Visitors come to Canada for a temporary stay. They include tourists, people visiting family in Canada, business travellers, students, and temporary workers. Visitors bring important economic, social and cultural benefits to Canada, contribute to global trade and cooperation, and promote international understanding.
In 1998, nearly 41 million foreign travellers visited Canada (Statistics Canada). Almost 90% of these visitors were citizens or residents of the United States.
Planning to visit Canada?
Most visitors need a valid passport, and many require visitor's visas.
Different requirements exist for citizens or permanent residents of the United States, St. Pierre and Miquelon and Greenland.
Visitors to Canada must satisfy an immigration officer that:
If you do not meet these criteria, you may be denied admission to Canada.
Usually visitors may stay for six months. If they wish to stay longer, they must apply for a visitor extension. Generally visitors are not allowed to work or study while in Canada without authorization.
Visitors to Canada are not eligible for provincial health coverage and are advised to obtain medical insurance for the period of their stay.
Visitor visas
Nationals of more than 130 countries need visitor visas to enter Canada. Nationals of 60 countries are exempt from the requirement for a visitor visa. In 1997, more than 650,000 visitor visas were issued. A visitor visa must be obtained at a Canadian mission abroad before coming to Canada.
Cost-recovery fees are charged to process applications for visitor visas, employment authorizations, student authorizations and so on. These processing fees are not refundable if an application is refused.
Applications must be submitted to the visa office, along with the appropriate fee and required documents, by mail or in person or dropped off. It is important to complete all the questions and indicate whether a single entry or multiple entry visa is required.
Visa officials may ask applicants to provide further documentation or to come for an interview.
Do you want to visit Canada?
Every year more than 37 million people visit Canada. Most are tourists but some are international students, temporary workers or entertainers. Others come for business or just pass through on their way to other countries.
If you want to visit Canada for a few days or several months, you must meet some important immigration requirements. This pamphlet will help you find out about these before you make final travel plans.
You must be healthy and law-abiding
To visit Canada:
Check with the nearest Canadian Embassy, High Commission or
Consulate
As soon as you have decided to visit Canada, call or visit the nearest Canadian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate to find out exactly what documents you will need, and how long it will take to receive them. There are more than 100 Canadian Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates and Missions throughout the world.
You must get any visa or authorization you need before you leave for Canada. If you want to work or study, apply early because it will take time to receive all the papers and certificates you will need (you may have to get some from Canada). A student or worker authorization can be processed in a matter of days or it can take up to six months, depending on how quickly you can provide the necessary supporting documents.
Before leaving home, you should also get a health insurance plan to pay for any hospital or medical services you may need while in Canada.
Have your papers ready when you arrive in Canada
When you arrive in Canada you will be examined by an immigration official.
You can help make the immigration interview as short as possible by answering all questions simply and honestly. You should have your passport and other documents ready and with you rather than in your luggage.
Check your visa or passport
Your passport or travel documents will be stamped to indicate how long you may stay in Canada.
Please check to make sure you understand when you will have to leave. If you have any questions about how long you can stay in Canada be sure to ask an immigration officer on your arrival or during your stay.
Under special circumstances you may be allowed to extend your
visit
You may have your period of authorized stay in Canada extended, or your conditions of entry changed.
For example, if you have come to visit family and wish to stay longer for a special reason, such as a wedding, you may be allowed to extend your stay. This is only possible if you apply at a Canada Immigration Centre before the end of your authorized stay. In order for us to process an application for a visitor extension we ordinarily require 15 working days. This means you should apply at least three weeks before the expiry date of your stay.
You are not normally allowed to change your status once you are in Canada. For example, a tourist cannot accept a job or become a student. People with authorizations to work in Canada must apply for new employment authorizations before they can change jobs.
You must follow the terms and conditions of your stay. All terms and conditions are specified on your student or employment authorization or your visitor record.
Enforcement of the Immigration Act
If the immigration officer believes that you may not respect your conditions of entry, you may be asked for a substantial cash deposit or other security to ensure that you will respect the terms of your entry.
