A refusal splits into two categories — one you can fix in hours, one you often can’t fix before your trip. Your first job is to know which one you’re in.
The email you received doesn’t always spell out the reason in plain language. That’s frustrating, but the distinction that matters isn’t the wording of the refusal — it’s whether the problem is a data error on your application or a finding that you’re inadmissible to Canada. Those two situations call for completely different responses, and treating an inadmissibility refusal like a data error (just reapplying) will almost certainly fail.
Is it actually a refusal, or a delay?
Before you treat this as a refusal at all, check one thing: some eTA applications take several days, with a response expected within 72 hours of applying. If you applied recently and received a message asking for additional documents rather than a flat denial, that’s a different situation — instructions on what to submit will come by email, and the application is still live. A request for a medical exam is one specific version of this; see what happens next after an eTA medical exam request if that’s what you received.
Also check your junk mail folder. Spam filters regularly intercept automated government emails, and more than one person has spent a day convinced their application was refused when the approval was sitting in spam.
If the email is a clear refusal — not a request for documents, not a processing delay — then you’re in one of two places. This guide assumes you still intend to travel; if your eTA was approved and you’ve simply decided not to go, see eTA approved but not travelling? You don’t need to cancel instead.
For ongoing tracking while you work through this, the Canada eTA application status check process can confirm what the system shows against your application.
The two kinds of refusal: data error vs. inadmissibility
Every eTA refusal comes down to one of two root causes.
The first is a data error: something in your application didn’t match your travel document. The most common version is a passport number entered incorrectly — one transposed digit, a letter misread as a number. The eTA is electronically linked to the passport used to apply, so even a single character mismatch creates a problem. This kind of refusal is fixable. You reapply with the correct information.
The second is inadmissibility: the system or a reviewing officer has determined that you’re not eligible to enter Canada based on something in your background. Inadmissibility grounds include criminal activity, security concerns, human rights violations, involvement in organized crime, or health and financial reasons. This kind of refusal is not fixed by submitting the same application again with nothing changed. The underlying issue has to be addressed first — and that process takes time that most travel plans don’t have.
Knowing which category you’re in determines everything that follows.
If it’s a passport number mismatch
A wrong passport number is the most common fixable refusal, and the fix is straightforward: submit a new application with the correct number. If you want to start your eTA application again, have your physical passport open in front of you before you type a single character.
The passport number in your application must exactly match the number printed in your physical passport. Not the number you think you remember, not the number from a scan you made two years ago — the number on the document you’ll be carrying to the airport. Go character by character. Passport numbers mix letters and digits, and certain fonts make O and 0, or I and 1, easy to confuse.
The online application form can’t be saved mid-way through, so have everything ready before you start: passport details, travel dates, personal information. A second rushed attempt with another error puts you back at the start. Reviewing your details against fixing mistakes on your Canada eTA before you submit before you resubmit can help you avoid a repeat of the same error.
One thing to be aware of: if you recently renewed your passport and your previous eTA was linked to the old document, that’s a related but different situation. An approved eTA travels with the passport it was issued for, not with the person. The eTA and new passport question has its own answer, but the short version is that an eTA tied to an expired passport can’t be transferred — you need a new one.
If it’s inadmissibility: what you’re really facing
Inadmissibility is the harder truth, and it deserves a direct statement: if your refusal is based on inadmissibility grounds, reapplying without addressing the underlying issue will not work. The same background that caused the first refusal will cause the next one.
Inadmissibility to Canada covers a range of grounds — criminal activity, security concerns, health reasons, financial reasons, human rights violations, and organized crime connections. Providing false or incomplete information in an application is itself grounds for being denied entry, so accuracy matters even on a reapplication.
For some grounds — serious criminality is the example most people encounter, including something like an impaired driving conviction — there is a pathway called a temporary resident permit. This requires a processing fee and does not guarantee entry or permission to stay. It’s a formal process, not a quick workaround. The processing time involved is real, and it’s not something you can complete in the days before a flight.
For other grounds, the path is even less straightforward. Inadmissibility normally means you won’t be allowed into Canada, and the mechanisms for addressing that take considerably longer than most travel timelines allow.
The honest read: if your refusal is inadmissibility-based and your trip is in the near term, the trip is likely off. That’s not a comfortable thing to say, but it’s what the situation usually is.
The timing question and your travel date
How much time you have matters enormously, and it matters differently depending on which path you’re on.
For a data error refusal, a corrected application can receive a response within minutes in most cases. That’s genuinely fast, and if you catch the error with a few days to spare, you’re likely fine. But “may not be possible to obtain an eTA at the last minute” is a real caveat — not a theoretical one. If your flight is tomorrow morning, a new application is a gamble, not a plan.
For inadmissibility, time works against you in a different way. The process of addressing the underlying ground — whether that’s a temporary resident permit application or another formal route — doesn’t compress to fit a travel date. Starting that process now rather than later is the only useful move, but you should do it with clear eyes about whether your current trip is salvageable.
One thing that catches people: an approved eTA and a valid passport don’t guarantee entry into Canada regardless. A border services officer has final authority at the port of entry. An eTA is an eligibility check, not an entry guarantee. That distinction matters most when the reason for a refusal is something that will still be visible to the officer even if you somehow obtained a new eTA.
Next steps by refusal type
If you believe it was a data error:
Pull out your physical passport. Compare the number character by character against whatever you submitted. If there’s a mismatch, reapply immediately with the correct information — and double-check every other field while you’re at it: name spelling, date of birth, passport expiry date. A single field inconsistency can cause the same outcome.
If you hold dual citizenship, the passport you use for the application matters. Canada requires you to travel on the passport your eTA is linked to. The dual citizenship and eTA application question is worth reading before you reapply, because using the wrong passport the first time is another common source of avoidable refusals.
If you believe it was inadmissibility:
Don’t reapply without addressing the underlying ground. Identify what the issue is as specifically as you can — the refusal notice may give some indication, even if it’s vague. If the ground is criminal inadmissibility and a temporary resident permit is potentially applicable, that process requires a fee and does not guarantee any outcome. Start it now if you intend to travel to Canada at any point, but accept that your immediate trip plans may need to change.
What doesn’t work: submitting a new application with the same background and hoping for a different result. The system will see the same information and reach the same conclusion.