U.S. Green Card Holders Exempt from eTA

Summary#

The final rule titled Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Electronic Travel Authorization) removes the requirement for United States Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) to have an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) when flying to Canada. The change took effect on April 26, 2022 and any eTAs issued only because of green card status were cancelled.

What it does#

• Exempts United States Lawful Permanent Residents from needing an eTA to travel to Canada by air.
• Invalidates existing eTAs that were issued solely because someone held U.S. lawful permanent resident status.
• Keeps the requirement that airlines must check proof of green card status before boarding, and that travellers will be examined by Canada Border Services Agency officers on arrival.
• Comes into force at 08:00:00 Eastern daylight time on April 26, 2022.
• Changes required IT and administrative updates by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Canada Border Services Agency to implement the exemption.

Who's affected#

• Primarily United States Lawful Permanent Residents who fly to Canada. About 140,000 such air travellers are estimated per year.
• Airlines, because they must continue to verify passengers’ green cards at boarding and may need small system or staff updates.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency, which handled the rule change and the system updates.
• The change does not affect U.S. citizens (who were already exempt) or people who need a regular visa to enter Canada.

Why it matters#

• For green card holders it removes the small hassle and cost of applying for an eTA (the eTA fee is $7) before flying to Canada.
• It aligns air travel rules for U.S. permanent residents with how they are already treated at land or sea crossings (where no eTA was required).
• The government expects this to be a low-risk change because green card holders have already been screened by U.S. immigration, and they make relatively few immigration claims in Canada.
• There are upfront government costs for implementation (estimated $1.8 million) and ongoing annual maintenance costs (about $240,756), but officials judged the change helpful to modernize the visitor-screening system.