If you give incomplete or false information and identification, you can be refused admission. If you do not respect your conditions of entry, work or attend courses without permission, stay longer than authorized, or threaten law and order in Canada, you may be removed from the country.
Depending on the seriousness of your offense, you could be barred from returning to Canada for varying periods of time.
The law protects you
Canada's immigration law protects the people who live in Canada and those who come to visit.
It welcomes everyone who comes for a valid reason, and it keeps out anyone who may threaten the peace and security of the country.
If upon arrival at a Canadian port of entry you are not allowed into Canada or are asked to leave, you have the right to an impartial hearing.
If you are outside Canada and would like information and advice on your visit, contact the nearest Canadian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate. In Canada, call or visit your local Canada Immigration Centre. Information and guidance is free of charge but certain fees do apply for
For processing fees, please see our brochure Fee schedule for immigration services or ask an immigration officer. There are no refunds for unsuccessful applicants.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Welcomes Foreign Students
Canadian academic institutions welcome students from around the world, who bring cultural enrichment to the educational scene in Canada. More than 90,000 international students were enrolled in Canadian institutions in 1997, not including students taking short-term English and French as second language courses.
Foreign students must meet certain immigration requirements to obtain an authorization to study in Canada.
They must:
In Canada education is a provincial responsibility and students at the primary and secondary school level should contact provincial education authorities for information on standards and requirements. Students interested in studying in Quebec will need approval from Quebec.
At the post-secondary level foreign student fees and other requirements vary depending on the institution. Individual institutions can provide details of fees, academic requirements and programs of study, as well as information on cost of living and health insurance. Students should ensure that the institution being considered is acceptable for purposes of a student authorization.
In some countries, Canada Education Centres, which operate in partnership with CIC and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, can provide assistance with finding and applying to member institutions. Many institutions attend education fairs in different countries.
Click here for an application for a student authorization in Adobe® Acrobat format.
CIC gives a high priority to processing student applications quickly and efficiently. Immigration officials are working with the academic community to reduce processing times and paperwork. Improvements include expedited medical procedures at some key posts and longer validity periods for student authorizations.
In 1997, more than 70% of student applications were finalized within one month, and 21%were processed the same day.
Working Temporarily in Canada
Overview
Unless you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, in order to work in Canada you must hold a valid employment authorization (EA). In 1998, CIC issued about 173,000 employment authorizations.
The federal government is committed to helping employers create job opportunities for Canadians. In addition to domestic efforts, this sometimes involves supporting the entry into Canada of foreign workers needed by employers to temporarily meet labour market shortages they are otherwise unable to fill. Working with our partners at Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is redesigning the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program to facilitate the entry of foreign workers who have obtained an offer of employment in Canada.
Except for specific situations (e.g. spouses of foreign students; refugee claimants awaiting determination of their claims), the foreign worker must have a job offer to temporarily work in Canada before he or she can apply for an employment authorization. The federal government does not help place foreign workers hoping to find a job in Canada.
The EA approval process involves both consideration of the job offer and consideration of the applicant.
The Employer's Role
Generally speaking, before an immigration officer can issue an employment authorization, he or she needs a labour market opinion from HRDC as to whether this would have a positive or negative effect on the Canadian labour market and economy. To form this opinion, the Human Resources Canada Centre (HRCC) closest to the location where the work will take place will work with the employer to examine the specifics of the job offer, ensure that the wages and working conditions offered are acceptable within the context of the Canadian labour market, and consider whether the job might easily be filled from within the domestic workforce. Once satisfied, the HRCC foreign worker counselor will communicate his or her opinion (called a "validation") to the CIC point of service where the worker is applying for the employment authorization.
Employers or industrial sectors which have needs for significant numbers of temporary foreign workers can work with HRDC and CIC to enter into agreements that will in effect validate a number of foreign workers under a single set of negotiations. If you are interested in this possibility, contact your local Human Resources Canada Centre and ask to speak to the Temporary Foreign Worker consultant.
Employers are responsible to review the employment authorizations held by foreign workers under their employ to ensure that the employment being performed falls within the terms and conditions listed on the EA.
