cost of royal visit to canada

How much does a royal visit cost?

Expenditures covered by rcmp, federal, provincial and territorial governments.

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The focus for this edition of The Royal Fascinator came from audience members, like you, who got in touch with us. Send us your questions about the upcoming visit by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. We are listening: [email protected]  

Last week, we asked Fascinator readers to share any and all answers to these questions:

What do you want to know about the royal visit?

If you had the opportunity, what would you want to ask Prince Charles?  

What kind of ties do you want Canada to have with the monarchy?

While readers offered a wide range of answers, questions of their own, some themes and particular interests emerged. We'll take a look at some of them here and follow up on others in future editions of the newsletter. 

How much will the royal visit cost taxpayers?

When it comes to what readers who responded would like to know about next week's visit by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, one question was top of mind for many.

How much will it cost taxpayers?

Canadian Heritage said Thursday via email that the cost of this tour hasn't been finalized, but final costs will be made public once the visit is over.

Questions about costs of visits and security provided to members of the Royal Family when they are in Canada have emerged many times over the years.

Most recently, the questions were over the cost for providing security while Prince Harry and his family were in Canada. CBC reported late last year that protecting them cost Canadian taxpayers more than $334,000 over a period of less than four years.

When it comes to royal visits, tallying total costs means drawing in figures from several sources, including the RCMP and federal, provincial and territorial governments.

The 2017 visit by Charles and Camilla — their most recent trip to Canada, and similar in length, at three days — had a cost of $487,661.68 for Canadian Heritage, the federal department said.

This included:

$12,404.91 for general administration.

$42,782.11 for professional services (such as photographers and translation). 

$75,384.29 for rentals (including vehicles and meeting rooms). 

$211,115.94 for memorandums of understanding with federal institutions (including hospitality for receptions, accreditation, motorcades).

$145,974.43 for travel expenses (including commercial air transportation, accommodation and meals).

Those numbers don't include security costs. 

For the eight-day visit by Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, in 2016, the RCMP said it spent about $2 million in policing costs. Records showed that its largest expenses for the visit to British Columbia and Yukon involved pay, overtime and travel costs, which totalled about $1.9 million.

The B.C. government said its costs for the visit came in at slightly more than $613,000, including the $45,206 tab for the Royals flying to and from Canada from the United Kingdom, along with travel costs while they were in British Columbia.

The federal government had budgeted $855,600 for the tour, and Yukon's Department of Tourism and Culture reported costs of $11,755 for the time William and Kate were in Carcross and Whitehorse. 

We'll continue to follow up on costs for next week's trip.

What about Indigenous issues?

We heard from several people who were focused on Indigenous issues, and wondered what Prince Charles may say or do on that topic while in Canada, whether that might involve a mention of reparations, or an apology.

There's no doubt scrutiny will be high on this during the visit. Several scheduled engagements focus on or include members of Indigneous communities. 

The official public welcoming ceremony in St. John's on Tuesday will feature Mi'kmaw music and a prayer in Inuktitut. While visiting Government House, the official residence of N.L.'s lieutenant governor, Charles and Camilla will take part in a moment of reflection and prayer at the Heart Garden, which honours the memory of Indigenous children who were lost to the residential school system, survivors and families of both.

On Thursday in the Northwest Territories, Charles and Camilla will visit Dettah, a Dene First Nation community about 25 kilometres outside Yellowknife.

According to the trip itinerary, Charles will take part in a discussion with local chiefs and elders. He'll also participate in a discussion on Treaty 11, its history and legacy in the Northwest Territories.

A focus on the environment

Several of you had the environment and climate change front and centre among your thoughts.

Charles has had a personal interest in the environment and sustainability since the early 1970s — even though he was mocked for it at the time — and has long been calling for action to protect the Earth and fight climate change. 

Questions you'd like to pose to him include his views on what Canadians could do to live more sustainably and what the country's priorities on the environment should be.

As with Indigenous issues, there is little doubt what Charles says and does on this topic will be under heavy scrutiny during the trip.

"The Prince of Wales has long believed that we need to learn from Indigenous peoples around the world how better we should live in and care for nature and the planet," Clarence House said in a news release when the itinerary was announced. 

"Canada is seeing the impact of climate change and so this tour will highlight an emphasis on learning from Indigenous peoples in Canada as well as a focus on working with businesses to find a more sustainable way of living with global warming."

Where are Charles and Camilla going? Where can I see them in Ottawa? 

Some of you had specific questions about the itinerary for the visit and how it would have been determined.

It's a short visit — three days — which is the current trend for such tours. It's in marked contrast to visits of years gone by that lasted several days — and decades ago could go for weeks and extend from coast to coast.

It's not the royals who direct where they will go on these official visits.

"The government of Canada is completely in control of [Charles's] itinerary, his guest lists," said Nathan Tidridge, a high school history, civics and Indigenous studies teacher in Waterdown, Ont., and vice-president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada.

"It's the Prime Minister's Office through [Canadian Heritage] that makes those decisions."

• Royal Fascinator What should a royal visit look like? Why William and Kate's recent trip might spark change for future tours
• Prince Charles and Camilla finalize plans for Canadian tour

Other members of the Royal Family sometimes come to Canada on lower-profile working visits that may focus on their charitable interests or patronages.

"You see that with [Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex]. They're here quite a lot and they do a lot of work with Indigenous Nations," said Tidridge. "We don't ever hear about it, but they've been here 30 times or something like that."

This visit by Charles and Camilla starts in St. John's on Tuesday, then sees Charles and Camilla in Ottawa on Wednesday and the Northwest Territories on Thursday.

