Canada eTA Scam Sites: How to Spot Them (Official Fee Is CAD 7 Only)

Why Fake eTA Sites Exist (and Why They Thrive)

Search for 'Canada eTA' on Google and the top sponsored results are often not the government. That is by design: the official eTA costs only CAD 7, so there is no margin for the government to advertise — while a site charging USD 79 for the same form can afford to buy every ad slot. These sites are usually legal-looking 'visa agencies' that fill in the identical form on your behalf, and a minority are outright frauds that take your money and submit nothing.

The confusion they exploit: many travelers think eTA, AVE, and 'electronic visa' are different documents, or that a travel agency 'must' process the application. Neither is true — the eTA is a single, simple online form that anyone can complete in about 10 minutes on canada.ca/eTA.

Their Favorite Tricks

• Sponsored ads above the official result: Google now labels them 'Sponsored', but they still sit on top of the real site.
• 'Government partner' language: phrases like 'official processing service', 'IRCC-affiliated' or 'application center' — none of these exist for the eTA.
• Fake urgency: 'processing times are extended — apply now' banners, invented deadlines, and 'same-day guarantee' upsells.
• Hidden renewals: some sites quietly sign you up for a paid annual subscription or resell your passport data.
• Cloned URLs: domains like canada-eta.org, e-visa-canada.net, or misspellings of canada.ca that redirect to lookalike pages.

How to Verify You're on the Official Site

Only two things matter: the URL and the price. The official application lives at canada.ca/eTA (and the IRCC portal — both end in .gc.ca). The official fee is CAD 7 per person, payable only at the end of the application. No .gc.ca domain, no CAD 7 — not official. There is also no official mobile app for the eTA: if an 'app' asks for money, it is a scam.

What to Do If You've Been Scammed

• Contact your bank or card issuer immediately and dispute the charge (or request a chargeback).
• Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and, if the site pretended to be the government, to the real IRCC web form.
• Check whether a real eTA was ever submitted: use the official Check Status tool with your passport details — if nothing comes up, apply yourself on canada.ca/eTA.
• Watch your email and bank statements: scammed sites sometimes resell card details; consider blocking the card used.

The Bottom Line

The Canada eTA is one of the simplest travel documents on Earth: one form, CAD 7, minutes of work. Anything that adds fees, urgency, or a 'service' on top is taking money for nothing. Bookmark the real URL — canada.ca/eTA — and skip the ads.