Visitor Visa (Temporary Resident Visa)

It depends on your citizenship. Travellers from visa-required countries need a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV); travellers from visa-exempt countries flying to Canada generally need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) instead.

The two are not interchangeable. An eTA is tied to a passport and is normally granted quickly, while a TRV is a full application with supporting documents. Permanent residents of Canada use their PR card rather than either one. Check your own nationality against IRCC’s current list before booking travel.

Most visitors are authorized to stay for six months, but the officer at the port of entry decides and can grant less.

The date that governs your stay is the one stamped or recorded on entry, not the expiry date printed on the visa. The visa controls when you may travel to Canada; the entry record controls how long you may remain. If no date is given, six months from the date of entry is the default. To stay longer you must apply for a visitor record before that date passes.

It means evidence that you have reasons to return: employment, property, business interests, studies, dependants or other commitments that continue after the trip.

This is the factor most often behind a refusal, because the officer must be satisfied you will leave at the end of your authorized stay. Vague assertions do not help. A letter confirming approved leave and a return date, proof of ongoing enrolment, or evidence of a business you operate all speak more clearly than a statement that you intend to return.

Yes. There is no waiting period and no limit on the number of applications, but reapplying without changing anything usually leads to the same outcome.

Start with the refusal letter, which identifies the general ground. The officer’s notes, obtainable through an access to information request, are far more specific and are often worth the wait before you reapply. A new application should address the actual concern with new evidence, not simply resubmit the original file.

Possibly, but a criminal record can make you inadmissible, and that is assessed against how the offence is classified under Canadian law rather than the law where it occurred.

Two routes exist. A Temporary Resident Permit can authorize entry despite inadmissibility where the need to enter is justified. Criminal rehabilitation is the longer-term fix and can generally be applied for once at least five years have passed since you completed the full sentence. Some people are deemed rehabilitated by the passage of time. Assess this before you travel, not at the border.

Sometimes, but it is not automatic and the rules have tightened.

Certain applicants can apply for a study or work permit from inside Canada, while others must apply from outside. Being physically present in Canada as a visitor does not by itself create eligibility. Because a failed change of status can leave you out of status, confirm which route applies to your situation before your current authorized stay runs down.