Ottawa, as the national capital, frequently turns up on any royal tour. With these shorter visits, it has become the practice to spread out the destinations among the provinces and territories from one trip to another.

This visit, which is part of efforts to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and 70 years as monarch, seems more focused on specific issues and current events. (There is, for example, a meeting in Ottawa with Ukrainian Canadians, where Charles and Camilla will hear their stories and about Canadian efforts to support the people of Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.)

There is a Platinum Jubilee reception at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday evening, but none of the big spectacle, state-dinner-style moments that were hallmarks of tours years ago.

The Ottawa portion of the visit includes an appearance at 10:50 a.m. ET Wednesday at the National War Memorial for a wreath-laying ceremony.

You can read more about the trip itinerary here .

You can also read more here about the nature of royal visits, particularly in the wake of the controversial visit by Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, to the Caribbean earlier this year.

The future of the monarchy and Canada's ties to it

On the future of the monarchy, several of you would ask Charles about his own priorities — broadly for the institution and for Canada specifically.

Several of you also said the time has come for Canada to sever ties with the monarchy, seeing it as an outdated, colonial institution. Others want to stay firmly connected, seeing strength in its continuity and form of government, as a contrast to places such as the United States.

One specific question on your mind here is how Canada could hypothetically cut its relationship with the monarchy.

We've looked at this issue a few times in recent months, particularly after Barbados cut its ties with Queen Elizabeth last fall.

Philippe Lagassé, a constitutional expert and associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, told our CBC colleague Jackson Weaver that it would be much more difficult to do the same in Canada. 

For Canada to amend its Constitution and replace the Queen as head of state, it would need to enact Article 41(a) of the Constitution Act of 1982. That statute requires a majority approval from "Senate and House of Commons and of the legislative assembly of each province" — meaning all 10 provinces would need to agree (though not the territories).

While a referendum is not legally required, Lagassé told Weaver it's incredibly unlikely any — let alone all — would move forward without one.

Even then, that's far from the only thing standing in the way. First, as Canada's current governing party is far from the majority that Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley's enjoyed, it would be virtually impossible to change Canada's governmental system — even if a vote did pass.

"As we saw when it came to efforts to amend the Constitution in the past," Lagassé said, "individual members have mechanisms at their disposal where they could delay or potentially derail that effort, even if a majority of members … might be in favour."

Read more about this here and here .

A monarchy in transition

Some of you are wondering about the transition to Charles as King, with questions such as how he and the Queen are preparing for it.

One vivid reflection of the transition played out in London this week, as Charles read the Queen's speech for the state opening of the British Parliament.

Queen Elizabeth missed the opening for the first time in nearly 60 years. In the announcement that she wouldn't be on hand this time, Buckingham Palace noted the mobility issues the 96-year-old monarch has been having for the past few months, which have seen her miss several public appearances and events.

Charles's reading of the speech was the latest in a growing number of events and responsibilities various members of the Royal Family have been assuming gradually for the past few years.

Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Bangor University in Wales, said Charles's reading of the speech is a "significant moment" in the transition from the Queen to her heir.

"The Queen's speech is one of the most important ceremonial occasions in the U.K.," Prescott said via email. "It's the start of the parliamentary year, and reflects the constitutional importance of the monarchy."

However, Prescott said, the Queen is "still very much in charge" and deals with state papers every day.

"Only now, due to her age, some set-piece, ceremonial occasions, such as the Queen's speech, will now be left to other members of the Royal Family, especially Prince Charles."

The "real significance" of the moment, Prescott suggested, is the glimpse it offers into the future, "of what the monarchy will look like when Charles becomes King."

"This might even further the stability of the monarchy, as people are prepared for the time when Charles takes to the throne, as they can see him performing aspects of the role."

Royally quotable

"As someone who lives with his own grief, I also know that what often matters most to the bereaved is that those we have lost are not forgotten." 

— Prince William speaks of his grief for his mother , Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997, during the unveiling of a memorial to those killed five years ago in the attack after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. 

Royal reads

Visitors at the opening day of the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa this weekend will have a chance to see Ottawa-born Princess Margriet of the Netherlands during her five-day trip to the city. [CBC]

When Queen Victoria marked a jubilee (for 50 years on the throne) there was a lavish banquet and parade, but her diary shows it was tinged with sadness , as she remembered her late husband, Prince Albert. [Daily Mail]

Sign up here  to have The Royal Fascinator newsletter land in your inbox every other Friday.

I'm always happy to hear from you. Send your questions, ideas, comments, feedback and notes to  [email protected] . Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet Davison is a CBC senior writer and editor based in Toronto.

With files from Jackson Weaver

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Royal couple's three-day visit to Canada for Platinum Jubilee cost at least $1M

Canadian taxpayers spent at least $1 million hosting King Charles III, who was then Prince of Wales, when he visited Canada earlier this year.

The RCMP provided a breakdown of the nearly $450,000 in costs it incurred for the three-day visit this past May by Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, who was then Duchess of Cornwall.

The Mounties spent around $235,000 on travel and about another $212,000 on overtime.

They say there may be additional costs to process, adding that the totals do not include regular salary costs, benefit plans or supporting units.

The price tag is merely a portion of what the visit cost taxpayers, as other departments such as Canadian Heritage, were involved in hosting the royals during their travels to Newfoundland, Ottawa and the Northwest Territories.

The Department of National Defence says it also spent around $568,000.

"This includes the costs of flying the Airbus Polaris and associated support services to transport members of the Royal Family, along with personnel for the royal tour as identified by Canadian Heritage," a spokesperson said.

