Which Passport Should Dual Citizens Use to Apply for an eTA to Canada?

If you hold Canadian citizenship along with citizenship in another country, you have probably wondered whether you need an eTA for dual citizens the same way other visitors do. It's a common source of confusion, especially if you've always travelled on your other passport and never applied for a Canadian one. The short answer is that Canadian citizens don't use the eTA system at all — but getting there means understanding a rule that catches a lot of dual citizens off guard.

This article explains why the eTA doesn't apply to you as a Canadian citizen, what federal rules expect instead, and what to do if you've never held a Canadian passport.

The eTA Is for Foreign Nationals, Not Canadian Citizens

An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a pre-boarding screening tool for visa-exempt foreign nationals flying to Canada. It's one half of a two-track system: travellers from countries that need a visa apply for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV), while travellers from most visa-exempt countries flying to Canada apply for an eTA instead, which carries a modest application fee (currently $7 CAD, as of mid-2026 — verify the current amount before applying, since government fees do change).

Canadian citizens fall into neither category. For immigration and border purposes, once you're a Canadian citizen — whether by birth, descent, or naturalization — you're not a "foreign national" travelling to Canada, even if you also hold another country's passport. That means the eTA process simply doesn't apply to the Canadian side of your identity.

Why You Can't Substitute Your Other Passport

This is where dual citizens run into trouble. If you try to book a flight or check in using only your non-Canadian passport, airlines and border systems generally treat you as travelling on the strength of your Canadian citizenship once that citizenship is on record — not as a foreign visitor who simply needs an eTA.

In practice, this means:

• Canadian citizens are expected to travel to Canada, and to board a flight bound for Canada, on a valid Canadian passport.
• Applying for an eTA under your other citizenship doesn't change your status as a Canadian citizen or exempt you from this expectation.
• Airlines can deny boarding at check-in if their systems flag you as a Canadian citizen travelling without a Canadian passport.

The underlying idea is straightforward: Canada doesn't treat its own citizens as visitors who need pre-authorization to come home, so the travel document expected of you is the one that reflects that citizenship.

What If You've Never Had a Canadian Passport?

Many dual citizens — especially those born abroad to a Canadian parent, or who became Canadian citizens as children and always travelled on their other nationality's documents — have simply never applied for a Canadian passport. If that's your situation, the fix isn't to work around the requirement with an eTA; it's to apply for a Canadian passport before you travel.

Generally, this involves:

1. Confirming you actually hold Canadian citizenship (by birth in Canada, by descent from a Canadian parent, or through a completed grant of citizenship).
2. Gathering proof of that citizenship — a birth certificate, citizenship certificate, or previous Canadian passport, depending on your history.
3. Applying for a Canadian passport through the appropriate federal process, whether from within Canada or through a Canadian government office abroad.
4. Allowing enough time before your planned travel dates, since passport applications aren't processed instantly.

If your citizenship itself is in question — for example, if you were born outside Canada and aren't sure whether you inherited citizenship automatically — that's worth sorting out with a lawyer before you assume either the eTA or the passport route applies to you.

A Quick Pre-Travel Checklist

• [ ] Confirm your Canadian citizenship status and how you acquired it
• [ ] Check that your Canadian passport is valid for your travel dates (not expired or about to expire)
• [ ] If you don't have a Canadian passport, apply well before you plan to fly
• [ ] Book and check in using your Canadian passport details, not your other nationality's
• [ ] Carry both passports if you like, but present the Canadian one to check-in staff and border officers
• [ ] Don't rely on an eTA linked to your other passport as a substitute

Frequently asked questions