If the worker is destined to work in the Province of Quebec, the employer must also work with the Quebec government to obtain a Certificat d'acceptation du Quebec (CAQ) before the employment authorization can be issued by CIC.
The Worker's Role
The temporary foreign worker must meet the usual requirements of a visitor to Canada, which vary with the country the worker is entering from. This includes medical and security concerns, and is set out under "Visiting Canada".
In addition, the applicant must satisfy the immigration officer of the following:
There is a non-refundable fee to process a request for an employment authorization.
Where a person can apply for an employment authorization varies with their status. Most foreign workers must get their employment authorizations before entering Canada, from a Mission Abroad. Residents of the United States, Greenland, or St. Pierre and Miquelon can apply for an EA at a Port of Entry, but they must produce their confirmation of their offer of employment (i.e. detailed job offer) and have other documentation needed by the immigration officer to make his or her decision when they arrive at the Port of Entry. Visitors to Canada cannot apply for employment authorizations while in Canada, with the exception of a husband or wife whose spouse has entered Canada with a valid EA and has accompanied that spouse into Canada.
Employment authorizations have specific terms and conditions listed on them, including the dates of the employment term, the location of the work, and a description of the job. If the worker does not abide by the terms and conditions set out in the EA, he or she could be asked to leave the country. The employment authorization is not a contract, and if the employer dismisses the foreign worker, he or she must return home. If some element of the worker's job is to change (e.g. extension of dates, change of duties, change of employer) the worker should apply for an amendment to the employment authorization. Working in Canada
In allowing the temporary entry of foreign workers into the country, the Government of Canada seeks to ensure that this activity is undertaken in a way that will encourage employers to participate in training initiatives and provide opportunities for Canadian workers and job-seekers. In almost all cases the worker cannot enter Canada without first obtaining an Employment Authorization (EA) from an immigration officer. The employer must work with federal officials from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) so that the HRDC foreign worker officer can provide an informed opinion to the immigration officer as to whether the issuance of the EA will likely have a net benefit for Canada and Canadians.
The Employer's Role
The first step in this process occurs when the employer decides to offer limited-term employment to someone who is neither a Canadian citizen nor permanent resident. It is expected that the employer will have first given due consideration to the possibility of hiring a Canadian citizen/permanent resident for the job. After the employer has made the job offer to the foreign worker, the employer will contact the Human Resources Canada Centre (HRCC) closest to the location where the work will take place. (HRCCs are listed in the "Blue Pages" of the telephone directory under "Government of Canada"). The foreign worker counselor at the HRCC will work with the employer to examine the specifics of the job offer, ensure that the wages and working conditions offered are acceptable within the context of the Canadian labour market, and consider whether the job might easily be filled from within the domestic workforce. The job description must be "genuine", rather than being purposely designed to make the job inaccessible to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Once satisfied, the HRCC foreign worker counselor will communicate his or her opinion (called a "validation") to the CIC point of service where the worker is applying for the employment authorization.
N.B. If the worker is destined to work in the Province of Quebec, the employer must also work with the Quebec government to obtain a Certificat d'acceptation du Quebec (CAQ) before the employment authorization can be issued by CIC. Contact the Ministere des Relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration office nearest you.
There may be cases where an employer or an industrial sector has done human resource planning and has determined that it faces a significant short-term need for numerous workers with key skills that are in short supply. In these cases, firm-specific or sectoral agreements can be entered into to provide for the "validation" of a number of workers within a single set of negotiations. These agreements are described in further detail below:
Firm-Specific Agreements
There may be situations where an employer knows that it is going to require a substantial number of foreign workers (e.g. due to plans for expansion or the introduction of a new product line). There might also be situations where an HRDC counselor notices a significant number of validation requests coming from one employer. Rather than address each request for a foreign worker individually, the employer might choose to approach the HRDC, or the counselor might decide to contact the employer, to discuss these needs comprehensively in the context of the employer's business plan and the skills profile of the domestic labour market.