King Charles visited Canada to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2022.

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Prince Charles and Camilla Announce a Canadian Tour

The royal couple will return to Canada in celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee.

In celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are headed to Canada for a three day royal tour from May 17 to May 19, 2022. On the first day, the royal couple will travel to St. John’s and Quidi Vidi in Newfoundland and Labrador; on the second, they will be in Ottawa; and on the last, they will be in the Northwest Territories to visit Yellowknife and Dettah.

The trip's purpose is twofold: to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and to highlight Prince Charles's sustainability work. "The Prince of Wales has long believed that we need to learn from Indigenous Peoples around the world how better we should live in and care for nature and the planet," a statement from Clarence House reads. "Canada is seeing the impact of climate change and so this tour will highlight an emphasis on learning from Indigenous Peoples in Canada as well as a focus on working with businesses to find a more sustainable way of living with global warming."

Camilla has familial ties to Canada; her great-great-great grandfather Sir Allan Napier MacNab was a Canadian politician who served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada for two years. Camilla is now the royal patron of Dundurn Castle , McNab's former home, which is now a musuem.

Prince Charles has visited Canada in an official capacity 18 times; he first visited in 1970 Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and Princess Anne. In 1991, Charles and Princess Diana toured Canada with their sons Prince William and Prince Harry. He most recently toured the country in 2017 with Camilla.

"They will have the wonderful opportunity of seeing first-hand the diversity and kindness of Canadians and the beauty of our abundant natural landscapes that make us proud to call our country home," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement about the royal tour. Trudeau recently visited the United Kingdom, where he met with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle in the British monarch's first in-person engagement following her recovery from COVID-19.

Canada's Governor General Mary Simon also released a statement saying she and her husband are excited for the royal visit. "As we celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year, Whit and I will be delighted to welcome Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to Canada," Simon, who is Canada's first Indigenous governor general, also said, "This visit is a chance for us to showcase the evolution of our country, our diverse and inclusive society, as well as the resilience of Indigenous communities."

Canada holds the honor of being the country most visited by Queen Elizabeth during her reign; she has toured the nation in an official capacity 22 times over the last seventy years.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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$14,000 for photos? Adding up the bills for a princess's two short visits to Canada

Two short trips to Canada by Princess Anne this year cost taxpayers at least $131,000, CTV News has learned.

The King’s only sister visited the country for three days in May to celebrate the 175th anniversary of a New Brunswick military regiment, and then again in early June to attend a weekend conference in Banff, Alta.

More than 60 per cent of the bill for the brief trips – or $80,181.80 – came from costs linked to Royal Canadian Mounted Police security, such as $52,297.50 in overtime and $26,179.71 in travel.

In New Brunswick, the Canadian military spent $27,246.00, including $14,457.19 for air force transportation within Canada and $12,789.09 for costs associated with parade attendance. The New Brunswick government's $24,570.85 bill featured $13,694.96 for photographic services and $2,689.48 for a driver.

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The costs also include fuel, meals, per diems, hotel amenities, tech supplies, shipping and more.

RCMP – $80,181.80 National Defence – $27,246.00 New Brunswick – $24,570.85 TOTAL – $131,998.65

"The costs seem low; they're consistent with her previous trips to Canada," Kathy Brock, a professor in the school of public policy at Queen's University, told CTVNews.ca. "The RCMP costs are going to be the largest share, and that's because really Canada does not want to have something happen to a royal when the royal is visiting our country."

The total of $131,998.65 in bills uncovered by CTVNews.ca does not include normal operational costs such as government, military and police salaries, or costs to U.K. taxpayers. Cost data was provided directly to CTVNews.ca by the RCMP and the Department of National Defence, while New Brunswick figures were obtained through a freedom of information request. Other costs could still be processed.

"It's hard to believe our governments couldn't figure out a way to do this for less than six figures," Canadian Taxpayers Federation director Franco Terrazzano told CTVNews.ca. "We're not saying someone's uncle should be taking photos from his iPhone, but surely photos shouldn't be costing taxpayers nearly $14,000. Governments need to do more to earn taxpayers' trust on these trips."

The two journeys were considered working trips and not official visits to Canada, like King Charles' ceremony-filled three-day Royal Tour in May 2022, which cost at least $1.4 million , according to a previous CTVNews.ca investigation.

• King Charles III's three-day visit to Canada cost taxpayers at least $1.4 million
• How much does the monarchy cost Canadian taxpayers?

Princess Anne was in New Brunswick as the ceremonial Colonel-in-Chief of Canada's oldest continuously serving armour and cavalry regiment, the 8th Canadian Hussars, often referred to as the Princess Louise's. The military regiment invited the Princess Royal to attend its 175th anniversary celebration, which ran from May 19 to 21 in Sussex and Moncton, where she attended parades and delivered remarks. She has held the honorary position since 1972.

The princess is also the president of the Commonwealth Study Conference , which was founded in 1956 by her late father, Prince Philip.

The conference for "high potential emerging leaders" is held every six years. In early June, the princess attended the conference's opening weekend in the mountain resort town of Banff, Alta., where she delivered remarks at a June 3 reception and met with 250 delegates from more than 30 Commonwealth nations.

"Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal's deep and abiding affection for the people of Canada is demonstrated by her extensive visits programme and her long-standing patronage of the wide range of Canadian military affiliations she holds alongside her support of many charitable organisations," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told CTVNews.ca.

