The awkward part of a Canadian file is the order. You pay CAD 100 for the visa and CAD 85 for biometrics, upload the forms, and only then does anyone look at whether the trip makes sense — but the trip evidence has to be in the file from the start. Buying a ticket to satisfy that is spending the fare before you know the answer. A held reservation carries the same information and costs nothing while you wait.
A dummy ticket for Canada is the flight reservation you attach to a visitor visa (TRV) application in your IRCC secure account, before any real ticket is paid for. There is no consular district to pick: you lodge online from wherever you live, a VFS centre only collects biometrics and passports, and the decision is made by an officer in the visa office that handles your region.
Four things on the reservation decide whether it reads as evidence. The passenger name has to match the passport character for character — a middle name on one and not the other is the commonest reason a file stalls. The booking reference has to resolve. The dates have to sit inside the trip described in the forms. And the route has to end somewhere outside Canada, because an arrival with no departure is not an itinerary, it is half of one.
For a Canadian application the itinerary is one document among several: the forms in your IRCC account, evidence that you can pay for the trip, evidence of what you are returning to, and biometrics at a VFS centre if you have not given them in the last ten years. Canada is unusual in accepting dual intent: under section 22(2) of the IRPA, wanting to settle here one day does not by itself make you a bad visitor — but the officer still has to be satisfied you will leave at the end of this trip.
What lands in the officer's document viewer is a PDF: passenger, route, dates, carrier, reference. That is the whole object. It is a real booking held under a reference rather than a seat that has been paid for, which is why it can exist before the visa does and why it can be checked by anyone who has the reference.
You enter the details, the PDF comes back with a reference, and you look the reference up yourself before it goes anywhere near your IRCC account. That last step is the point. A document you have verified is a document you can defend; one you have not is a risk you took without knowing you were taking it.
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Canada operates two parallel regimes: eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) at canada.ca/eta for visa-exempt nationals (UK, EU, Japan, Australia and the other passports on the eTA list) flying TO Canada — CAD 7, valid up to five years or until the passport expires. TRV (Temporary Resident Visa) via IRCC at canada.ca for visa-required nationals (India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mexico, etc.) — CAD 100. US citizens and US green-card holders need neither. Long-term: Express Entry (skilled migration) or Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP).
Air Canada, WestJet, plus all foreign carriers verify proof of departure from Canada at check-in. Free dummy ticket from Canada →
Sources: IRCC · eTA Official
| Type | Validity | Fee (CAD) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| eTA | 5 yrs multi, 6 mo/visit | $7 | US LPR, UK, EU, Japan, Australia, Singapore |
| TRV (Visitor Visa) | 10 yrs multi, 6 mo/visit | $100 + $85 bio | India, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria |
| Super Visa (Parents/Grandparents) | 10 yrs, 5 yrs/visit | $100 | Parents/grandparents of Canadian citizens/PRs |
| Study Permit | Study duration | $150 | DLI-listed universities (Toronto, McGill, UBC, McMaster) |
| Work Permit (LMIA) | 1-3 yrs | $155 + employer LMIA $1,000 | Employer-sponsored, requires Labour Market Impact Assessment |
| Work Permit (LMIA-Exempt) | 1-3 yrs | $155 | ICT transfers (CETA, USMCA, GATS), Open Work for spouses |
| Express Entry (FSW/CEC/FSTP) | PR (permanent) | $1,590 + biometrics | CRS pool, skilled workers, cut-off varies by draw |
| Provincial Nominee (PNP) | PR | $300 prov + $1,590 fed | Ontario OINP, BC PNP, Alberta AINP, Saskatchewan SINP |
| Working Holiday (IEC) | 1-2 yrs | $184.75 | 18-35 age, 36 partner countries |
Canada's four busiest international gateways. Toronto Pearson (YYZ) is the largest. Vancouver (YVR) services Asia-Pacific. Montreal (YUL) is Air Canada's east-coast hub.
| Airport | Hub Carrier | PIK / NEXUS |
|---|---|---|
| YYZ Toronto Pearson | Air Canada (Star Alliance) | Yes — Primary Inspection Kiosks all terminals |
| YVR Vancouver | Air Canada + WestJet, Asia-Pacific hub | Yes — PIK + NEXUS lanes |
| YUL Montreal | Air Canada east hub, Transat | Yes |
| YYC Calgary | WestJet primary hub | Yes |
Express Entry is Canada's flagship skilled migration system — 3 pathways managed via the CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) point pool. IRCC issues invitations in rounds, and since 2023 most rounds are category-based (healthcare, trades, education, French-language). There is no single cut-off score: the threshold depends on which category a round targets and moves with every draw.
