Canada transit visa for Indian passport holders

Before you book a connection through Canada

1. 1Check whether you hold a valid Canadian visitor visa; if you do, it covers the transit.
2. 2If not, apply for a transit visa online with IRCC well before travel.
3. 3Make sure the connection is 48 hours or less and runs between two international flights.
4. 4Plan for a visitor visa instead if you will leave the airport, stay longer than 48 hours or continue by land or sea.
5. 5If you connect onward to the US, you also need a US visa.

What IRCC’s transit page says

IRCC’s transit page, last modified on 2 June 2025, sets out the test. You need a transit visa if you are from a visa-required country and your international flight stops at a Canadian airport, you are connecting between two international flights, your transit lasts 48 hours or less, you do not have a valid visitor visa, and you are not eligible for an eTA. Indian passport holders are visa-required, and the eTA is not open to them.

The same page describes transit without a visa for certain travellers, but only passport holders of China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan (Taiwan passports without a personal ID number) who meet its conditions can use it. India is not on that list.

Transit visa or visitor visa

The Canadian transit visa is a temporary resident visa issued for transit, applied for online with IRCC. IRCC’s fee list does not show a separate fee for it. It is widely described as free, but that could not be confirmed, and neither could the biometrics rule for transit applicants, so check both in your IRCC account when you apply.

A visitor visa is needed instead if the transit lasts more than 48 hours or you cross into Canada by land or sea. It costs CAN$100 plus CAN$85 for biometrics. IRCC’s weekly estimate in mid-September 2026 was reported at 29 days for visitor visas from India. A valid visitor visa also covers later transits, so regular visitors to Canada rarely need a separate transit visa.

Indian routes through Canada

Air India flies Delhi to Toronto and Delhi to Vancouver, and Air Canada flies Delhi to Toronto. Air Canada is reported to add Montréal–Delhi in the winter 2026/27 schedule, four times a week from 1 November 2026 to 26 March 2027. From Canada, Indian travellers continue to the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

A Canadian connection on the way to the United States needs a US visa in any case; how US pre-clearance works at your Canadian airport was not checked for this page. A connection to the Caribbean or Latin America needs the Canadian transit visa plus whatever the destination requires.

Showing a Canadian connection on a flight reservation

A flight reservation is an airline booking held without payment. A route through Toronto or Vancouver is realistic for a traveller who already holds, or will apply for, a Canadian visa. For anyone else, a connection elsewhere avoids adding a Canadian application to the trip.

If you are applying for the Canadian visitor visa itself, IRCC lists itinerary documents under recommended documents, naming “flight details, proof of accommodation, registration for an event”. A reservation that shows the dates you intend to travel fits that description; keep the return within the stay you describe in your application.

Each airline decides how long it holds a reservation, so it varies. Order it for the day you submit.

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