Princess Anne is involved with more than 300 military regiments, organizations and charities worldwide, including at least 17 in Canada. She has been to Canada approximately two dozen times .

Generally considered the "hardest-working royal," she appeared at 214 engagements in 2022 , more than any other member of her family. According to Canadian Heritage, an official Nov. 10 to 11, 2014, trip to Canada by the princess cost $128,000, excluding security.

"One thing about Princess Anne is she's very low-key on her visits," Brock, a political scientist, said. "She's known as one of the hardest working royals, but also one of the ones who's most efficient with their money."

The RCMP provided protection for both 2023 trips: $44,234.23 was spent for security in New Brunswick, while $35,947.57 was for Alberta. The Canadian military and New Brunswick government only contributed to costs associated with the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) anniversary.

"As part of the celebrations, 37 Canadian Brigade Group supported the Freedom of the City parades in Moncton and Sussex in New Brunswick that were associated with this anniversary," a National Defence spokesperson said in a email to CTVNews.ca. "The 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) and its members were honoured to have had the Regimental Colonel-In-Chief, Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal attend their 175th anniversary celebrations."

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, an RCMP spokesperson explained that Canada's national police force is mandated to provide security to so-called "International Protected Persons" (IPPs) in the country.

"The level of protection/security is determined by Protective Services, taking into consideration the status of the visitor and the visit itself, the threat environment and a number of other factors," the spokesperson said. "To ensure the safety of our members, those we protect, and the integrity of operations, the RCMP does not disclose information in relation to the planning, tactics or protective postures that are adopted for any given individual and/or event."

Former New Brunswick MLA James E. Lockyer, who previously served as the province’s attorney general, is also Honorary Colonel of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) and helped plan Princess Anne's visit. 

"She was outstanding and she was engaged and she took in all of the events," Lockyer told CTVNews.ca. "One of the instructions we got from her office was that she wanted her days jam-packed, and they were jam-packed."

According to Lockyer, approximately $375,000 was also raised in corporate and private donations for the May 2023 events. He says the princess arrived in Canada on a commercial flight and was in New Brunswick for three nights. He called the trip a "sign of commitment" and a "private visit to her regiment."

"She's visited the regiment on a number of occasions, most recently in Fredericton and Moncton in 1997, and when she learned that we were celebrating the 175th, she indicated a desire that she wanted to come to this," Lockyer said. "It was a significant success."

The Monarchist League of Canada previously calculated the cost of the country's ties to the throne at approximately $58.7 million per year .

"RCMP security would always be provided to members of the Royal Family when they are in Canada as we are ultimately responsible for their safety while here whether it's an 'official' tour or a 'private' in-and-out visit," the pro-monarchy league's dominion chairman, Robert Finch, told CTVNews.ca. "I think (Princess Anne) brings a lot of value to the Royal Family and the monarchy and, quite frankly, Canada is lucky to have her as part of the royal team."

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Royal couple's three-day visit to Canada for Platinum Jubilee cost at least $1M

By Stephanie Taylor in Ottawa

Canadian taxpayers spent at least $1 million hosting King Charles III, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, when he visited Canada earlier this year. 

The RCMP provided a breakdown of the nearly $450,000 in costs it incurred for his three-day visit in May, accompanied by Queen Consort Camilla, who was then the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Mounties spent about $235,000 on travel and about $212,000 on overtime pay, but didn't say for how many officers.

There may be additional costs to process, the RCMP said, adding that those totals do not include regular salary costs, benefit plans or supporting units. 

Policing costs for the most recent royal visit were far lower than what RCMP spent in 2016 when Prince William and his wife Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, toured Canada. 

Their eight-day visit in British Columbia and Yukon had cost the Mounties almost $2 million. 

So far, the biggest bill from the King and Queen Consort's trip this year was related to travel. The Department of National Defence reported spending about $568,000 to transport the royal couple using military aircraft.

"This includes the costs of flying the Airbus Polaris and associated support services to transport members of the Royal Family, along with personnel for the royal tour as identified by Canadian Heritage," a spokesperson said. 

But the $1-million price tag for policing and travel only represents part of the overall cost of the visit. 

The department of Canadian Heritage was in charge of hosting the royals during their travels to Newfoundland, Ottawa and the Northwest Territories. It picked up the tab for thousands in hospitality costs as they celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September. 

For example, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez approved nearly $18,700 worth of food and drink expenses for department officials and members of the former prince's staff who journeyed to Canada for the visit, according to a briefing document he signed that was released to The Canadian Press under access-to-information law. 

That included $8,400 for a 200-person reception at Rideau Hall hosted by Governor General Mary Simon, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended with the royal pair. 

"It is customary for hospitality costs, including those for Clarence House staff, to be assumed by the host country," the document read, referring to the King's London residence.

The document, dated in April, said the British delegation was anticipated to range from 20 to 30 staff and that during the tour, temporary offices would be set up for them in Ottawa's Chateau Laurier hotel.

A separate cost breakdown, which was also released to The Canadian Press under federal access law, shows the department spent at least $17,000 on music and other ceremonial events during the visit. 

For a welcoming ceremony in Newfoundland, $3,000 was paid to have Deantha Edmunds-Ramsay, the country's first Inuk opera singer, to perform for the royal couple. Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples had been cited as a major focus of the trip. 

The department spent another $3,500 for music by the Ennis Sisters, a Celtic-inspired trio from the province, plus $1,250 for group The Celtic Fiddlers. 

A spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage said the final total for hospitality costs won't be ready until the end of the current fiscal year in March 2023. 