Study permits at DLI (Designated Learning Institutions). After graduation: Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), valid for up to three years depending on the length of the programme. Since 1 November 2024 every PGWP application needs a language test result — CLB/NCLC 7 for university degrees, CLB/NCLC 5 for other programmes — and non-degree programmes must appear on IRCC's field-of-study list.
Each province has its own PNP — Ontario OINP, BC PNP, Alberta AINP, Saskatchewan SINP, Manitoba MPNP, NS NSNP, NB NB-PNP, PEI PNP, NL NLPNP, Yukon YukNP, NT NTNP. Quebec operates a separate system (PSTQ for skilled workers, PRTQ for entrepreneurs) — French language priority.
There is no appeal against a visitor-visa refusal. What exists is a request for reconsideration answering the officer's stated reason, and judicial review at the Federal Court (15 days from inside Canada, 60 days from outside — court fee CAD 50), which examines how the decision was made rather than remaking it. The IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board) hears asylum and sponsorship matters, not TRV refusals. Most-common refusal reasons: insufficient ties to the home country and unclear purpose of visit — reapply with stronger evidence.
Sources: IRCC · canada.ca/visit
Nobody has read your file yet, and it already wants a flight itinerary. Buy a refundable fare and the money sits with the airline for the whole processing time; buy a non-refundable one and a refusal costs you the fare on top of the fees you have already paid. Neither is necessary to answer the question that is actually being asked.
Five fields do the work: the name as the passport spells it, the outbound and return dates, the airports — Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Vancouver (YVR), Montreal (YUL) or Calgary (YYC) — the operating carrier, and the reference. Everything else on the page is layout. An officer scanning an attachment is checking those five against the forms, and nothing more.
Most Canada applicants submit the Premium version to their embassy.
Real Air Canada branding · Verified departure from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) · No watermark — clean embassy-ready PDF.
Funds, ties, a passport valid past your departure, and an itinerary — the Canadian file wants all four, and only one of them can be settled in a minute. Settle that one first.
Guide
Who needs one, what it costs, how long it lasts
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Guide
What counts as flight evidence on a visitor file
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Guide
Why Canada has no visa-free entry at all
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Every document a visitor file needs
Read guideWhat a Canadian host actually has to write
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How the itinerary is read on a 10-year TRV
Read guidePhotos: Canoes at Lake Louise (6459194277) · LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0 | Niagara April 2024 003 (53774321853) · Helen from Bristol, UK · CC BY 2.0 | Skyline of Vancouver, Canada · Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
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Real feedback from travelers who used MyJet24 for their visa applications
"My brother has been in Toronto for six years. Six years. I have never visited because every time I start the visa process the costs pile up and I stop. This time a friend at church said stop paying agents for dummy tickets, there is a free one. I did not believe her. But she was right. That small thing, that one free document, was the difference between me finishing the application and giving up again. I am writing this from Pearson Airport. I made it."
"I am the kind of person who reads the entire terms and conditions page before clicking accept. So naturally I spent twenty minutes examining the MyJet24 website before I trusted it enough to enter my passport number. Then I spent another fifteen minutes cross checking the booking reference on the airline website, then on CheckMyTrip, then on a third verification site I found on Reddit. Everything matched everywhere. The Canadian embassy in Ankara processed my visa without asking about the flight. Four stars because my personality will not allow me to give five stars to anything I have not used at least three times."
"Everything about the actual ticket was good. My problem is that I generated it at 2am Manila time and then could not sleep because I kept wondering if I had entered my middle name correctly. There is no way to edit or regenerate without starting over completely. I ended up generating a second one just to be safe. Both worked. But a simple edit button or a preview screen before final generation would save people like me a lot of unnecessary 3am anxiety."