The HRDC foreign worker officer will consider the requests for foreign workers as they relate to opportunities that will be created for Canadian workers, for skills transfers and other training opportunities, and for the net economic benefit and growth that will result. The foreign worker officer can also consider whether the firm is relying on foreign workers unduly (e.g. demonstrating a long-term reliance on foreign workers as a primary source of new hires, or employing foreign workers at wages that are unacceptably low by Canadian standards). If the officer concludes that the firm's plans will result in a net economic benefit to Canada, he or she will validate, as a block, the job offers for which the employer intends to use foreign workers. This validation will be evidenced by a written agreement between HRDC and the employer. The written agreement will set out both the jobs validated and the employer's undertakings relating to training and career development for staff and Canadian job seekers.
Examples of employers' undertakings would include:
Future utilization by the employer of the TFW program will take into account HRDC's experience with the firm and its compliance with prior agreements.
Sectoral Agreements
There might be situations where there are a number of employers in an industrial sector, facing the same skills shortage due to growth in that sector, demographic factors, or the introduction of a new technology. In cases where there are a small number of large employers dominating a sector, this situation might best be addressed by a series of firm-specific agreements or a multi-firm agreement. There may, however, be other cases where many small firms dominate the affected sector, where due to the number of firms or the lack of administrative capacity within those firms, the process of putting in place firm-specific agreements would be impractical. In this case, the preferred response might be to make agreements with key employers and/or other suitable representatives who can speak on behalf of the entire sector.
Sectoral representatives will typically initiate the process by approaching foreign worker officers to seek consideration under an agreement. An agreement could address a sector on a national basis, but it could just as easily be limited to a specific geographic region where limited mobility within an occupational labour market makes such limitation appropriate.
Net Economic Benefit
Net economic benefit can take many forms. For example, when foreign workers are needed to oversee the creation in Canada of a new or expanded facility they are familiar with, the increase in Canadian-based productive capacity is a net economic benefit. When a foreign worker with unique, leading edge skills is able to pass on these skills to the Canadian staff he or she is working alongside of, the transfer of skills to the domestic labour force is a net economic benefit. Similarly, when a foreign worker with a sophisticated skill set not easily found in Canada is able to serve as the team leader of a project that will also include many jobs for Canadian workers, these spin-off jobs represent a net economic benefit. These are just a few examples of a net economic benefit to Canada.
An employment authorization will not be issued in circumstances where the employment of the foreign worker could affect the settlement of a labour dispute or affect the employment of any person involved in such a dispute.
Once the foreign employee is in place at work, it is the employer's responsibility to examine the Employment Authorization document and to ensure that the conditions of work are consistent with the terms and conditions set out in the document.
The Worker's Role
It is the worker who must apply for and receive the employment authorization that allows him or her to work while in Canada.
The temporary foreign worker must meet the usual requirements of a visitor to Canada, which vary with the country the worker is entering from. This includes medical and security concerns, and is set out under "Visiting Canada".
In addition, the applicant must satisfy the immigration officer of the following:
Along with completing the application form, the worker will have to provide a copy of the job offer with all of the necessary information (such as job description, wages, location etc.). Evidence of educational or professional accreditation, such as diplomas and certificates, might also be required. There is a non-refundable fee to process a request for an employment authorization.
Where a person can apply for an employment authorization varies with their status. Most foreign workers must get their employment authorizations before entering Canada, from a Mission Abroad. Residents of the United States, Greenland, or St. Pierre and Miquelon can apply for an EA at a Port of Entry, but they must produce their confirmation of their offer of employment (i.e. detailed job offer) and have other documentation needed by the immigration officer to make his or her decision when they arrive at the Port of Entry. Visitors to Canada cannot apply for employment authorizations while in Canada, with the exception of a husband or wife whose spouse has entered Canada with a valid EA and has accompanied that spouse into Canada.
Employment authorizations have specific terms and conditions listed on them, including the dates of the employment term, the location of the work, and a description of the job. If the worker does not abide by the terms and conditions set out in the EA, he or she could be asked to leave the country. The employment authorization is not a contract, and if the employer dismisses the foreign worker, he or she must return home. If some element of the worker's job is to change (e.g. extension of dates, change of duties, change of employer) the worker should apply for an amendment to the employment authorization.
This is not a legal document. For precise legal information, consult the Immigration Act and Regulations.