Official source Checked 10 September 2026 EU or national government source. Source

No start date has been published and this page does not carry one. The launch status tracker is where launch timing lives.

The comparison that is close enough to mislead

Canada operates an Electronic Travel Authorisation of its own, so Canadians meet ETIAS already knowing what a pre-travel authorisation is. That is genuinely helpful for the shape of the thing. It is unhelpful for the details, because the two systems diverge on the two questions travellers actually care about: where it applies, and how long you can stay.

Point of comparisonETIAS, for Canadians visiting EuropeeTA, for visitors to Canada
Fee EUR 20 CAD 7
How long it lasts Three years, or until the travel document used in the application expires, whichever comes first. Up to five years, or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.
Which arrivals it covers Air, sea and land borders. Required for visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to Canada by air. Not required when arriving by car, bus, train or boat, including a cruise ship.
How long you may stay 90 days in any 180 day period, as a rolling total across every participating country. Short stays, normally up to six months at a time.

Official source Checked 10 September 2026 EU or national government source. Source

Each fee is in the currency its own government charges in. We do not restate one in the other, because that needs an exchange rate no government publishes and which is stale within days. The previous version of this page did restate it, and the figure it restated had already been superseded.

The two rows that matter most are the last two. A Canadian who has only ever thought about the eTA has learned that an authorisation is an air travel thing and that a visit runs to six months. Neither carries across. Driving from the United States into Germany is a land crossing that will be inside the European requirement, and the stay limit is not a per visit allowance at all.

The rolling window, which is the real planning constraint

The limit is 90 days in any 180 day period. It counts every day spent in any participating country, added together, inside a window that moves forward with each day rather than resetting on an anniversary or on departure. Three weeks in Portugal and three weeks in Italy are six weeks against one allowance, not three against each.

This bites hardest on the pattern Canadians are most likely to have: a long winter in the south of Europe. It is also the pattern that used to survive a hand-stamped passport and now does not, because the Entry/Exit System has been recording entries and exits digitally since 10 April 2026. Worked examples are on the 90 in 180 day rule.

Staying longer than the limit

Longer stays run on national long-stay visas and residence permits issued by individual countries, not on anything the EU issues centrally and not on an authorisation. Each country sets its own categories, income thresholds and processing times, and changes them without reference to anyone else.

We deliberately do not publish those thresholds. They belong to nine or ten different governments, they move, and a figure we cannot re-verify on a schedule is a figure that will be wrong here before it is wrong anywhere else. The consulate of the country you intend to live in is the source, and it is the only one that is answerable for the number.

Your passport

Your travel document should not expire in less than three months and it should not be older than 10 years.

Official source Checked 10 September 2026 EU or national government source. Source

Canadians can hold either a five year or a ten year passport, which makes the second condition worth an actual look rather than an assumption. A ten year document renewed at the last moment can sit very close to the line. The authorisation will also be tied to the document it is issued against, so a renewal ends it early regardless of how much of its own period is left.

Dual Canadian and EU nationals

Canada permits dual nationality, and a Canadian who also holds an EU passport travels on the EU passport. Free movement is a different legal basis: no authorisation, and the short-stay limit does not apply. The exemption follows the document presented at the border, not the entitlement in principle, so an unexercised claim to citizenship by descent does not help on the day.

Common questions

Does a cruise from Canada to Europe need one?

Sea arrivals will be inside the requirement, unlike the Canadian eTA, which excludes arrival by boat. One authorisation will cover every participating country the ship calls at.

Can I hold an authorisation and still be refused entry?

Yes, and the same is true of the Canadian eTA: an authorisation is permission to travel to the border, and admission is decided at the border. That is the one part of the analogy that does hold.

Do my children need their own?

Each traveller will need their own, tied to their own passport. The exemption for Applicants under 18 years or above 70 years of age at the time of the application. is an exemption from the fee and not from the requirement. Details are in the fee and who will be exempt.

Guides for other nationalities

Each of these covers the same requirement from a different starting point, because the comparison that makes it clear is different in each country.

Nationalities without a guide are listed in the data table on countries and territories. We would rather list a country once, accurately, than write a thin page about it.

Last verified 10 September 2026. How we verify