Applying for the Canada eTA for the Whole Family

Planning a Canada eTA family application? An important point many people overlook: the eTA is an individual document — a separate application is required, even for children and babies.

Canada eTA family application: one per person

There is no “family eTA” or group application. Every person — regardless of age — must submit an individual application with their own passport and a valid email address to receive the authorization. This also applies to infants and young children, as long as they have their own passport.

Applying for children: who does it?

A parent or legal guardian can submit the application on the child’s behalf. It’s important that the information matches exactly what’s on the child’s passport and that a valid email address is provided to receive the confirmation.

Tips for a Canada eTA family application

Submit all applications quickly, one after another, so that travel planning isn’t disrupted by different processing times.
Use a valid, accessible email address for each family member — for children, this can be a parent’s email address.
Before applying, check that all passports remain valid for at least the duration of the planned trip.
Keep all confirmation emails (eTAs) for each family member handy, including in digital form on your smartphone.

What happens if a passport changes?

Since the eTA is linked to the specific passport, any passport change (for example after expiry) breaks the link to the eTA — a new application then becomes necessary for that person.

Apply now for a Canada eTA for each family member

Before applying, check our step-by-step application guide in our detailed guide: read more here. We provide personalized support for the application for each member of your family. Start here.

There is no Canada eTA family authorization

This is the point that costs families the most time at the airport. An eTA is issued to a person and attached to that person’s passport. A parent cannot hold one on behalf of a child, and a family cannot travel on a single authorization, however young the children are.

A newborn with their own passport needs their own eTA. A child included in a parent’s passport under an older system still needs to be assessed on the document they actually travel on — if the child holds no separate passport, that is a passport problem to solve before it is an eTA problem.

Applying for several travellers at once

Each application is separate, but they can be prepared in one sitting. What makes the difference is discipline in the details:

One passport open per application. The single most common family error is entering the parent’s passport number on the child’s application, or repeating the same number twice.
Names exactly as printed. Use the spelling in the machine-readable zone at the foot of the passport page, including hyphens and second forenames, not the name the family uses day to day.
Dates of birth in the right order. Day and month are transposed constantly when several dates are entered in sequence.
A separate confirmation for each traveller. Keep them together but check them individually: each one carries its own passport number.

Children travelling without both parents

The authorization itself does not ask about custody, but the border does. A child travelling with one parent, with grandparents, or with a school group should carry a letter of consent from the non-accompanying parent or guardian, with contact details. This is separate from the eTA and is checked on arrival, not at application.

Timing a Canada eTA family application

Apply for everyone at the same time, well before booking is finalised. Most authorizations return within minutes, but if one member of the group goes to manual review, you want to know while there is still room to act rather than the evening before departure.

A family of four, step by step

Take two parents and two children, all holding passports from the same visa-exempt country, flying to Toronto in six weeks. This is how to handle it without errors.

Lay out the four passports. Check that every one is valid well beyond the return date. If a child’s passport expires soon — children’s passports often run for shorter periods — renew it first.
Decide who completes the forms. Usually one parent completes all four, declaring on each child’s form that they are applying on the child’s behalf.
Complete one application at a time. Close the previous passport before opening the next. A classic family error is a parent’s passport number on a child’s application.
Use an email address you control for every application. The decisions arrive separately, one per traveller.
Check four decisions, not one. Each traveller must have their own approval before anyone heads to the airport.

Answering the questions for a child

Some questions read oddly for a young child, but each has a straightforward answer:

Occupation: “child” for young children, “student” for school-age children.
Marital status: never married.
Contact details: the parent’s email and the family’s home address.
Background questions: answered for the child, not for the parent.

Mixed-nationality family: who needs a Canada eTA?

Each member applies according to their own passport. In a family where one parent holds a visa-exempt passport and the other a visa-required one, the first applies for an eTA and the second for a visitor visa. Children follow the passport they will travel on.

One case needs particular care: a child who is a Canadian citizen, for example through a Canadian parent, cannot travel on an eTA with a foreign passport. They need a Canadian passport, which takes far longer to obtain than an eTA. If this applies to your family, start well in advance.

Grandparents and other relatives

An adult child can complete an application for an elderly parent, declaring that they are doing so on the traveller’s behalf. The answers must still be the traveller’s own, including on the background and medical questions. If the traveller has anything to declare, allow extra time, since the file may be reviewed by a person.

Canada eTA family checks at the airport and border

At check-in, the airline checks each passport individually. At the border, the officer may ask the family about the trip, and will look closely at minors travelling with only one parent or with other adults. A signed consent letter from the absent parent, with contact details and a copy of their identity document, avoids most difficulties. It is not part of the eTA, but families are often asked for it.

Every family member needs their own Canada eTA. For general background on visa-exempt travel, see the overview of Canada’s visa policy on Wikipedia.

Common questions

Does a baby need an eTA?

Yes. Every traveller, including infants, needs their own authorization on their own passport.

Can we apply for everyone in one form?

No. One application per traveller, though they can be prepared in the same sitting.

One of our four applications is still pending. What should we do?

Wait for it, and check the email address used. A pending file is usually being reviewed. See processing times.

Can you handle the whole family’s applications?

Yes. We review every file and check that each passport matches its own application. Start with the first traveller, and see what each person needs.

Do teenagers travelling alone need anything extra?

Their own eTA, on their own passport, like any traveller. Beyond that, a minor travelling without a parent should carry a consent letter signed by both parents or legal guardians, with their contact details, the dates of the trip and the name of the adult responsible in Canada. Airlines may have their own rules for unaccompanied minors, which are separate from the eTA and worth checking when booking.

Should we apply for the whole family at the same time?

Yes. Submitting all the applications together means all the decisions arrive in the same window, and if one member of the family goes to manual review you find out while there is still time to act. Applying for the adults first and the children later is a common way to discover a problem a few days before departure.