[AlpineRose]

Effective November 10, 2016, visa-exempt foreign nationals must have an eTA before they can board a flight to Canada. To complete your application for an eTA, you will need your passport, a credit card and an email address. An eTA costs $7 CAD and is valid for up to five years. Among those exempted from this new requirement are U.S. citizens and travelers with a valid visa. As well, entry requirements for travelers arriving by land or sea have not changed. I'm posting this as a FYI for those on this site who are not U.S. citizens or know those who aren't. Because I hadn't heard anything about it. Neither had my neighbors, who had flown to Japan for a holiday visit with the wife's family. The wife is a Japanese citizen, and - surprise, surprise - was prevented from boarding their return flight from Tokyo to Canada. There wasn't enough time remaining before departure to complete her eTA application and get it approved, so she remained behind in Tokyo for a few days, while the husband and kids flew home.

[fourteen410]

What's an eTA?

[AlpineRose]

Electronic Travel Authorization

[Schroder]

To emphasize the point, this does not apply to U.S. citizens On a related issue, I bought a TSA-Pre last year and having it prevented me from missing my flight at SeaTac due to 3 hour lines at security

[grannyhiker]

The US has a similar thing; ours is called ESTA and it has been around since shortly after 9/11. It's for foreign tourists who will be entering on our Visa Waiver Program (90-day entry without visa), to determine that they're eligible for a visa waiver and are not on a no-fly list or some other list of undersirables. Sort of an advance screening before they leave home.