Why We Want To Travel To Canada – And Why We Need An eTA

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Canada is somewhere I have always wanted to visit and it just so happens Steve wants to travel there too. He has previously been to Canada but when he was a toddler so would like to go and experience it as an adult. To travel to Canada though, you need something called an eTA which is a mandatory travel permit to travel to Canada without a visa. 

Steve’s grandfather was actually Canadian so he is keen to head back to the country and explore his heritage. Whilst Steve’s father could potentially claim citizenship, Steve can’t – and since we are considering moving out there in the future, we definitely want to head over and take a look around before making any firm and final decisions.

This, of course, requires spending some time in the country and getting a feel for it – seeing if it is somewhere we want to move the whole family to in the future and whether it will be both financially viable and suitable for all of us. But this means we will need the right documentation, such as an eTA.

An eTA Canada is an electronic travel authorization which is an electronic permit to travel into Canada by plane. It is easy to complete online and takes a mere matter of minutes whilst also being very affordable. It can be done 24 hours a day – even during the weekend and the holidays. Once approved, it is linked to the passport with which the authorization is applied for.

A Canada eTA  is valid for five years after it is granted. However, if the passport expires earlier than this, then the validity of the eTA expires too and a new application will need to be made. With an eTA, you can make an unlimited number of trips during the validity of this travel permit however each visit can only last a maximum of six months before you need to leave. Just like passports need to be valid for a certain time after you get back from holiday, your passport is required to be valid for at least one day after you leave Canada for your authorization to be valid. Your trip has to have either a business or tourist purpose too – visiting friends and family falls under this which is great as Steve’s parent’s friend lives in Canada so we’d be able to visit her.

But why do we want to travel to Canada? I’ve mentioned before that we are considering moving to the country in the future and would like to get a feel for the place but even if we don’t end up moving there, I’d love the opportunity to be a tourist in the country. It is such a vast wide open space and there is so much to see and do – so many landmarks I’d like to visit, so much I’d like to explore. Steve would also love the opportunity to see his friends and family that live over there – he hasn’t seen them for many many years since they moved out there.

Having visited the country when he was a toddler, he doesn’t have many memories of what he did and what he saw. As Olivia is of a similar age to what he was when he last visited, it might be worth waiting until next year to visit so she actually has some recollection of what we get up to. I’d love to visit some of the national parks and the mountains Canada has to offer – from what I’ve seen they look absolutely beautiful and I would love to see them in person. 

Of course two of the most popular landmarks in the country that I absolutely have to visit when I get there are the CN Tower and Niagara Falls. They are only an hour and a bit apart by car so you’d easily be able to visit both within a day. There are certain places in the world everyone should visit in their lifetime and these are definitely two of them,

I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to visit Canada but I hope to in the next couple of years. Now I know exactly what paperwork we will need to travel there, travelling should be a fairly easy process.

Have you ever been to Canada?