Travel Tips

Passport & Visas

Document requirements for travellers

An Air Canada flight arriving at YYJ Victoria International Airport in Victoria, BC

Travelling by air

If you are travelling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda, you must present a valid passport.

Read More on Air Travel to and from the United States.

Air Travel from the United States

Passengers take in the view while sailing on Black Ball Ferry Lines' MV Coho

Travelling by land or sea

If you are travelling by land or sea (including cruises and ferries) between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda, and you are a U.S. or Canadian citizen age 19 and older, you must present a passport or other approved secure document denoting citizenship and identity for all land and sea travel into the United States (effective June 1, 2009).

Enhanced Driver's Licences (EDLs) have been formally identified as acceptable documentation requirements for land and sea crossings. If you are a U.S. citizen and a Washington State resident, you are eligible to purchase an Enhanced Driver Licence (EDL), which will meet the requirements for proof of citizenship to re-enter the U.S. from Canada and Mexico by land or sea. Further information for Washington residents is available at the Department of Licensing website.

If you are a Canadian citizen and a British Columbia resident, further information on Canada's first Enhanced Driver's Licence for British Columbia residents is available on the ICBC website.

Read More on Land and Sea Travel from the United States.

Washington Department of Licensing

Land & Sea travel from the United States

Visa Requirements

To find out if you need a visa to enter Canada, please click here. For more information on applying for a visa to enter Canada, please click here.

Travelling with Minors

For children age 18 or under wishing to enter Canada, please click here.

Traveller Program Cards

Trusted traveller program cards will continue to be accepted for cross-border travel.

For more information on NEXUS:

Canadian residents click here.
US residents click here.

For more information on FAST click here (for commercial truck drivers only).

For more information on CANPASS click here (for travellers entering Canada only).

Passports

If you are a Canadian citizen looking for information on passports, please visit the Government of Canada website.

If you are a U.S. citizen looking for information on passports, please visit the U.S. Department of State website.

For More Information, Please Visit:

US Customs and Border Protection
Canada Border Services Agency

Download Victoria's Vacation Guide

Download PDF The cover of Victoria's Official 2024 Vacation Guide. A crowd of people are on a pier at Victoria's Inner Harbour at sunset on a summer day.

The cover of Victoria's Official 2024 Vacation Guide. A crowd of people are on a pier at Victoria's Inner Harbour at sunset on a summer day.

Navigate our map of Greater Victoria

Download PDF A map of Greater Victoria.

Destination Greater Victoria is honoured to be based on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of the Songhees Nation and Xwsepsum Nation, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.