IRCC has announced that the Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) application portal will be offline from 00:00 to 05:30 ET on 11 November for system upgrades. The maintenance window falls during low-volume hours, but tech vendors caution that residual latency could persist into the early-morning peak for Europe-based travellers booking last-minute flights to Canada.
Airlines have been advised to apply the manual boarding-matrix override for visa-exempt passengers unable to retrieve real-time eTA confirmations. Carriers must retain proof of prior-submitted applications to avoid carrier-liability fines.
![eTA system downtime scheduled overnight on 11 November]()
For corporate travel desks, the outage highlights the importance of building buffer time into authorisation workflows—especially for executives on tight schedules. Frequent-traveller profiles stored in global distribution systems should be cross-checked to ensure valid eTAs are already on file. Mobility practitioners may also pre-emptively lodge applications earlier in the week to sidestep bottlenecks.
IRCC says the upgrade will pave the way for biometric validation integration in 2026, ultimately enabling instant approvals for 90 % of low-risk applicants and reducing fraud.
Airlines have been advised to apply the manual boarding-matrix override for visa-exempt passengers unable to retrieve real-time eTA confirmations. Carriers must retain proof of prior-submitted applications to avoid carrier-liability fines.
For corporate travel desks, the outage highlights the importance of building buffer time into authorisation workflows—especially for executives on tight schedules. Frequent-traveller profiles stored in global distribution systems should be cross-checked to ensure valid eTAs are already on file. Mobility practitioners may also pre-emptively lodge applications earlier in the week to sidestep bottlenecks.
IRCC says the upgrade will pave the way for biometric validation integration in 2026, ultimately enabling instant approvals for 90 % of low-risk applicants and reducing fraud.
