Australia Visa From Canada: ETA Steps, Costs and Other Visas

HelloRoam, the travel eSIM company behind this guide, sells data plans for Australia and has no part in ETA or visa applications.

We checked the rules in this guide on Department of Home Affairs, Australian Border Force, Australian High Commission and Government of Canada pages, most recently on October 29, 2026. Home Affairs suggests you make no travel arrangements until your ETA is granted, and rules can change, so read the official pages again before you book.

Your passport and your plans decide which document you need

All travellers except New Zealand citizens must get a visa or travel authority before they fly to Australia, the Australian High Commission in Ottawa says. For Canadians, the right one depends on the passport you hold, how long you'll stay and what you'll do there.

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The Canadian dollar amounts use the Bank of Canada exchange rate for October 1, 2026 (C$0.987 per Australian dollar). Home Affairs sets its fees in Australian dollars, so the Canadian cost moves with the rate. A visitor visa can also bring costs for health checks, police certificates or biometrics if Home Affairs asks for them.

The ETA covers holidays, family visits and business meetings, not paid work

An ETA lets you holiday, go on a cruise, visit family or friends, or travel as a business visitor. As a business visitor you can make general business inquiries, negotiate or review a contract, and attend a conference, trade fair or seminar, as long as the organizers don't pay you.

The ETA is not a work visa. Working for an Australian business, or selling goods or services directly to the public, can get your ETA cancelled and you refused entry. You can study or train for up to 3 months in total, but if study is the main reason for the trip, Home Affairs points you to a student visa.

Some plans need the Visitor visa (subclass 600) and its health checks instead: training at a childcare centre, studying to be a doctor, dentist, nurse or paramedic, or entering hospitals and other health care settings. On a round-trip cruise that starts in Australia, the days at sea count as time in Australia, so they don't reset your 3-month stay.

One difference to know about: the Government of Canada's Australia travel advice lists a business visa as required. Home Affairs, which issues the ETA, lists the business visitor activities above as allowed on it, so check your plans against that list before you choose.

You apply for the ETA in the app, with your passport in hand

The app is the only way to apply for an ETA. Before you start, have these ready:

• a phone with a camera, with NFC and location services turned on;
• your passport;
• an email address you check, junk folder included;
• a card to pay the AUD20 service charge.

1. Download the Australian ETA app from the App Store or Google Play. The app itself is free.
2. Scan your passport. The app fills in your name, date of birth, passport number and other details, so you don't type them.
3. Take a live photo of yourself in the app.
4. Answer the questions truthfully. They cover criminal convictions, other names you've used, any other passports you hold and your contact details in Australia.
5. Check every detail against your passport, then pay and submit. Home Affairs can't change an ETA's details once it's issued.
6. Watch your email for the written decision. A grant shows your visa grant number, the date it starts and your conditions. Keep a copy with you while you're in Australia, as Home Affairs suggests.

Each person needs their own ETA, children included. If the family applies on one phone, you can pay for and submit all the applications together. A friend, relative or authorized travel agent can help you apply in the app, but you must be physically with them while they apply, because the app needs your live photo and a scan of your passport.

A new passport ends your ETA, so renew before you apply

Home Affairs links the ETA digitally to the passport you applied with, and no label goes in it. If that passport expires or you replace it, the ETA ends and you must apply again. If your Canadian passport is due for renewal soon, renew it first, then apply for the ETA on the new one.

The 12 months run from the grant date. In that time you can come and go as often as you like and stay up to 3 months on each visit. Home Affairs may ask about your travel purpose if you stay for long stretches or visit very often. You can't extend an ETA; staying longer takes a different visa.

For the flight itself, the Government of Canada says a regular Canadian passport must be valid on the day you enter Australia, and your airline's rule may be stricter. You must enter on the same passport you used for the ETA. To check your ETA's status and dates, use VEVO on the Home Affairs site or the Visa check function in the app.

Living in Canada on another passport usually means a visitor visa

ETA eligibility follows your passport, not where you live. Some guides say anyone living in Canada can get an ETA, but Home Affairs lists eligible passports only. Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and most Western European countries are on it. Indian, Filipino and mainland Chinese passports are not.

