Visa to enter Canada. Before visiting Canada you should keep in mind what type of visa you need or if a tourist visa will be enough.

It is the most common way to make your trip and get to know the country, and many choose to change their immigration status while in Canada as a tourist (if a more permanent stay interests you, check out our blog about immigrating to Canada).

Coming to Canada as a tourist does not allow you to work or study and you can only be in the country for a maximum of 6 months or the time that the immigration agent stamps your passport upon entering the country. Some countries such as Mexico or some European countries are exempt from this visa and only need to get a permit visa called ETA that can be processed quickly from the Canadian website.

To apply for a tourist visa, you need to do it directly on the Canadian website and it does not require a face-to-face appointment. Everything is done through your online application, filling out the forms.

In this link, you will find all the necessary information according to your country of residence to apply for this visa.

Some things to keep in mind while applying for a tourist visa are:

• You need to be able to demonstrate that you have strong ties for which you will return to your home country after your trip, such as a job, studies, business or family responsibilities.

• You will need to prove that you have the financial capacity to pay for your trip and all the expenses incurred.

• An invitation letter from a citizen or permanent resident can be helpful.

As we’ve mentioned before in our blogs, Canada’s website is quite resourceful and easy to navigate so you will encounter a rather straightforward process, and you will most likely have no need to hire any third party companies (which can sometimes be unreliable and expensive).

Once you are in Canada, make sure to circle back to our blog to check out some activities to do here!