The short answer: the Canada eTA fee is set and charged in Canadian dollars, whichever country your card comes from, so the figure in pounds, euros or US dollars on your statement is your bank’s conversion, not a different price. Your card issuer picks the exchange rate and may add its own foreign transaction fee, which is why the amount rarely matches what you worked out in advance. If you’d rather have someone walk you through the form, you can apply for a Canada eTA with a paid private service, separate from the Government of Canada.
Applying on canada.ca costs only the government fee.
If you want the fee itself explained, start with what the government fee does and doesn’t cover. This page is narrower: it follows the stretch between the payment screen and your banking app, and the handful of things that go differently when the card was issued in another country.
Why does the eTA charge look different on your card?
The payment screen of the form lists every amount in Canadian dollars. There is no drop-down for another currency, so the form shows one line for one application, and whatever happens next is between you and the company that issued your card.
Three things usually explain a gap between what you expected and what you see:
- The exchange rate. Your card issuer converts Canadian dollars into the currency of your account at its own rate, on the day the charge is processed. That rate may be a little different from the one you saw on a currency website the week before.
- A foreign transaction fee. Many banks add a fee when a card is used with a merchant abroad, and a Canadian payment made from your sofa counts. Canada’s travel advice site makes the same general point for its own citizens: credit card issuers typically charge fees for international transactions. Whether yours does, and how it is calculated, is written in your card terms.
- Timing. An amount can appear as pending first and be replaced by a final figure later, and the two may not match to the last digit.
None of this is a Canadian surcharge. The government fee did not change between your screen and your statement; your bank’s arithmetic did.
What will you see on your statement, by country and card?
The table below puts the common card types side by side. Canada asks the same thing of everybody, so the differences in the last two columns come from the bank, not from the form.
| Your card | Accepted on the eTA form? | What usually changes on the statement | Check before you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK debit or credit card in pounds | Yes (Visa, Mastercard, Visa Debit, Debit Mastercard) | Canadian dollars converted to pounds; a foreign transaction fee may apply | Whether your card charges for foreign payments |
| Eurozone card in euros (France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Germany) | Yes, if it is a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB card | Conversion into euros, possibly with a fee | The same question, and whether online payments abroad are switched on |
| Australian or New Zealand card | Yes, if it is a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB card | Conversion into Australian or New Zealand dollars | Fee terms and any online payment limit |
| Japanese JCB card | Yes | Conversion into yen | That the card is enabled for online use |
| UnionPay card | Credit only; debit UnionPay is not accepted | Conversion into yuan | That it is a credit card |
| Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard | Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard, with online banking | Same conversion logic | That online banking is active on the account |
| Prepaid travel card | Prepaid Visa, Mastercard or American Express | Prepaid products sometimes carry their own fees | Whether online payments are allowed and what fees apply |
| Card holding a Canadian-dollar balance | If the card is in the accepted list | A conversion may not be needed, though that is up to the bank | Which balance the bank will charge |
| US card in US dollars | Yes, but see the note below | Conversion into US dollars | Whether you need an eTA at all |
On the US row: American citizens do not need an eTA, and lawful permanent residents of the United States have been exempt since April 2022. The row is for people who hold a passport that does require an eTA, live in the US and pay with an American card.
Why are there two amounts: pending and final?
Many banks record a card payment in two steps: the sum is first shown as pending, then settled and replaced by the final figure. If your bank converts at the rate on the day it settles, the two numbers may differ. That on its own is not a sign that a second payment was taken.
IRCC’s payment help describes one separate case. If the card details typed into the form do not match what your bank has on file, the bank may hold the amount for a few days before releasing it, and how long that takes depends on the bank. To avoid it, enter the name and address exactly as they appear on your card statement.
When you reconcile a line on your statement with the application, use the payment confirmation shown after paying. It carries an order number and a reference number, and IRCC warns that you cannot print it later or get a copy, so save it at once. The name on the statement line may not read the way you expect, so match by date and amount rather than by wording.
Why might a card from abroad be declined on the eTA form?
A few of the reasons IRCC lists for a refused online payment matter more when the card was issued in another country. They are worth checking before you start, because the form cannot be saved and you pay straight after completing it.