A permanent resident card, study permit or work permit doesn't count for this. Neither does a non-citizen travel document, such as a refugee travel document or a certificate of identity. Home Affairs points travellers without an eligible passport to the Visitor visa (subclass 600), Tourist stream, and some European passport holders to the free eVisitor (subclass 651).

You apply for the visitor visa online through ImmiAccount, from outside Australia, and you must still be outside Australia when Home Affairs decides. For the current cost, Home Affairs points you to its Visa Pricing Estimator, and its Home Affairs processing time guide shows how long recently decided applications took.

Home Affairs asks visitor visa applicants to show they're genuine visitors. Useful documents include:

• itemized bank statements covering 3 months, plus pay slips or tax records;
• a letter from your employer saying you'll return to your job, or proof that you study at a school, college or university at home;
• an invitation letter if you're visiting family or friends in Australia;
• your plans while you're there.

Spell your name exactly as it appears in your passport. Home Affairs tells applicants to watch out for autocorrect.

Canadians aged 18 to 35 can work on a Working Holiday visa

The Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) lets Canadians aged 18 to 35 holiday and work in Australia. You apply online from outside Australia, and the deadline is midnight Australian Eastern time (AEST or AEDST) on the day before your 36th birthday.

You need enough money to support yourself and to leave at the end. Home Affairs says that is usually about AUD5,000 (roughly C$4,935) for your first stay, plus the fare to your next destination. Once the visa is granted, you must enter Australia within 12 months, and you can then stay up to 12 months. You can usually work for one employer for up to 6 months and study for up to 4 months.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says Canadians can take part up to 3 times, for 36 months in total. To qualify for a second year, you need to do 3 months of specified work on your first visa. Home Affairs expects processing to average around three months, so don't book flights or commit to a job until you have the grant.

Unofficial ETA websites charge more and can cost you the trip

The Australian High Commission in Ottawa publishes a warning about ETA scams: third-party websites that pose as official and charge large fees to lodge ETAs. Its checklist says you're being scammed if:

• you're applying on a website, because ETAs are only lodged in the app;
• you pay more than AUD20;
• you're charged extra for premium or expedited processing;
• the information you're relying on doesn't come from a site ending in .gov.au.

Using one of these sites risks losing your money, a refused ETA, being stopped at boarding or being turned away at the Australian border. You can report a suspected visa scam to Border Watch on the Home Affairs website.

For questions about an application, the Home Affairs Global Service Centre answers on +61 2 6196 0196, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. your local time. Staff at the High Commission can't help with general visa questions.

A connection of 8 hours or less needs no visa if you stay airside

Canadian citizens can transit Australia without a visa if they arrive by air, hold a confirmed onward flight to a third country leaving within 8 hours, have the documents to enter that country, and stay in the airport transit lounge.

If you have to clear immigration, for example to collect checked bags, you need an Australian visa such as the ETA. Ask your airline whether your bags go straight through to your final stop before you skip the ETA.

At the airport you fill in a passenger card and declare food

Most passengers fill in a paper Incoming Passenger Card, in English, handed out on the plane or in the arrivals terminal. It asks for your passport number, flight, address in Australia and contact details, plus customs, biosecurity, health and criminal record questions, and you sign it.

Australia's border and biosecurity agencies are piloting a digital version, the Australia Travel Declaration, in the Qantas app. It covers Qantas flights into Brisbane and some into Sydney and Melbourne. If you aren't invited to use it, fill in the paper card.

You must declare certain food, plant and animal items. A biosecurity officer may inspect them at the clearance point, or you can drop them in the bins in the terminal before screening.

An eSIM installed in Canada connects when your plane lands in Australia

As of October 29, 2026, our Australia plans connect to the Optus network, listed with 5G. Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, then turn it on when the plane lands. Our step-by-step install guide shows how to set up the eSIM before you fly, and it's worth a minute to check that your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked before you buy.

A HelloRoam Australia eSIM suits a holiday or the first weeks of a working holiday. If you'd rather keep using your Canadian plan, check how an eSIM compares with roaming before you decide. To pick a plan size, estimate how much data you'll need for the length of your stay. If you're staying for a year, a local Australian plan may suit you better once you have an address there.