Canada eTA for Business Purposes

Updated: Jan 04, 2024 | Tags: Canada eTA for Business, Canada eTA Requirements

Business travelers can use the Canadian electronic travel authorization (eTA) for convenient entry into Canada. Business visitors will need to have citizenship for an eTA eligible country to be able to apply. The types of business activities an eTA can used for include exploring job vacancies, business-related research activities, consulting with business associates, traveling for a scientific, educational, professional or business convention or conference, negotiating a contract or settling the affairs of an estate.

Canada eTA for Business Purposes

Examples of using an eTA for business purposes

Example 1

You are a British Citizen and UK passport holder, want to settle the estate of your aunt who was a Canadian citizen and resident. You will be meeting with solicitors, estate agents, financial advisors or other professionals to deal with the affairs of your aunt. In this case, an eTA would be relevant.

Example 2

You are a Spanish passport holder; your employer is wanting you to meet and liaise with the Canadian team of your company and thus has planned a trip for you to meet and work with the team. In this situation, an eTA would be an eTA would be a relevant travel authorization.

Example 3

You are a Danish passport holder; you are planning to attend a conference relevant to the industry of your employer or your own personal interests. An eTA should be considered in this situation as well.

Other eTA Requirements

Travelers wishing to obtain an eTA for business purposes should review the eTA requirements before applying. The basic requirements for any traveler visiting Canada are as follows:

• Have a passport or other travel document
• Have no communicable diseases such as tuberculosis or syphilis, nor untreated conditions such as an alcohol or drug addiction or psychosis.
• Have no previous criminal history, and if so, be able to provide a spent conviction or clear Police certificate showing no criminal record
• Have no previous immigration issues such as visa refusals or border denials
• Demonstrate strong links to their home country, such links include employment contracts, mortgages, considerable financial assets such as bank accounts, or relatives.
• Demonstrate intention to leave Canada after the purposes of the visit have been fulfilled, examples include booking a return flight to your home country or other non-Canadian destination.
• Demonstrate sufficient funds to support the duration of visit within Canada, or demonstrate your employer is covering the costs of your visit. The duration and locations visited in Canada, as well as type of accommodation, will determine what amounts to being as a sufficient level of funds. For example, staying at a family or friends house for a one month visit in Toronto will require considerably less money than staying at a hotel in the city centre.

eTA refusals

If IRCC determines an applicant to not be eligible to receive an eTA, the eTA application will be refused. The most typical reasons for refusal are due to not responding to an IRCC GCKey request prior to the deadline, thus many refusals can be avoided as long as applicants monitor their emails for communication from IRCC. Applicants will receive notification of the refusal via email, as well as on the GCKey account dashboard for the relevant case file.

Reapply after an eTA refusal

Applicants who have been denied eTA can reapply if they feel the conditions of the refusal no longer apply, or they realize they have made a mistake on their application which may have resulted in the refusal. Applicants can clarify their circumstances on the subsequent application in regards to specific background questions which may have resulted in the initial refusal.

Appealing a refused eTA

eTA refusals can be appealed. To an appeal an eTA decision, an application would need to make a request to the Federal Court of Canada to review the case. An applicant would need to hire a Canadian Immigration lawyer to help initiate the process. The lawyer will then document the history of the applicant’s immigration history up until the point of receiving the eTA refusal, including any relevant communications between the applicant and IRCC. The Canadian immigration lawyer would request for a judicial review, which the Federal Court will review and decide upon. If the Federal Court decides on the applicant’s favour, the eTA refusal would be overturned.

Restrictions

Extending your stay or changing status – you may extend an eTA or apply to switch to a visa category while in Canada. To switch status in Canada, you can file a request to change your status.

Admissibility

An approved eTA does not guarantee admission into Canada for business purposes. IRCC has the authority to deny any eTA approved traveller entry into Canada. Denials at the border could be due to reasons such as failing to provide documents requested by border officials, such as a passport, or involvement in criminal, or terrorist activities. Furthermore, approved eTA applicants can be denied entry into Canada for posing health or financial risks.

Conclusion

Eligible travellers planning a business trip to Canada can gain entry into the country with an approved eTA. Once approved, an eTA is valid for five years upon issuance, or until the date of passport expiry (whichever comes first), and can be used for multiple visits, each lasting up to six months. There are only a few restrictions on the types of business activities that can performed on an eTA, thus it can be considered lenient to business visitors of Canada. Travelers are advised to review the eTA requirements for more information on obtaining an eTA.