Canadians also footed the bill to have dignitaries including Trudeau and former prime ministers Stephen Harper, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin travel to the United Kingdom for the Queen's state funeral in September — as well as the ceremonial events staged in Ottawa that were attended by members of Parliament and other officials. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2022.

Banner image via The Canadian Press

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Royal Tours of Canada

Article by Carolyn Harris

Published Online December 6, 2012

Last Edited March 10, 2023

There have been royal tours of British North America , then Canada, since the late 18th century. Early tours focused on the relationship between the monarchy and the military , while later tours included diplomacy, philanthropy, and the Crown ’s relationship with Indigenous peoples .

Early Royal Tours

In the 18th century, two of King George III’s sons visited British North America during their respective naval and military careers. Prince William, the Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV), visited Newfoundland as captain of the HMS Pegasus in 1786. Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent ( Queen Victoria ’s father), was posted to Halifax and Quebec City and toured what is now Ontario in the 1790s. He was named commander-in-chief of the British North American forces in May 1799 but left the following year due to ill health. The Duke of Kent was the first public figure to describe both English and French Canadians as “all his Britannic Majesty’s Canadian subjects.” Prince Edward Island is named in his honour.

Queen Victoria’s Family

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald invited Queen Victoria to open Canada’s first post- Confederation parliament on 1 July 1867. However, she declined and never visited Canada in person. Her son, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), and her grandson, the Duke of Cornwall and York (the future King George V), made high-profile tours of Canada in 1860 and 1901, respectively. These tours were organized to acknowledge Canadian contributions to the Crimean War (1853–56) and the Second Boer War (1899–1902). They also provided a framework for future tours, including speeches, meetings with First Nations representatives, visits to prominent Canadian sites, gift exchanges and philanthropy. The presence of the Duchess of Cornwall of York (the future Queen Mary) on the 1901 tour led to greater recognition for Canadian women’s organizations and more social events with both men and women.

Resident Royalty

In addition to tours, royalty have lived in Canada for extended periods of time. Queen Victoria ’s son-in-law, Lord Lorne , and daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta , lived at Rideau Hall for long periods during Lorne’s term as governor general (1878–83) and made the first royal tour of British Columbia in 1882. Queen Victoria’s third son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught , served as governor general from 1911 to 1916 and lived in Ottawa with his wife Margaret, Duchess of Connaught . His daughter, Princess Patricia , became honorary colonel-in-chief of Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry Regiment during the First World War . Patricia’s cousin, Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone , was vice regal consort from 1940 to 1946, while her husband, the Earl of Athlone , was governor general. Royal tours by the Connaughts and the Athlones focused on the military, wartime charities and preparations for war.

King Edward VIII

As Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII first visited Canada in 1919 to acknowledge Canadian contributions to the First World War . During the 1919 tour, Edward purchased a ranch in Alberta , which he kept after his abdication as king in 1936 and did not sell until 1962. Edward made official visits to Canada and private visits to his ranch in the 1920s and 1930s, achieving celebrity status. The prince, his Canadian tours and his ranch are mentioned in novels by Canadian authors, including Robertson Davies , Lucy Maud Montgomery and Timothy Findley . Edward was the first member of the royal family to describe himself as a Canadian on his tours of Canada. In a 1919 speech in Calgary , he stated, “I came to Canada as a Canadian in mind and spirit.”

The 1939 Royal Tour

King George VI was the first reigning monarch to tour Canada. In 1939 , he and his wife, Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) , travelled across the country by train and made a four-day visit to the United States. It was one of the most popular royal tours in Canadian history and reinforced critical Anglo-Canadian and Anglo-American relations on the eve of the  Second World War .

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II is the most traveled monarch in history and has visited Canada on more than 22 occasions, including the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, Canada’s Centennial and Expo 67 in 1967, the Montreal Olympics in 1976, and the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982. During these tours, she has acted in her official capacity as Queen of Canada, opening Parliament for the first time in 1957 and delivering the Speech from the Throne in 1977. The Queen’s most recent visit to Canada was in 2010, when she and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated Canada Day on Parliament Hill. At a 2010 official dinner at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto , Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a hockey -themed speech that praised the Queen as Canada’s “Most Valuable Player.”

Modern Royal Tours

Since the mid-1990s, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh , the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ( Charles and Camilla ), and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ( William and Catherine ) have made official visits to Canada, where they are formally invited and received by the prime minister . Other members of the royal family make working or private visits organized at the provincial level with their charities and military patronages in Canada. Recent official visits include Charles and Camilla’s visit to Nunavut , Ontario and the National Capital Region to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017, William and Catherine’s 2011 tour of Ontario, Quebec , Prince Edward Island , the Northwest Territories and Alberta (their first overseas tour as a married couple) and their 2016 tour of British Columbia and the Yukon with their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Recent working visits include Prince Harry ’s visit to Toronto in 2017 in his capacity as patron of Invictus Games (his first public appearance with his future wife, Meghan ). Sophie, Countess of Wessex (now Duchess of Edinburgh), visited Toronto in 2019, touring hospitals where she is patron and promoting a new initiative to support women in financial careers. Royal tours were suspended temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Interested in the monarchy?

Further Reading

Philip Buckner, Canada and the End of Empire (2004)

Arthur Bousfield and Garry Toffoli, Home to Canada: Royal Tours 1786-2010  (2010)

Ian Radforth, Royal Spectacle: The 1860 Visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada and the United States (2004)

External Links

The Royal Visit A video documentary of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Royal Tour of Canada in 1939. From the National Film Board of Canada.

