The short answer: you apply for a Canada eTA through an online form, not an app, and the form asks only for your passport, a payment card and an email address, so a phone or a computer will do. What matters is finishing in one go: the form can’t be saved, the payment screen gives you 20 minutes, and the receipt can’t be printed later. If you’d rather have the form checked against your passport as you fill it in, you can apply for a Canada eTA through a paid private service, separate from the Government of Canada.
Applying on canada.ca costs only the government fee. The form takes one traveller at a time, so a family of three fills it in three times, and on a phone that means three sessions in a row.
If you have not seen the questions yet, the full order of steps in the eTA form is laid out in a separate guide. This page covers what to use, what to keep within reach, and what to do when the page drops out halfway.
Is there a Canada eTA app?
IRCC describes one way to apply: the online form on the Government of Canada website. It is the only official place to submit an application, and even authorized third parties who apply for someone else have to go through it. The steps IRCC lists are short: get your passport and a payment card ready, read the help text, then fill in the form.
That is why searches for a “Canada eTA app” can mislead. None of the IRCC pages that explain how to apply send you to an app, so the question to ask of anything you find in a store is what exactly it does, and whether it is the form itself.
Phone or computer: what actually changes?
IRCC says you need three things to complete the form: a passport, a credit card and an email address. It does not name a device. So the same form is the same form, and the real differences come from how the form behaves and how easy it is to interrupt yourself.
The form does not save anything. If you leave it, the data goes with it. The payment screen has a 20-minute limit. The receipt cannot be printed afterwards. Those three facts decide what to do on a small screen.
| What the form does | On a phone | On a computer |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing is saved and time is limited | Stay in one window. Calls, messages and switching to other apps can pull you away, so keep the screen awake and finish in one go | Same rule, and the passport and notes are easy to keep beside the keyboard |
| Passport details are typed by hand from the photo page | Keep the physical passport open next to the phone and read the number from it, not from a photo in your gallery | Same: the passport lies next to the keyboard |
| Payment within 20 minutes | Have the card beside you before you open the payment screen. If your bank asks you to approve the payment in its own app, that is the same phone, so open it ahead of time. Why a card can be declined on the payment screen is covered separately | Card beside the keyboard |
| The receipt cannot be printed later | Save a screenshot or a PDF straight away | Print it or save a PDF straight away |
| Updates come by email only | Your mail is already on the phone, so check it there, junk folder included | Open your mail in another tab or on your phone |
Both work. The official form does open in a phone browser and adjusts to the screen; when we tried it, the long form and small fields made a computer the more comfortable choice. The form on get-eta.com is laid out for a phone screen.
ArriveCAN is not your eTA
ArriveCAN is a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) tool. It exists as a mobile app and as a web version, and its Advance CBSA Declaration feature lets you send your customs and immigration declaration up to three days before you arrive in Canada. That is an option at participating airports, not a requirement.
It has nothing to do with the permission to board a flight. The eTA is a separate authorization from IRCC, linked electronically to your passport. You cannot apply for an eTA through ArriveCAN, and a completed declaration does not replace one.
How does the time limit work on a small screen?
The form cannot save your answers. When a “Session timeout warning” window appears, press “Continue session” to keep going. On a phone, keep the form in front of you so that you see the warning when it appears.
On the payment screen the limit is firmer: after 20 minutes you are signed out. Have the card within reach before you begin, rather than after.
If you read the form in another language, using a browser translation to read the form is described in its own guide.
How do you keep the receipt on a phone?
At the end of the payment, IRCC tells you to print the receipt immediately. You can’t print it later or receive a copy. The page you see is a record of your payment, not a decision, so it is worth keeping.
On a phone, the simplest approach is to save what the screen shows, as a screenshot or as a PDF, whichever your phone allows. Send it to yourself by email so that it sits in the same place as the other messages about your application.
Be careful with the wording on the screen. “Transaction Approved” with an Order ID confirms the payment only. It does not mean the eTA was approved. The decision arrives by email, and most are made within minutes.
The page crashed or you were signed out: what now?
Do not start over straight away. After you pay, your application is submitted automatically, even if the session ended and you were signed out. So the order of actions is:
- Did the payment go through? Look at your bank app and at your email, junk folder included. A message confirming that IRCC received the application normally arrives within minutes, and the application number starts with the letter V.
- No message yet? Wait. Most decisions come within minutes, and some take several days. If your application needs more time, IRCC says to expect an email with the next steps within 72 hours of applying.
- Still nothing with an application number 72 hours after you paid? IRCC’s instruction is to use its web form (Electronic Travel Authorization, then Case Specific Enquiries) rather than applying again. If what you need is the number itself, where a missing eTA number usually turns up covers the places to look.
- Did it crash before you paid? Then nothing was sent and nothing was saved, so you begin a new form.
The risk of acting too fast is a second payment. If it has already happened, read what happens if you end up with two applications before you do anything else.
What if the eTA website isn’t working at all?
Sometimes the problem is the website, not your phone. IRCC has a specific answer for people who could not submit because of a technical problem with the payment or the form. The advice is that you must not travel without an eTA, so try again, and if it still fails, use the technical-problems web form and describe what happened in as much detail as you can. A reply can take several days. The page is here: IRCC’s answer on technical problems with the form.
For a major outage, IRCC’s service procedures say notices are posted on its website and social media. If a flight is close, apply as early as you can after the problem clears rather than waiting for the last day.
Can you start on a phone and finish on a computer?
No. Because nothing is saved, there is no draft to continue on another device. Moving from one device to the other means filling in a new form from the beginning. Decide before you start where you will do the whole thing. Once it is submitted, you can check your eTA status from either device with your passport details and the application number or UCI.
One case needs a different route. If IRCC later asks for documents after you applied, you do not upload them in the eTA form. That happens in an IRCC account, and uploading documents IRCC asks for later is a separate step with its own problems.
The short version
- IRCC describes one way to apply: the online form on the Government of Canada website.
- The form needs a passport, a card and an email address, and it does not name a device.
- The form cannot be saved, so finish it in one sitting and keep the physical passport and card beside you.
- You have 20 minutes on the payment screen, and the receipt must be saved at once.
- If the page crashes after payment, check your email before you apply again.
- ArriveCAN is a customs declaration tool from CBSA and has nothing to do with your eTA.
FAQ
Do I need to print my eTA for Canada? No. The eTA is linked electronically to your passport, and the airline scans it, so you need to travel with the passport you applied with. Keep the payment receipt as a record, but it is not a travel document.
Is the Arrive Canada app still required? ArriveCAN is a CBSA app with an optional Advance CBSA Declaration at participating airports, which you can submit up to three days before you arrive. It does not apply for an eTA and does not replace one.
What is the real Canada eTA website? The official place to apply is the Government of Canada website, and authorized third parties submit through it as well. IRCC does not point applicants to any other way of submitting an application.
Can I apply for a Canadian eTA at the airport? You can, but IRCC says that if you apply at an airport and the eTA is not approved in time for check-in, you will need to reschedule your flight. Most decisions come within minutes, some take several days, and a passport-number mistake found at the desk means applying again on the spot, when getting an eTA at the last minute may not be possible. Apply well before you leave for the airport.
Why is the Canada immigration website not working? If you cannot submit because of a technical problem, IRCC’s advice is to try again and, if it still fails, use its technical-problems form with as much detail as you can. Do not fly without an eTA, and expect that a reply may take several days.