# Canada Visitor Visa or eTA

Visa rule, Canada. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/visa-ca-visitor/

## Summary

Most visitors can stay in Canada for up to 6 months on each visit, whether they enter with a visitor visa, an electronic travel authorization (eTA) or neither. The border officer can give a shorter or longer period, and then the date stamped in your passport or printed on your visitor record decides. If there is no stamp, you may stay 6 months from the day you entered or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. To stay longer you must apply for a visitor record before your status ends. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) run the rule.

- Limit: Up to 6 months for each visit, unless an officer sets another date
- Date that decides: The stamp in your passport or the expiry date on your visitor record
- A day counts when: You are in Canada for any part of it, starting with the arrival day
- Law: Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 183
- Run by: IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

## Who it applies to

- Tourists and family visitors who need a visitor visa, for example citizens of India, China, the Philippines and Nigeria.
- Visa-exempt travellers who fly to Canada with an eTA, such as citizens of the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia.
- US citizens, who need neither a visa nor an eTA but are still visitors with a limited stay.
- Parents and grandparents who stay for long periods with family in Canada.
- People who wait in Canada as visitors while they plan a later study, work or immigration application.

## The rule

A visitor is a temporary resident under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Section 183(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations sets the conditions for every temporary resident: you must leave Canada by the end of the period authorised for your stay, and you must not work or study unless you are authorised. Section 183(2) sets the period: it is six months, or any other period that an officer fixes.

The officer who fixes another period looks at your means of support in Canada, the period you asked for and the expiry date of your passport. So the 6 months are a default and not a promise. If the officer writes a date under the stamp in your passport, you must leave by that date. If the officer gives you a visitor record, a separate document, its expiry date is your deadline. If you used a primary inspection kiosk and got no stamp, IRCC says you can stay up to 6 months from your entry or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

A visitor visa and an eTA are travel documents. They let you travel to Canada and ask to enter. Their validity, often several years, says nothing about the length of one stay. Each time you arrive, the officer decides again whether you are a real visitor who will leave, and can fix a new period.

To stay longer you apply to IRCC for a visitor record before your current status expires. A visitor record is not a visa. Under section 183(5) and (6), if you applied in time and no decision has been made when your period ends, your stay is extended and you keep your status until the decision. If you stay past your date without applying, you lose your status.

Why it exists: Canada wants visitors, and it separates visiting from living, working and studying, which have their own permits. A default of six months is long enough for long family visits and winter or summer stays and gives one simple rule for millions of travellers. The power of the officer to fix another period lets the border fit the stay to the person, for example when a passport is about to expire or when the reason for the trip needs only a few weeks.

## Counting the days

You count the days of one visit, from the day you enter Canada to the date you must leave. Any part of a day in Canada is one day.

1. Look at your passport after you enter. If there is a stamp with a handwritten date, that date is your deadline.
2. If you received a visitor record, use the expiry date printed on it.
3. If there is no stamp and no visitor record, count 6 months forward from the day you entered.
4. Compare that date with the expiry date of your passport and take the earlier one.
5. Count the entry day as day 1 and leave on or before the deadline, or apply for a visitor record before it.

How Countr counts it: Countr counts any part of a day in Canada as one day and counts each visit on its own. The tracker starts at 181 days, the shortest possible 6 months, and you can set it up to 184 days. If the officer allowed a shorter stay, set the tracker to that number of days, because the stamp or visitor record decides. Countr does not know your passport expiry date or an approved extension. Countr only counts days the phone can see. If your photos or location history have large gaps, the app can show fewer days than you really stayed.

## Examples

### No stamp, six months

Lucas, a French citizen, lands in Montréal on 12 May 2026 with an eTA and passes a kiosk without a stamp. His passport is valid until 2031. He can stay up to 6 months from 12 May, which takes him to 12 November 2026. Countr's starting value of 181 days reaches the limit on 8 November, a few days earlier. He flies home on 30 October.

### The passport expires first

Mei arrives in Vancouver on 1 June 2026. She gets no stamp. Her passport expires on 15 September 2026. Six months from her entry would end on 1 December, but her stay ends when the passport expires, so her deadline is 15 September. From 1 June to 15 September is 107 days. She sets her tracker to 107 days.

### Applying to stay longer

Omar entered on 10 January 2026 and may stay until 10 July 2026. His daughter is expecting a baby in August, so he applies for a visitor record on 5 June. On 10 July there is still no decision. Because he applied before his status ended, his stay is extended under section 183(5) until IRCC decides. If IRCC approves, the new date on the visitor record is his deadline. If IRCC refuses, he must leave.

## Exceptions

- A super visa lets parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents stay for 5 years at a time.
- An officer can fix a period shorter or longer than 6 months at the border, based on your funds, your request and your passport.
- A stay cannot run past the expiry date of your passport when you entered without a stamp.
- A visitor record gives a new expiry date but does not guarantee that you can leave Canada and enter again.
- People with a study permit or a work permit are temporary residents with the dates on their permit, not the visitor default.

## Common misconceptions

- "My visitor visa is valid for 10 years, so I can stay for 10 years." No. The visa lets you travel to Canada many times while it is valid. Each stay is usually limited to 6 months, or to the date the officer fixes.
- "Canada lets visitors stay only 180 days in a year." The regulations set a period for each stay, not a yearly total. But the officer decides at each entry, and a person who spends most of the year in Canada can be given a short period or refused.
- "A day trip to the United States gives me a new 6 months for sure." No. When you come back, the officer makes a new decision. The officer can give 6 months, a shorter date or refuse entry if it looks as if you are living in Canada.
- "If I apply for an extension I can stay as long as it takes, whatever the result." Only if you applied before your status ended, and only until the decision. If the application is refused, the extended stay ends on the day of the decision.

## Questions and answers

### How long can I stay in Canada with an eTA?

Usually up to 6 months on each visit. The eTA itself only lets you board a flight to Canada. The officer at the border fixes the real length of your stay, and without a stamp it is 6 months or until your passport expires.

### How do I know my exact leave-by date if my passport was not stamped?

Count 6 months from the day you entered and compare it with your passport expiry date. The earlier date is your deadline. Keep your boarding pass or ticket as proof of the entry date.

### What happens if I stay in Canada one day too long?

You lose your temporary resident status on the day after your authorised period ends. You can no longer extend in the normal way and may have to apply to restore your status or leave. An overstay can also count against you in later applications.

### When should I apply for a visitor record?

Before your current status expires, and early enough to allow for processing. If you apply in time, you keep your status while you wait for the decision.

### Do US citizens have a limit on stays in Canada?

Yes. US citizens do not need a visa or an eTA, but they are visitors under the same regulations. The default stay is 6 months unless the officer fixes another period.

### Do my visitor days count for Canadian tax residence?

They can. Canadian tax law has its own test: a person who stays in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year can be treated as a resident for tax. That count is separate from your immigration stay.

## Sources

- [Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227), section 183](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/section-183.html)
- [IRCC, Extend your stay in Canada: about the visitor record](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/extend-stay/about.html)
- [IRCC, Visit Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada.html)
- [IRCC, Super visa for parents and grandparents](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/parent-grandparent-super-visa/about.html)

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Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800