This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada staff. It is posted on the Department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
Air travel and border measures have been implemented to protect the health and safety of Canadians by restricting discretionary international travel. These instructions describe IRCC’s role in supporting the administration of these measures and provide guidance on applying some of the exemptions that are in place to facilitate necessary travel.
Important note: Regular travel document requirements for air travel and entry to Canada continue to apply. Foreign nationals who are exempted from the travel restrictions must continue to meet all travel document requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons continue to be permitted to enter Canada, subject to health screening measures.
On this page
- Travel restrictions affecting foreign nationals
- Travel for an optional or discretionary purpose
- Definition of immediate family members
- Travel restriction exemptions for those departing from a country other than the U.S.
- Immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents
- Family reunification
- International students
- Temporary workers
- Permanent resident visa holders
- Accredited officials
- Incoming accredited officials
- Protected persons
- National interest
- Transit passengers
- Crew members and foreign nationals entering Canada to become crew members
- Members of the Canadian Forces or a visiting force as defined in section 2 of the Visiting Forces Act and the immediate family members of those members
- Canadian citizens travelling on a foreign passport
Travel restrictions affecting foreign nationals
These restrictions have been implemented under the authority of the Minister of Health through emergency orders under the Quarantine Act and of the Minister of Transport through interim orders under the Aeronautics Act (the Orders). For more information on the Orders, visit List of Acts and Regulations.
Restrictions vary depending on from where the foreign national is departing. However, any COVID-19-symptomatic travellers will not be permitted to enter Canada. Note that regular immigration requirements and admissibility provisions must still be met for all travel and entry to Canada.
Departing from any country other than the United States
In the air mode, foreign nationals departing from any country other than the United States are prohibited from boarding an aircraft for a flight to Canada when
- they are not covered by any of the exemptions in the Orders (consult: Travel restriction exemptionsfor those Departing from a country other than the U.S.), or
- they are travelling for an optional and discretionary purpose
Departing from the United States
Foreign nationals departing from the United States are prohibited from entering Canada when
- they are travelling for an optional and discretionary purpose
Note: The optional/discretionary requirement does not apply to asymptomatic, immediate family members of Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents who can establish that they will enter Canada to be with their immediate family member and who intend to stay in Canada for a period of at least 15 days.
Regardless of whether the foreign national is departing the United States or any other country, all asymptomatic persons entering Canada must quarantine themselves.
Travel for an optional or discretionary purpose
The exemptions under the Orders do not apply to foreign nationals travelling for optional or discretionary purposes. The onus is on the foreign national to demonstrate the purpose of their travel.
For more information, consult: Non-optional and non-discretionary travel: COVID-19 program delivery
Definition of immediate family members
The definition of immediate family members set out in the Orders is broader than the definition of family members in subsection 1(3) of the IRPR (spouses and common-law partners, and their dependent children and any dependent children of their dependent children) and includes:
- parents or step-parents
- a parent’s or step-parent’s spouse or common-law partner
- a guardian or tutor
For additional information related to the interpretation of a dependent child, consult:
Guardians and tutors are individuals who are responsible for caring for a foreign national minor who is living apart from a parent for an extended period of time, for example to attend a secondary school in Canada. The guardian or tutor should be able to demonstrate that they habitually reside at the same address as the minor. Officers should be flexible in accepting documentary evidence.
Travel restriction exemptions for those departing from a country other than the U.S.
Immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents
A foreign national who is an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident is exempt from the travel restrictions and permitted to travel to Canada if they have the required documentation for travel. If the immediate family member of the Canadian Citizen or permanent resident’s stay in Canada will be 15 days or longer, they are to be considered to be travelling for a non-discretionary or non-optional purpose. In addition, officers should be flexible when processing immediate family members of Canadian Citizens and Permanent residents of Canada travelling for less than 15 days, if they are travelling for a non-discretionary or non-optional purpose.The Canadian citizen or permanent resident immediate family member may be in Canada or accompanying the foreign national.
Travellers are expected to self-identify to airlines at the point of boarding that they are exempt under this provision by presenting documentation to establish their family member’s Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status and their relationship to that family member.
Immediate family member is a child
Where the foreign national is a child, age and dependency determine whether they meet the family member definition under IRPR as a dependent child, and consequently whether they meet the immediate family member definition of the Orders. However, note that a foreign national who is an adult child of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and who is not eligible under this provision, may be exempt under the family reunification exemption.
Immediate family member is a parent
Where the foreign national is a parent, there is no requirement to establish dependency.
Recommended documentation for travel
Note: Immediate family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents do not require any written authorization from IRCC.
