As of March 1, 2024, Mexican citizens will again need a visa to enter Canada. The Canadian government explains this by the large influx of Mexicans — asylum seekers. The announcement of the introduction of visas for Mexican citizens was made almost a day before it came into force. It cancels previously obtained Electronic Travel Authorizations (eTAs) and requires consular visas, even if travel to Canada has been planned in advance.
An exception is made for holders of valid long-term US visas, holders of Canadian visitor visas or temporary resident visas, even expired ones, issued within the last 10 years, and in addition holders of a valid work or study permit in Canada. They, as before, have the right to use an electronic permit to enter Canada. However, entry into Canada is only possible by plane. They are advised to carry a passport with stamps from previous entries into Canada.
All other travelers — Mexican citizens, such as guests of the country, students with a study period of less than 6 months or business visitors, are required to obtain a visa from one of the Canadian consulates under general criteria to enter Canada. The cost of a Canadian visa reaches 100 Canadian dollars, in addition, you will have to pay another 85 Canadian dollars for collecting biometric data (fingerprints and photographs). Most visitor visas issued by Canada are multiple-entry visas with a validity of up to 10 years and allow you to enter Canada multiple times and stay for up to six months each time.
The process of obtaining a Canadian visa takes longer than obtaining an eTA, which can be obtained even three days before travel and is valid for 5 years. Typically, an electronic permit to Canada is confirmed within a few minutes of request. The eTA costs 7 Canadian dollars.
It is believed that the initiator of the introduction of visas for Mexicans is the government of the Canadian province of Quebec. In the first 11 months of 2023, Quebec accepted 60,000 refugee claimants, three times more than the year before and more than any other Canadian province. In just 11 months of 2023, 129 thousand people requested asylum in Canada. At the same time, the largest number of requests for asylum came from Mexican citizens - almost 23 thousand, in second place — Haiti (almost 17 thousand), in third — Colombia with 10 thousand requests. 60% of these applications were rejected by Canadian authorities or withdrawn by the applicants themselves.
The United States also asked Ottawa to restore visa requirements for Mexican citizens to stop the sharp increase in illegal border crossings from Canada to their country. The United States argued that Mexicans, taking advantage of visa-free travel, fly into Canada and then en masse cross the land border with the United States, which is relatively loosely controlled.
Canada already introduced a visa requirement for Mexican citizens in 2009 to stem the flow of asylum seekers. The decision then caused a chill in relations between the two countries, which did not improve until Trudeau ended visa conditions for Mexicans in 2016, a few months after taking power. Visa-free travel for Mexicans to Canada is still in effect.