CANADIAN TOUR OF HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES Watch an extended video featuring scenes from the 1919 cross-Canada tour of HRH The Prince of Wales. From British Pathé on YouTube.

Recommended

Constitutional monarchy, king charles iii, camilla, queen consort, prince william (hrh the prince of wales), catherine (hrh the princess of wales), prince harry (the duke of sussex), meghan (the duchess of sussex).

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Canada Letter

Canada’s federal budget goes from big secret to ‘roadshow’.

Breaking with Canadian tradition, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been crisscrossing the country announcing measures from the April 16 budget in advance.

By Ian Austen

Even for a country with a system of government that is prone to keeping things confidential, the secrecy that once surrounded federal budgets stood out.

For decades, both Liberal and Conservative federal governments gradually eroded that once seemingly sacred concept with selective advance leaks.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken it to a new level. Instead of leaks attributed to anonymous sources, the prime minister has been traveling the country to give Canadians a preview of a variety of major budget measures. Many of them appear to be intended to lure back younger voters to his Liberal Party, including spending to increase housing, expanding child care programs and introducing a national school food program.

There may be little in the way of big announcements left for Chrystia Freeland, the finance minister, to unveil when she presents the actual budget on April 16.

“This preannouncement of the budget roadshow — we’ve never seen that before at the prime ministerial level,” Jonathan Malloy, a political scientist at Carleton University who studies Parliament, told me. “There has to be an election next year and the government is not doing well in the polls. So that’s an important factor. He needs the coverage; he needs the supposed good news.”

Mr. Trudeau’s approach is a stark contrast to the one taken by Louis St. Laurent, who was the Liberal prime minister from 1948 to 1957. To avoid having secretaries or clerks learn about budget measures in advance, Mr. St. Laurent made his finance ministers personally type their budget speeches .

A vast budget secrecy machine developed over time. Copies of the federal budget were flown across the country by the air force and escorted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to branches of the Bank of Canada, where they would be locked up until the finance minister spoke. Government printers were locked down in printing plants and reporters were locked up in conference rooms, along with officials and political staffers offering spins and explanations, to review the mountain of paper in advance.

“Over time, it became almost a fetish that this was just a uniquely secret document,” Professor Malloy said.

Leaks were taken seriously. In 1989, Doug Small, a reporter for Global TV, broadcast details of the upcoming budget after obtaining a summary version from a government employee who, in turn, had received it from someone he knew at a recycling plant. Mr. Small and four other people were charged with theft and possession of stolen property. A court threw out the case.

Unlike budgets in the United States, Canadian budgets are not the subject of protracted negotiations and amendments. They either pass more or less as presented or the government falls.

So the most common explanation for the secrecy is that it prevents people from taking advantage of, say, tax changes to profit financially. Professor Malloy said, however, that there was little evidence of people trying to do that in the past.

But keeping the major piece of legislation secret until the last minute, he said, can allow governments to bury, or at least divert attention from, potentially unpopular measures within it. Tamping down leaks also prevented lobbying within the government by departments looking for more money, he added.

The decline in budget secrecy may also reflect the diminished economic importance of the budget itself. When Canada’s economy was more isolated and less driven by global forces, government tax and spending changes had more profound effects on it. So much so that during the 1960s, the accounting office in Windsor, Ontario, where my father was a partner annually installed a Telex machine to immediately, if noisily, spew out the text of the budget.

“If you go back to St. Laurent and further in the past, the budget was more about affecting the economy,” Professor Malloy said. “But over time, the budget became storytelling. It’s less about how we’re going to shape the economy now. It’s more about what the government is doing in general.”

Trans Canada

My colleague Norimitsu Onishi traveled to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, to write about how African immigrants have revived a remote mining community. Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, a photographer based in Montreal, also vividly captured the scene.

This week, the commission on foreign interference in elections released details from a top-secret intelligence report that warned about continuing attempts by the Chinese government to meddle in specific Canadian government races in 2021. And Han Dong, a former Liberal member of Parliament, testified that high school students from China were transported by bus to vote for him.

Jacob Flickinger, a 33-year-old dual citizen of the United States and Canada, was one of seven World Central Kitchen workers who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Eleanor Collins, who was widely regarded as Canada’s “first lady of jazz” during the 1950s and was known for her mastery of the standards as well as her commanding performances on radio, early television specials and in nightclubs around Vancouver, has died. She was 104.

Joe Flaherty, an actor who played a variety of characters on “SCTV” including Guy Caballero, the sleazy president of the station; Sammy Maudlin, an unctuous late-night talk-show host; and Count Floyd, a host of “Monster Chiller Horror Theater,” has died. He was 82.

Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, two Canadian brothers, have each pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in a Trump Media insider-trading scheme .

The On Location feature in Real Estate looked into the renovation of two saltbox houses in Salvage, Newfoundland.

Researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University have found that garter snakes can distinguish themselves from others, using not sight but scent.

Eric Asimov, the chief wine critic of The New York Times, singled out Dear Margaret, a French Canadian restaurant, for having one of the best wine lists in Chicago .

Michael Roston, a senior editor on the Health and Science desk, explained how he would be coordinating Vjosa Isai, me and 28 other journalists to cover the total solar eclipse that will travel from Mexico through the United States and then Eastern Canada on Monday. The Times has also prepared a guide to eclipse viewing .

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for two decades. Follow him on Bluesky at @ianausten.bsky.social .

How are we doing? We’re eager to have your thoughts about this newsletter and events in Canada in general. Please send them to [email protected] .

Like this email? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here .