- The 3-D Secure code. Online payments on the form need 3DS 2.0, and in most cases the bank sends a code to your phone. If you are already travelling, the phone tied to your card may be on roaming or a local SIM that cannot receive the message. Make sure the number your bank holds is current and that it will actually receive the code.
- Billing country. Choose the country first and fill in the address second. Outside Canada and the United States, the state or province box takes “Not Applicable” and a postal code is not required.
- Details that differ from the bank’s. Type them as your bank prints them.
- Debit cards without online banking, and UnionPay debit cards. Neither will go through.
IRCC sets out these reasons in its note on refused online payments.
A declined card is not a refusal of your eTA; nothing has been decided yet. If the payment keeps failing for technical reasons, you should not plan to travel until the application is complete, and there is a web form for technical problems whose answer can take several days.
Paying for the whole family: why several charges?
The form takes one person at a time, with one payment per application. A family of three therefore means three applications and three separate payments, and your statement shows three lines.
Each line is converted on its own. If your bank applies a fixed charge to foreign payments, it may appear on every line rather than once for the group, so the total can climb faster than you expected. For households, it can help to pay with a card that has no foreign transaction fee, or to ask the issuer beforehand how it treats repeated payments abroad.
Parents filling in for a minor do it the same way, one application per child. The steps are covered in applying for a child’s eTA; the only point here is that each child is also a separate line on the statement.
Why is the total higher on another website?
Some websites help travellers fill in the form and take a fee for doing it. They do not act for the Government of Canada, and the fee they charge on top of the government amount is theirs; the government does not refund extra fees charged by third-party websites.
If you paid such a service, your statement may be shaped differently for a plain reason: the service can invoice in its own currency, so the conversion and any bank fee are then based on that invoice rather than on Canadian dollars. The decision on the application itself is taken by IRCC whichever route you used.
Can you get the conversion or card fee back?
The eTA fee is non-refundable, including when the application is refused, and the immigration department says it does not offer refunds for eTA applications. The part your bank added, the rate difference or the foreign transaction fee, is a matter between you and your card issuer, so ask the bank rather than the form.
If you paid through a private service and think the same traveller was charged twice, first make sure both payments belong to real applications: status is checked with the application number and the passport details. What happens next depends on that service’s own terms; how one service handles a double payment for the same traveller shows what to ask about.
One eTA covers several trips and lasts for five years at most, or less if your passport runs out sooner. You pay once and not per journey, which keeps the number of conversions on your statement down.
Does the same logic apply when you pay by card in Canada?
Yes. A shop terminal or cash machine in Canada may offer to charge you in your home currency instead of Canadian dollars. Canada’s travel advice site recommends always choosing to be charged in the currency of the country you are in, because the other option tends to bring a worse rate and more fees.
For a visitor that means pressing the Canadian dollar option on the terminal, keeping your receipts, and comparing them with your statement when you are home. The first coffee or taxi fare after landing at Toronto Pearson is a good moment to build the habit.
The short version
- The eTA fee is charged in Canadian dollars; the form has no other currency.
- The amount on your statement is your bank’s conversion, and a foreign transaction fee may be added.
- A pending amount and a final amount can differ; save the confirmation and match by date and amount.
- A card from abroad can be refused over the 3DS code, the billing country or details that differ from the bank’s.
- A family means one payment per person, so several lines and possibly several bank fees.
- Fees added by your bank are not refunded by the form; ask your card issuer.
FAQ
How much is the eTA fee? It is a government fee shown on the payment screen in Canadian dollars. Your bank shows it in your own currency at its own rate, so the figure on your statement may differ a little from the one you worked out before paying.
What exchange rate does Visa charge? The rate is set by the card network or the issuing bank, usually on the day the payment is processed, not by Canada. Your bank can tell you which one applies to your card and whether it adds a fee on top.
Are foreign transaction fees refunded? They are a term of your bank account or card, so any refund is a matter for your bank. The government fee itself is not refunded either.
Can I use a Canadian eTA more than once? Yes. One eTA covers many trips until it expires, which is up to five years or the end of the passport’s validity, whichever comes first. You pay once instead of for each journey.
How much does it cost to get an eTA for Canada? The total is the government fee plus whatever your bank adds for conversion and foreign payments. If you use a private service, its own fee is added too, so the amount on your statement can be higher than the form alone.