🇨🇦 Canada
Vast wilderness, multicultural cities, and coast-to-coast-to-coast landscapes from rainforest to tundra.
🌍 View on the globe- Continent
- North America
- Capital
- Ottawa
- Best time to go
- June to September; December to March for skiing
- Currency
- Canadian dollar (CAD)
- Languages
- English, French
Quick guide: Canada essentials
🛂 Visa & entry
US citizens need only a passport. Visa-exempt travellers (including the UK, the EU, Australia and Japan) need an online eTA to fly in. Everyone else needs a visitor visa.
💉 Vaccines & health risks
Routine vaccines only.
🚗 Driving
Drive on the right. Foreign licences are valid for short visits (usually 3 to 6 months, depending on the province); bring an International Driving Permit if your licence isn't in English or French. Winter tyres are mandatory in Quebec from December to March and on many BC highways.
🏥 Healthcare & emergencies
Excellent, but visitors aren't covered by provincial health plans and bills are high; get travel insurance. Emergencies: 911.
⚖️ Drug laws
Cannabis is legal for adults (19 in most provinces, 18 in Alberta, 21 in Quebec), bought from licensed stores. Taking it across any international border, including into US states where it's legal, is a crime. Other drugs are illegal.
🎉 Nightlife & party scene
Montréal is the party capital (bars open until 3 am, big summer festivals), plus Toronto's King West and Queen West and Vancouver's Granville Street. Drinking age 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, 19 elsewhere.
Last reviewed 2026-10-17. Entry, health and legal rules change and can depend on your passport; always confirm with official sources before you travel.
City guides
Toronto
Canada's biggest city, with neighbourhoods representing nearly every culture on earth.
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Montréal
A French-speaking city of festivals, bagels, and European-style streets.
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Vancouver
Mountains meet the Pacific in a city where you can ski and kayak on the same day.
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All cities in Canada (1,036)
- Saint John 88k
- Pickering 88k
- Brantford 88k
- Nanaimo 85k
- Niagara Falls 82k
- Willowdale 79k
- Chilliwack 77k
- Repentigny 76k
- Fort McMurray 76k
- Peterborough 76k
- Newmarket 74k
- Red Deer 74k
- Sarnia 72k
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 72k
- Lethbridge 71k
- Maple Ridge 70k
- Brossard 70k
- Kamloops 69k
- White Rock 66k
- Sault Ste. Marie 66k
- Prince George 66k
- Medicine Hat 63k
- Norfolk County 61k
- Drummondville 59k
- New Westminster 59k
- Port Coquitlam 58k
- St. Albert 58k
- Aurora 55k
- Sherwood Park 55k
- Saint-Jérôme 55k
- Granby 54k
- Fredericton 52k
- North Bay 50k
- Welland 50k
- Saint-Hyacinthe 50k
- Belleville 49k
- Dollard-Des Ormeaux 49k
- Cornwall 49k
- Vernon 48k
- North Vancouver 48k
- Vernon 47k
- Blainville 46k
- West End 45k
- Chatham 44k
- Timmins 43k
- Châteauguay 43k
- Quinte West 43k
- West Vancouver 43k
- Charlottetown 42k
- Rimouski 42k
- Saint-Eustache 42k
- Sorel-Tracy 42k
- Grande Prairie 41k
- Woodstock 40k
- Boucherville 39k
- Salaberry-de-Valleyfield 39k
- Shawinigan 38k
- Penticton 38k
- Spruce Grove 36k
- St. Thomas 36k