Ian Austen reports on Canada for The Times based in Ottawa. He covers politics, culture and the people of Canada and has reported on the country for two decades. He can be reached at [email protected] . More about Ian Austen

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How to apply

Additional changes to entry, testing and quarantine requirements in response to the Omicron variant

There are temporary changes for all travellers, including Canadian citizens, regardless of their vaccination status.

Additional restrictions and requirements now apply to these countries:

• Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe

News release

Changes to border measures

New border measures include

• rules for re-entering Canada, if leaving for 72 hours or less
• who is considered fully vaccinated
• rules for travelling within Canada

Starting January 15, 2022, there will be new rules for who can enter Canada as an unvaccinated or partially vaccinated traveller.

Learn more about the new measures

Venezuelan passport holders

You may need to complete extra steps when you fill out your application .

If the printed expiry date on your Venezuelan passport has passed

If the printed expiry date has passed and you’re applying for a visitor visa, study permit, work permit or to extend your stay as a temporary resident in Canada, follow these steps:

• Add 5 years to the printed expiry date shown on your passport and enter it in the expiry date field of the application form.
• Include a letter of explanation with your application stating: “I am a Venezuelan national with a Venezuelan passport, which has been extended for 5 years”.

Warning: If your passport is still expired after adding 5 years to the printed expiry date, your passport is considered expired. You’re not eligible to submit an application with that passport.

Prepare documents and apply

The reason you’re traveling to Canada determines the way you apply and the documents you need to submit with your visa application.

Why are you applying for a visitor visa?

• To visit as a tourist
• To visit for business
• To visit your spouse or partner who has sponsored you for permanent residence

What is your family member’s status in Canada?

• Canadian citizen
• Person registered under Canada’s Indian Act
• Canadian permanent resident
• Temporary resident in Canada
• For compassionate reasons
• None of the above

Do you plan to visit your children or grandchildren for more than 6 months?

You may be eligible to apply for a Super Visa

A super visa lets you visit your children or grandchildren for 5 years at a time. It’s a visa that provides multiple entries for a period up to 10 years.

Find out how to apply for a Super Visa

Step 1 Gather documents

Gather these documents to submit with your visa application and bring when you travel.

About the documents listed

• Not all documents listed below are required—some are optional.
• This is not an exhaustive list of acceptable proof to support your visa application.
• Only submit the recommended documents that prove you’re eligible for a visa.
• Even if you submit all the documents listed, there is no guarantee that we’ll approve your application.
• We may request more information from you in addition to what is listed here.

Documents we accept:

• passports (regular, official or diplomatic)  from most countries (see exceptions below)
• alien’s passport for stateless persons
• US Permit to Re-Enter (Form I-327)
• US Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)
• other refugee travel documents for non-citizens

Documents we don’t accept:

• any passport issued by Somalia
• non-machine-readable passports issued by the Czech Republic
• temporary passports issued by the Republic of South Africa
• provisional passports issued by Venezuela

A clear, colour copy of your valid passport or travel document that you’ll use to travel to Canada

If you have a passport, you must provide a copy of

• the page that shows your birth date and country of origin
• any pages with stamps, visas or markings

If you have a travel document, it must be issued by a government and include your

• date of birth
• document number
• citizenship or residency status
• expiry date (if applicable)

Submit this document with your visa application.

Family members or third parties who apply on behalf of the applicant need to complete this form.

Submit the completed form with your visa application.

Each applicant 18 years or older must complete this form.

Submit the completed form with your visa application

Documents needed depend on whether a child under 18 years of age will travel with only 1 parent, with a relative or friend or alone.

You may need to show

• a letter that authorizes the minor child to travel to Canada
• other documents, such as adoption papers or a custody decree, depending on if the minor child travels alone or not

Consult Minor children travelling to Canada .

Submit these with your visa application.

• Show the border services officer when you arrive in Canada.

If you’ve travelled to Canada or to other countries, this can show that you’ve been able to get a visa in the past.

Proof of this includes copies of previous visas in your passport.

Include a clear copy of 1 or more of the following:

• your previous passports and/or visas (used within the last 10 years to travel outside your country)
• entry and exit stamps
• study and/or work permits that indicate your duration outside of your country
• expired or valid visas

Submit this document with your visa application

Documents that show how long you plan to stay and what you’ll do in Canada

Include copies of any of the following:

• flight details
• hotel reservations
• registration for an event

This can help us understand if you have enough money to support yourself during your stay in Canada.

Bank name and contact This allows us to contact your bank or financial institution with questions.

Proof it is your account Your name and address on the statement show that the account is yours.

Account details At least 6 months of account details, including balances, helps us understand your financial situation.

Use this form if you want to allow Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to release your personal information to someone you choose.

The person you choose will be able to get information on your case file, such as the status of your application.

Business visitor

A clear, colour copy of your valid passport or travel document that you'll use to travel to Canada

Submit this with your visa application.

A clear copy of 1 or more of the following:

• study and/or work permits that indicate your duration outside your country

Copies of any of the following:

A letter from your employer can confirm that you have a stable job and will return to it. It can also show that your employer supports your visit to Canada.

The letter should be printed on your employer’s official letterhead.

The letter should include the following:

• date, no earlier than 3 months before you apply
• confirmation that you have a job with the employer
• your full name and date of birth
• date you started the job
• brief description of your job
• current salary
• contact information of your manager
• phone number
• email address
• employer information
• company name
• state or province
• Your manager or human resources contact should print their name and sign the letter.

A letter from a business or company in Canada

It can confirm that your purpose for visiting Canada is valid.

