IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Temporary Immigration: How Visitors Come to Canada

Context

Canada welcomes millions of legitimate visitors each year who support our travel and tourism industry from coast to coast, with almost 5.6 million visitor applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2025.^{Table Footnote 1}

Recent years have seen a record volume of requests to visit Canada. International tourism generated approximately $25.3 billion in the first three fiscal quarters of 2025.^{Table Footnote 2} Visitor application volumes are projected at 5.8 million in 2026; and decreasing slightly to almost 5.5 million in 2027.

Ultimately, Canada seeks to facilitate travel for genuine visitors who spend money in the Canadian economy and contribute to jobs in the tourism industry, without compromising the safety of Canadians or the integrity of publicly-funded programming. Canada screens visitors in different ways. Screening allows us to confirm a traveller’s identity and validate the reason they are travelling to Canada, as well as their ability and intention to leave at the end of their stay.

Background

• Aside from United States (U.S.) citizens and U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, visitors are screened before they travel to Canada; the level of screening corresponds to the level of risk a visitor is deemed to pose, and is determined largely (but not solely) by nationality. U.S. citizens and U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents are screened upon arrival at a Canadian port of entry.
• For many cases, a visitor’s intention to travel to Canada is assessed by an officer through the evaluation of key indicators, such as travel history, family ties to their home country, and employment.
• All visitors are assessed for admissibility to Canada (health, security, criminality). Risk screening for millions of visitors is supported by information-sharing with key allies.

Impacts

• When risks and benefits are appropriately calibrated, the impacts of visitors are documented in the form of tourism revenue, cultural contributions, and the absence of this population in negative outcomes, such as non-genuine asylum claims, crime in Canada, unauthorized work/study, and illegal entry into the U.S.
• The number of asylum claims from visitors has risen significantly in recent years—increasing processing costs, adding to backlogs at the Immigration and Refugee Board, and impacting the overall sustainability of the in-Canada asylum system.
• The main source of illegal entries into the U.S. from the northern border stems from visitors in Canada crossing this shared land border. [Redacted]. A 98% decrease in attempted illegal entries into the U.S. has been recorded since June 2024.
• With millions of visitors permitted by IRCC to travel to Canada each year in a volatile global environment (e.g., conflicts, poverty), negative impacts are inevitable. However, the key is to minimize them in all possible ways, and to avoid any adverse outcomes that flow from facilitative screening, i.e., measures that are within Canada’s control.

Current Program

Visitor Screening

• Visitor screening is Canada’s first opportunity to interact with, identify and screen travellers before they arrive on Canadian soil.
  • Pre-travel screening aims to reduce risks while foreign nationals are still abroad, to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians.
  • Visitor screening aims to ensure that only genuine visitors (i.e., intend to only stay for their authorized temporary period), those who can support themselves during their stay, and who are admissible to Canada are issued visas to travel to Canada.
  • All inadmissibility assessments require a case-by-case analysis based on the facts of the case and the evidence before the decision maker.
  • Cases may be referred for comprehensive screening by the Canada Border Services Agency and/or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
• Like Canada’s allies, and by law, a visa requirement is the rule, not the exception. For over 20 years, Canada’s Visa Policy Framework has guided decisions regarding which foreign nationals may travel to Canada without a visa. Those who do not require a visa instead must apply for a lighter-touch Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA). Canada has the unique ability to fully or partially lift the visa requirement on a country’s citizens.
• Over 40 criteria are used to assess risks (such as threats to public safety) and benefits (such as tourism) of lifting or imposing a visa requirement, including:
  • safety and security concerns;
  • passport integrity and identity management;
  • bilateral benefits; and
  • migration trends (e.g., asylum claims, immigration violations such as unauthorized work or study).
• Visa applicants undergo a thorough assessment of their intent and personal circumstances. They enroll their biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) to confirm identity and this information is shared with allies.
• Foreign nationals who are visa-exempt and flying to or through Canada apply online for an eTA, a fully digital and automated lighter-touch pre-travel screening tool that screens for known adverse information and does not require client biometrics. It presumes that clients are genuine in their intent to come to Canada. The Migration Five (M5) all operate their version of the eTA for their visa-exempt populations.

