In a Nutshell
Your eTA status lives in two places: the email address you used when you applied, and the IRCC Application status tracker online. Most decisions arrive within minutes; a small number take a few days. The moment you see an approval, your job isn’t done — you need to compare the passport number in that email against the number printed in your physical passport, character by character, before you do anything else. A mismatch is a common trap, and fixing it takes time you may not have close to a departure date. If you hold dual citizenship, the Canada eTA and dual citizenship page explains which passport you should use when applying. Applying for the first time? Start with the step-by-step first application guide.
You’ve hit submit. Now you’re waiting. Here’s exactly where to look and what to do the moment you find your status.
For most applicants, the wait is short. In most cases an email arrives within minutes of submitting. If yours hasn’t come through yet, check your junk or spam folder — automated messages from government systems get caught there often enough that it’s worth doing before you assume something is wrong. If you applied during a period of higher volume, the email can take up to 72 hours. That’s the outer edge of normal. If your application is ultimately refused, the Canada eTA refused: what happens next page explains the options available to you. Applying with enough lead time before you book anything matters here too — see when to apply for a Canada eTA for how far in advance is safe.
Whatever the email says when it arrives, it will tell you your next steps. That’s the document you act on first. But if you’d rather not wait for it — or if you submitted days ago and still haven’t heard — the IRCC online tool gives you the same information on demand.
Where your status lives: email first, then the online tool
The email you receive after applying does more than confirm receipt. If your eTA is approved, it contains your eTA number. That number matters less for boarding (the approval is electronically linked to your passport, so there’s nothing to print or carry), but it’s useful for cross-referencing if anything looks off later. Save the email. If you don’t have an email address of your own to apply with in the first place, see applying for a Canada eTA without an email address for how that step works.
If you can’t find the email or it never arrived, the IRCC Application status tracker lets you look up your status on demand. If you’ve lost the confirmation details entirely and can’t get the tracker to recognize your application at all, see what to do when a Canada eTA application can’t be retrieved.
Either way, once you have your status, move straight to the verification step that actually protects your trip.
How to use the IRCC status checker
On the IRCC application status page, select “Electronic travel authorization (eTA)” from the list of application types. The tool you’ll use is the Application status tracker, and there’s one thing worth knowing before you start: if you’ve used the old Client Application Status (CAS) tool for anything in the past, those login credentials don’t carry over. You’ll need to create a new account even if you’ve been through this before.
To register, you’ll need your unique client identifier (UCI) or client ID, your application number, your first and last name, your date of birth, and your place of birth. All of that came with your confirmation when you submitted. If you didn’t save it, check your email for the original submission confirmation — it’s there.
One thing the tracker won’t do immediately: it only shows meaningful status updates after an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) letter or email has been issued. Before that point, it may show the date your application was received and some basic contact information, but nothing about the decision itself. If you’re checking within the first hour of submitting, that’s likely all you’ll see. Give it time, then check again.
What each status means and what you do next
Approved. The decision is made, the eTA is active, and it’s already linked to your passport. You don’t need to print anything, carry anything, or notify the airline. What you do need to do is covered in the next section. Do it immediately.
Pending / In progress. The application is still being reviewed. This is normal for applications that fall outside the automated approval window. You don’t need to contact IRCC; checking the tracker or waiting for the email is the right move. What matters is how close you are to your travel date — that’s covered below.
Needs further action. This is a specific status that requires you to do something before a decision can be made. It’s not a refusal. Read the section below on what to do.
Refused. The application was reviewed and denied. This is a different situation from a pending or incomplete application, and it has its own path forward. The Canada eTA refused: what happens next page covers your options in detail. If you want to check your eTA status at any point, that option is available to you.
The passport-number check you must do immediately
This is the step that most people skip because they assume the system handled it. It didn’t — you entered the passport number manually, and manual entry creates errors.
Open your approval email and find the passport number it references. Then open your physical passport to the data page and read the number printed there. Compare them digit by digit, letter by letter. They must be identical.
The reason this matters so much: your eTA is electronically linked to the passport number on file, not to you as a person. When the airline checks your documents at the gate, they’re matching your passport to the eTA record. If those numbers don’t match, the system doesn’t see a valid eTA — and an incorrect passport number on the application may prevent you from travelling to Canada entirely.
If you catch a mismatch now, you have time to reapply. If you catch it at the airport, you don’t. Getting a new eTA at the last minute may not be possible, which means a missed flight and a rebooking, at minimum. Catching a passport or name error before you ever submit is even better — see fixing mistakes on your Canada eTA before you submit for what to review first.
If you’ve recently been issued a new passport since your eTA was approved, that’s a related but separate situation — a new passport number means your existing eTA is no longer linked to the document you’ll be travelling on. The Canada eTA approved but new passport issued page explains exactly what to do in that case.
If your application is still pending close to your travel date
The 72-hour window is the outer boundary of what’s considered a normal processing time. If you’re past that and still seeing no decision, and your travel date is approaching, waiting passively starts to carry real risk.
At that point, keep checking the IRCC status tracker regularly. If the status changes to something that requires action from you, you need to respond quickly, because delays on your end compound the processing delay that already exists.
What you should not do is apply a second time while the first application is still pending. Duplicate applications don’t speed things up and can create confusion in the system. Wait for a decision on the current application first.
If your travel date is very close and the application has been pending well beyond 72 hours with no update, the official IRCC contact channels are the appropriate escalation route — the IRCC site has current contact options listed.
If your status shows ’needs further action'
This status means the automated review couldn’t complete the process without something more from you. The email or the tracker message will specify what’s needed — it might be additional documentation, a clarification, or something specific to your application.
Read the instructions carefully and respond to exactly what’s asked, nothing more. Sending unsolicited documents or follow-up messages asking for updates while your response is being reviewed doesn’t accelerate the process. One specific version of this is a request for a medical exam — see what happens next after an eTA medical exam request for that particular process.
The timeline after you respond varies. If you’re close to your travel date when this status appears, treat it as urgent. The same last-minute reapplication risk applies here: if the process requires you to submit a new application after a delay, getting an eTA in time may not be possible.
Dual citizens have an added layer to consider at this stage — the passport you used for the application must be the one you travel on, and the rules around which passport to use are specific.
The passport-number comparison is the one thing to do today, the moment you see an approval: not before your flight, not when you’re packing. Everything else in this process can be monitored and managed over time. A number mismatch discovered at the airport cannot be fixed in time.