Do Canadian passport holders need a visa for Ecuador?

By Saurabh Pathare · Travel Writer, Tripmojo · Updated September 1, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

No. Canada is not on Ecuador’s list of nationalities requiring a visa, so a Canadian passport gets you in as a tourist with nothing arranged in advance. The Galápagos are the exception: the archipelago has its own migration control under its own law, and the Transit Control Card that admits you is registered online before you fly and collected at an airport counter that closes at midday.

Quick facts

Visa-free

Visa required: No
Maximum stay, mainland: 90 days in a year
Passport validity: 6 months
Galápagos Transit Control Card: USD 20
Same card for an Ecuadorian: USD 20
Galápagos tourist limit: 2 months in the year

Entry requirements

A valid passport with six months of validity, which is Ecuador’s stated requirement at the migration control point.
No visa. Ecuador names the nationalities that need one in Acuerdo Interministerial No. 0000003, and Canada is not among them.
For the Galápagos, a Transit Control Card issued by the Consejo de Gobierno del Régimen Especial de Galápagos, pre-registered online and paid for at the Quito or Guayaquil airport counter.
Confirmed accommodation in the islands, because the Transit Control Card registration will not complete without it.

Nothing to arrange for the mainland, a file to complete for the islands

The mainland asks for no preparation. Ecuador publishes the list of nationalities that require a visa and Canada does not appear on it, so the transaction at Quito or Guayaquil is a passport check. The list is set by ministerial agreement and has been amended more than once, so look at it near departure rather than trusting a figure quoted in an article.

The Galápagos are governed separately. The Consejo de Gobierno del Régimen Especial de Galápagos issues a Tarjeta de Control de Tránsito, which registers your arrival date and gives you a migratory status under the Ley Orgánica de Régimen Especial de Galápagos. The online form asks for your identity document, your travel details, and every place you will stay with its dates, drawn from the tourism ministry’s list of authorised establishments and cruise vessels. It then puts you through a short survey and a sworn declaration that what you entered is true.

The card itself is collected in person. You present your documents at the CGREG counter at Quito or Guayaquil airport, pay 20 US dollars, and are handed the printed card with an invoice. The procedure page does not say what the counter accepts, so carry the twenty in cash rather than counting on a card terminal. Keep it: the same card is used to leave the islands, not only to enter them.

Good to know

The Galápagos ceiling is shorter than your mainland allowance and is set by what you are going there to do. The Consejo de Gobierno defines a tourist as someone visiting for leisure for a maximum of two months in the year, and a transeúnte as someone travelling for work, research or official duties for a maximum of three months, which can be extended after review. So the two-month figure is not a version of the 90 days you get on the mainland, it is a separate limit inside it. The card described on this procedure page is the one issued to tourists, and the page states its audience as a person travelling in the capacity of a tourist. A Canadian going for a university field course, a research project or a volunteer placement is on the transeúnte side of that definition, which is a different route, so settle it with the host institution in Ecuador before assuming the tourist card covers the trip.
The registration cannot be completed by someone who has not booked. The travel screen takes each accommodation with its dates from the authorised list held by the tourism ministry, the system calculates your days of stay from what you enter, and it checks that total against the limit written into the Special Regime law before it lets you finish. You then sign a sworn declaration that the information is accurate. This is the opposite of a form you fill in at the airport with approximate answers, and a plan to arrive in Quito and decide later where to stay in the islands does not survive contact with it. If your lodging is not a registered establishment, staying with someone who lives there for instance, ask the Consejo de Gobierno how to record it before you are standing at the counter.
The airport counter closes before lunch, which matters more than the price does. The published hours put the Quito airport counter at 5:00 to 12:00 and the Guayaquil airport counter at 6:30 to 13:30, against 8:30 to 17:00 for the two mainland offices and 7:30 to 17:00 in the islands. Flights to the archipelago leave in the morning, so the counter hours fit the flight schedule, but they do not fit a passenger who lands in Quito at night and hoped to settle the card before sleeping, or one who has booked an afternoon domestic departure. Treat it as an errand for the morning of the island flight, done before check-in rather than after.
Twenty dollars is the card, not the cost of the islands. The Transit Control Card is priced flat at 20 US dollars for Ecuadorians and foreigners alike, and is free for a child under two, which makes it one of the few Galápagos charges where a Canadian passport buys exactly what a resident of Guayaquil buys. The national park conservation fee collected on arrival in the islands is a different charge on a different schedule, and that one does vary by nationality. Budgeting for the card and assuming it covers the archipelago is the mistake to avoid.