Overview: Temporary Resident Visa (TRV)

• Application: Collects comprehensive details including core identity attributes such as name, date of birth, place of birth, and biometrics, as well as other personal details (such as immigration status, marital status, travel history, family history, work/education history, etc.), purpose of the visit to Canada and supporting documents.
• Screening: Requires biometrics; includes an assessment of a traveller’s intent. [Redacted].
• Review: Manual review by officer; passport submitted by the client for physical inspection; TRV counterfoil physically placed into passport upon visa approval.
• Validity: Maximum of 10 years [Redacted] single or multiple entries [Redacted].
• Fee: $100 + $85 biometric fee.
• China and India are the top visa-required source countries.

Overview: Electronic Travel Authorization

• Application: Fully digital; collects basic, self-declared client information.
• Screening: Known, or self-declared, adverse or inadmissibility-related information; biometrics not required.
• Review: Most applications (85–90%) are automatically approved by the system in minutes; certain applications require manual review and decision by an officer based on known information or self-declared information. [Redacted].
• Validity: Up to five years or until the passport expiry date, whichever occurs sooner: multiple entries.
• The eTA is valid in air mode only.
• Fee: $7
• United Kingdom and France are the top eTA source countries.

Recent Developments

Combatting Visitor Fraud through the Global Risk Framework (GRF)

• Launched in September 2025 for the TRV line of business, the GRF proactively monitors the Department’s overall ability to manage integrity risks. It is intended to act as an early warning system for macro-level decision-making integrity, identifying and implementing interventions to mitigate risks. The need for a more proactive approach was highlighted by an integrity strategy IRCC launched in summer 2024 to stem growing misuse and irregular migration by TRV holders. Actions undertaken since have reduced fraud and tightened visa screening, with a focus on top visitor populations who were abusing the system.

Visa Policy

• One of the most effective means of combatting fraud remains the accurate calibration of who does and does not require a visa to visit Canada. Assessments to lift and impose visa requirements are normally successful following a detailed, evidence-based evaluation of criteria in accordance with Canada’s national framework. This approach shares many similarities with that of M5 partners, such as the U.S. and United Kingdom.
• As a successful example, in June 2023, Canada partially lifted the visa on lower-risk nationals from 13 countries^{Table Footnote 3} to support post-pandemic economic recovery. This historic visa policy change grants eTA access to nationals who have held a Canadian visa in the past 10 years, or hold a U.S. visitor visa, at the time of application. They have previously been screened by Canada or the U.S., and are therefore “known” travellers. To-date, these visa exemptions remain sustainable, due to the rigorous risk analysis behind these decisions.
• In February 2024, Canada imposed a partial visa requirement on Mexico in response to longstanding rates of unfounded asylum intake, unauthorized work, and illegal southbound migration. This has significantly reduced irregular migration over the past year— since the partial visa was imposed, asylum claims made by Mexican nationals have drastically declined. Prior to the visa change, asylum claims reached a peak in 2023 with 24,640 claims, declining to 4,905 in 2025. This marks an 80% reduction in overall claims, and a reduction of 99% in claims at airports. Illegal southbound crossings into the U.S. from Canada has seen a 98% reduction from the highest point in 2023.
• In November 2025, Canada fully lifted the visa requirement on citizens of Qatar, driven by a comprehensive assessment against Canada’s visa policy framework, which helps facilitate lower-risk travellers, incentivize foreign investment, and supports cooperation between both countries on a number of key issues.
• IRCC is always monitoring global conditions and migration trends to determine where changes to visa requirements may be warranted.

Information Sharing

• [Redacted].
• [Redacted].
• [Redacted].

Biometrics and Identity Management

• Canada collects core identity attributes (i.e., name, date of birth, place of birth, and biometrics) from all visa-required applicants (with limited exceptions). This translates into nearly 3.5 million biometric enrollments per year [Redacted].
• Canada has a robust biometric collection footprint around the world, including 166 Visa Application Centres overseas, 82 Service Canada locations, and 130 U.S. Application Service Centres.
• Biometrics strengthen identity management and enable better informed admissibility decisions by screening against RCMP records of known criminals, past refugee claimants, persons previously deported, and prior immigration applicants.