Documentation showing their immediate family member’s Canadian citizenship, or permanent resident status, such as a
- Canadian passport
- proof of Canadian citizenshipsuch as a citizenship certificate, citizenship card or provincial or territorial birth certificate
- Canadian permanent resident card
- Canadian permanent resident travel document (visa counterfoil)
- visa-exempt foreign passport and IRCC Special Authorization for Canadian Citizens (consult Canadian citizens travelling on a foreign passport)
Documentation showing their relationship to that family member, such as a
- marriage certificate or proof of common law status (documents showing a shared address or similar)
- birth certificate
- Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) for the family class (the COPR category under Application Details will be FC) or under the one-year window (coded OYW under Special Program)
- other document(s) supporting an immediate family connection (for example, correspondence from IRCC showing spousal sponsorship in progress or documentation indicating a common residential address)
Paper and electronic copies of the documents listed above are acceptable. Please note that the above are examples only. An officer may request or accept other documents as they deem necessary.
Role of IRCC
Air carriers who require assistance to confirm that a foreign national passenger is eligible for this exemption will communicate through established channels with Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Family reunification
The Orders also exempt foreign nationals whose travel to Canada is authorized in writing by an officer designated under subsection 6(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, for the purpose of reuniting immediate family members.
The expanded definition of immediate family member described above continues to apply.
In order for a foreign national to be eligible under this exemption, there must be 2 or more foreign nationals who are immediate family members of each other, and authorizing one or more of them to enter Canada must allow them to be reunited.
While the foreign national’s immediate family member must be a resident in Canada, that family member does not have to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
This means that a foreign national with an immediate family member temporarily residing in Canada as a worker, visitor, student or protected person, would be exempt under this provision if provided with written authorization.
An adult child of a person residing in Canada may be eligible under this exemption. This is because, while the child is not an immediate family member of the parent under the definition above, the parent is an immediate family member of the child.
Written authorization may be issued to facilitate family unity at the onset and allow for the whole family to travel together and establish residence in Canada. There is no requirement for the head of family (ex. a worker or student) to come to Canada first and the rest of the family travel at a later date with authorization letters to reunite in Canada.
Accompanying family members may be issued written authorization under this family reunification provision if they are not otherwise exempt under another exemption. However, their travel must still be non-optional and non-discretionary. Generally those accompanying family members seeking to establish themselves in Canada will be considered to be travelling for a non-discretionary purpose.
The objective of this exemption is to facilitate unity of immediate family members who have or would be separated as a result of these travel restrictions. Migration officers and case processing officers are to assess the circumstances surrounding the foreign national’s travel prior to authorizing in writing that the foreign national is exempt under this provision. As noted above, the officer must be satisfied that the foreign national is not travelling for an optional or discretionary purpose.
Recommended documentation for travel
Documentation showing their immediate family member’s temporary resident status and their relationship to that family member, and written authorization from IRCC:
- Copy of the immediate family member’s work permit, study permit, temporary resident permit, or visitor record (please note that a visitor record may not be suitable to meet an exemption in all circumstances)
- Relationship To Family Member
- Written authorization from an IRCC officer.
- IRCC will provide a letter to the foreign national to demonstrate to the airline that they are authorized to travel to Canada under this exemption. In situations where a foreign national arrives at a port of entry with an IRCC authorization letter for reuniting immediate family members, the purpose of travel will generally be considered non-discretionary as IRCC is only issuing such letters when travel is for a non-discretionary purpose. Foreign nationals must still continue to meet all regular eligibility and admissibility requirements for entry into Canada. As always, the final decision on admission to Canada is made by Border Services Officers at Canadian ports of entry, and in cases where new or conflicting information is provided at entry, Border Service Officers continue to apply their discretion.
Role of IRCC
Processing applications for temporary resident visas and electronic travel authorizations
While the travel restrictions are in effect, IRCC has temporarily changed how applications are processed. For information, please see:
- Ministerial Instructions with respect to the processing of certain new and existing applications for temporary residence
- Temporary residence: COVID-19 program delivery
International students
For information on the impact the Orders in Council have on international students consult: Study permit: COVID-19 program delivery
Temporary workers
For information on the impact the Orders in Council have on foreign workers, consult: Work permit: COVID-19 program delivery
Permanent resident visa holders
The Orders exempt foreign nationals who have been approved for permanent residence and who were eligible to travel to Canada to become landed permanent residents on or before March 18, 2020, the date on which the first interim order came into force.
Many of these foreign nationals had already made arrangements to settle in Canada before the travel restrictions were put in place. Facilitating their entry for the purposes of landing contributes to meeting immediate family reunification and labour market needs and reduces the accumulation of an inventory of approved permanent residents who will need to travel to Canada once restrictions are lifted.
These foreign nationals can self-identify to airlines at the point of boarding that they are exempt under this provision by presenting
- a permanent resident visa (nationals from visa-required countries only), or
- a COPR document (all foreign nationals)
For more information