Short version: a Canada eTA works only with the passport you applied with. If you renewed, replaced or lost that passport, you need a new eTA before you fly, even if the old one had not expired. You can apply for a new eTA through a paid private service, separate from the Government of Canada.
A Canadian Electronic Travel Authorization is linked electronically to the passport used in the application. When you check in for a flight to Canada, airline staff scan your passport to confirm that a valid eTA is attached to it. The core rule follows directly from that: if you need an eTA, present the same valid passport that is linked to the valid eTA.
An eTA is valid for up to five years, but it ends earlier when the linked passport expires. If you get a new passport, you need to get a new eTA.
If my passport expires before my eTA does
The eTA never outlives the passport it is linked to. If your passport expires in two years and your eTA was issued for five, the eTA ends with the passport. Once you hold the new passport, you need a new eTA linked to it, and the old eTA does not carry over. Because a new application normally takes minutes but can take several days, it is better not to leave it to the week of the flight.
Confirming your eTA before you travel
Use the eTA status tool to confirm the authorization, and check that the passport number in your eTA approval email matches exactly the number in your passport. If it is not the same, you need to apply for a new eTA with the correct passport number; the rules for fixing application mistakes explain which errors require a full reapplication. If you can’t find the approval email at all, see how to retrieve a lost eTA or reapply.
If your passport is still valid
Your eTA is linked to the passport you used to apply, and you need to present this passport when you check in to your flight to Canada.
Rescheduling your flight doesn’t affect any of this. See what changing your travel dates on an existing eTA actually involves for the short list of things that do trigger a new application.
At airline check-in
The airline staff will scan your passport to confirm that you have a valid eTA. If you don’t have one, you won’t be able to board your flight. For what to compare before you leave home, see Air Canada check-in with an eTA.
If you’re a permanent resident of Canada or the U.S.
Canadian permanent residents cannot apply for an eTA and need a valid permanent resident card or permanent resident travel document. Lawful permanent residents of the United States who hold valid status in the U.S. are exempt from the eTA requirement; they must carry official proof of status and a valid passport from their country of nationality.
Use Canada’s visa and eTA checker to identify the entry document you may need.
Special note: the limited eTA route
Citizens of certain visa-required countries may be eligible to apply for an eTA, instead of a visa, to travel to Canada by air. Eligibility conditions include having held a Canadian visitor visa in the past ten years or currently holding a valid U.S. non-immigrant visa. Note that a U.S. non-immigrant visa must be valid on the day you apply for your eTA, but does not need to be valid when you travel to Canada. If your old passport holds that visa or an expired Canadian visitor visa, bring it along with the new passport.
Review the current limited eTA eligibility rules before applying.
Why “Still Valid” Doesn’t Mean “Still Usable” for Travel
A passport can be perfectly valid (not expired, not damaged) and still be the wrong one to present for a Canada-bound flight, if it isn’t the specific document the eTA is linked to. This is the detail that trips people up most often when they hold more than one valid passport, whether that’s an old passport kept alongside a new one, or two passports from different circumstances. Validity and eligibility for a specific eTA are two separate questions, and a passport can satisfy one without satisfying the other.
If You Applied on One Passport but Prefer to Travel on Another
Some travellers would rather use a different valid passport for a trip than the one the eTA is linked to, for convenience or because the other passport has more free pages, for example. That preference doesn’t change the requirement: the eTA only confirms eligibility for the specific passport used at application, so travelling on a different document means travelling without a valid eTA for that document, regardless of how valid the passport itself is on its own terms. If the second passport is genuinely the one you’ll be using going forward, applying for a new eTA against it is the straightforward fix, rather than trying to make the original eTA cover a document it was never linked to.
Can You Hold Two eTAs for Two Different Passports?
The rule Canada publishes is that your eTA is linked to the passport you used to apply, and that you must present that passport when you check in for your flight. IRCC doesn’t publish a rule on holding a separate eTA for each passport; ask through its web form before relying on one. Whatever you decide, the rule at check-in does not change: the passport you book and fly with must be the one carrying the eTA. For Canadian dual citizens the question doesn’t arise at all, since they enter Canada on a Canadian passport and can’t hold an eTA.
What Actually Happens When the Passports Don’t Match
Airline check-in systems verify the passport against the eTA record before boarding, so a number mismatch surfaces at the counter, not at the border. The result is typically denied boarding even when the eTA itself is valid and unexpired, because the authorization can’t be found against the presented document. A traveller who somehow reaches a Canadian port of entry with mismatched documents faces the same verification by a border services officer, with added scrutiny. Neither point in the journey accepts “same person, different passport” as a substitute for the recorded link.
- Confirm which passport will be presented for the Canada-bound flight.
- Confirm that the passport is valid and usable.
- Confirm that an eTA is required for that passport.
FAQ
If I get a new passport, do I need a new eTA for Canada? Yes. An eTA is linked to the passport used in the application, so a new passport needs a new eTA before you fly, even if the old eTA has not expired.
My eTA is still valid but my passport was renewed. Can I still use it? No, not for the new passport. The eTA belongs to the old passport number, and airline staff scan the passport you present at check-in. Apply for a new eTA with the new passport details.
What happens at check-in if the passport doesn’t match the eTA? The airline can’t find a valid eTA against the passport you present and will not let you board. Check that the passport number in your approval email matches your passport before you travel.
What if my passport expires before my eTA does? The eTA ends when the passport expires. Once you have a new passport, you need a new eTA linked to it.
Travel Canada is an independent information site and is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. This page provides general travel-document information, not legal advice.