Frequently asked questions

Do Canadian citizens need a visa for Ecuador?

No. Ecuador lists the nationalities that require a visa in Acuerdo Interministerial No. 0000003, and Canada is not on that list.

How long can a Canadian stay in Ecuador?

Up to 90 days within a year as a tourist on the mainland. The Galápagos apply their own shorter limit of two months in the year for a tourist.

What is the Galápagos Transit Control Card and what does it cost?

It is the card that registers your entry to the archipelago and gives you a migratory status there. It costs 20 US dollars for foreigners and Ecuadorians alike, and children under two pay nothing.

Where and when do I get the Transit Control Card?

You pre-register online, then present your documents and pay at the CGREG counter at Quito or Guayaquil airport. The published hours are 5:00 to 12:00 at Quito airport and 6:30 to 13:30 at Guayaquil airport.

Can I register for the card without having booked accommodation?

No. The online form asks for each place you will stay with its dates, taken from the tourism ministry’s list of authorised establishments and cruise vessels, and uses them to calculate and validate your length of stay.

What passport validity does Ecuador require?

Six months, checked at the migration control point.

Other passports for Ecuador

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 1 September 2026.

Consejo de Gobierno del Régimen Especial de Galápagos, "Emisión de tarjeta de control de tránsito para turistas y transeúntes", gob.ec: tourists are those visiting for leisure for a maximum of two months in the year and transeúntes those travelling for work, research or official services for a maximum of three months, extendable after review; the card costs USD 20.00 for foreigners and nationals, and is free for children under two; the process is pre-registration online followed by presenting documents at the CGREG counters at Quito or Guayaquil airport; published attention hours are Galápagos 7:30 to 17:00, Quito and Guayaquil offices 8:30 to 17:00, Guayaquil airport 6:30 to 13:30 and Quito airport 5:00 to 12:00; the card is used to enter and to leave Galápagos; the procedure states its audience as a natural person, national or foreign, in the capacity of a tourist, and what it issues as a transit control card for tourists. Read 2026-09-01. https://www.gob.ec/cgreg/tramites/emision-tarjeta-control-transito-turistas-transeuntes
Consejo de Gobierno del Régimen Especial de Galápagos, "Manual TCT online": the online process records general data, travel information and every accommodation with its dates from the list of authorised establishments and cruise vessels supplied by MINTUR, automatically calculates the number of days of stay and validates that against the time permitted under the LOREG, then presents a survey and a sworn declaration of the truthfulness of the information before issuing airport instructions. Read 2026-09-01. https://www.gobiernogalapagos.gob.ec/manual-tct-online/
Ecuador, Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana, article 56 (Turista), as substituted in 2021: the period of stay as a tourist is up to 90 days within a year counted from first entry, extendable once by up to 90 further continuous days on request and payment of the corresponding fee; South American tourists are granted up to 180 days in the same period. Canada is not a South American state, so the 90-day figure applies. Consulted in the Cancillería’s published consolidated text, pages 13 to 14. https://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2021.05.14_ley_organica_de_movilidad_humana_-_lomh.pdf
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Ecuador, requisitos para ingresar al Ecuador: valid passport with six months of validity at the migration control point, and the list of nationalities requiring a visa under Acuerdo Interministerial No. 0000003, which does not include Canada. Read 2026-09-01. https://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/santiagodechile/requisitos-para-ingresar-al-ecuador/

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

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