A copy of the letter from the business or company inviting you to Canada

• The letter must be written to you from the business or company.

Consult the details to include in the letter .

Visit your spouse or partner who sponsored you for permanent residence

Proof of your relationship with the person or family member inviting you to Canada

This can include a copy of

• a marriage certificate
• Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union (IMM5409)
• a birth certificate
• an official document naming you as a parent

Each applicant 18 years and older must complete this form.

The documents needed depend on whether a child under 18 years of age will travel with only 1 parent, with a relative or friend, or alone.

• other documents, such as adoption papers or a custody decree, depending on whether the minor child travels alone

Consult Minor children travelling to Canada

A letter written by your family member in Canada

A copy of the letter from the family member inviting you to Canada

• The letter must be written to you from your family member.
• current Salary

Complete the form that declares you and your partner are in a common-law relationship. Also provide proof that you and your common-law partner have combined your affairs and set up a household together.

What is a common-law partner?

Proof can include

• joint bank accounts or credit cards
• joint ownership of a home
• joint residential leases
• joint rental receipts
• joint utilities (electricity, gas, telephone)
• joint management of household expenses
• proof of joint purchases, especially for household items
• mail addressed to either person or both people at the same address

Faster visitor visa processing for spousal applicants

If you’re being sponsored for permanent residence (PR) by your spouse or partner, you could benefit from faster processing for a visitor visa.

You may be eligible if you

• submitted an application to be sponsored for permanent residence
• received an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) that confirms the application is in progress

Applications that need more information, for example custody documents for a child, will take longer to process.

When your sponsor receives the AOR for your permanent residence application, you can apply for a visitor visa. If you’re eligible, your visitor visa application will automatically receive faster processing. You don’t need to request it.

You must still meet all of the requirements to be eligible for a visitor visa .

Visit family (Canadian citizen, person registered under Canada’s Indian Act, or permanent resident of Canada)

Submit with visa application

Visit children or grandchildren Super visa option

Submit this with your visa or super visa application.

For super visa applicants only

Proof that medical insurance for at least $100,000 coverage has been purchased from a Canadian insurance company.

A copy of the insurance certificate or policy you received for medical insurance coverage for 1 year with a Canadian insurance company.

Submit this with your super visa application.

Documents that show that the super visa applicant’s child or grandchild meets the low income cut-off minimum.

Submit one of the following documents:

• If the child or grandchild does not have a paper copy of their notice of assessment on file, they can view and print their tax returns as well as other personal tax information using the Canada Revenue Agency My Account online service.
• a copy of the child’s or grandchild’s most recent T4 or T1
• an original letter from the child’s or grandchild’s employer stating their job title, job description and salary
• a letter from an accountant confirming the child’s or grandchild’s annual income, if they are self-employed.
• proof of other sources of income (pension statement, investments, etc.)

A document confirming that you had an  immigration medical exam (IME)

The exam must conducted by a panel physician authorized by IRCC.

Get complete details about how to get a medical exam with a panel physician.

Submit this with your super visa application, or wait for instructions from the visa office.

Visit family (temporary resident of Canada)

A letter written by your family in Canada

Documents that show how long you plan to stay and what you’ll do once in Canada

Visit for compassionate reasons

A clear, colour copy of your valid passport or travel document that you'll use to travel to Canada.

• Show the border services officer when you arrive in Canada

A letter written to you from a person or business inviting you to Canada

A copy of the letter from the person or business inviting you to Canada

• registration for an event.

Step 2 Apply through the IRCC Portal

Step 2 apply.

To apply for a visitor visa to visit Canada on business, you need to qualify as a business visitor.

To qualify, you must show that:

• you plan to stay for less than 6 months
• you don’t plan to enter the Canadian labour market
• your main place of business and source of income and profits is outside Canada

Business visitor activities include business meetings, special events or training for a few days or weeks.

If your meeting, event or conference is registered with us, include the event code in your application. You should get this code from the organizer.

Note: If you plan to stay for more than 6 months, or if you plan to work in Canada, you may be considered a temporary worker and have to  apply for a work permit .

To apply online, you need a scanner or camera to create electronic copies of your documents, and a valid credit or debit card.

Read the instruction guide before you complete your application. As an online applicant, you can ignore steps 3 and 4 of the guide (paying the fees and submitting your application).

If you’re applying for the first time , you must pay the biometrics fee when you submit your application (unless you’re exempt). Otherwise, you may experience delays.

Apply through the IRCC Secure account

Sign in to your IRCC secure account

Apply through the IRCC Portal

Only for tourists, visiting for business, family visits, compassionate reasons

Sign in to the IRCC portal

Applying on paper for specific situations

If you need a visitor visa to travel to Canada, you must apply online for one. Only online applications will be accepted and processed. However, you can apply on paper if:

• you can’t apply online because of a disability or
• you’re travelling with an identity or travel document that was issued to a refugee, a stateless person or a non-citizen

The application package includes an instruction guide and all the forms you need to fill out.

Read the guide carefully before you complete your application . We will not refund your application fee, so make sure you need a visitor visa before you apply.

Each individual applicant must submit a completed application form. Applicants under the age of 18 must have this form signed by a parent or a guardian.

Download the application package .

Pay your application fees

In most cases, your fees will include processing fees for you and anyone you include on your application.

If you’re applying for the first time, you must pay the biometrics fee when you submit your application (unless you’re exempt). Otherwise, you may experience delays.

Third-party fees

Depending on your situation, you may need to pay third parties for

• your medical exam
• a police certificate

Our instruction guides (opens in a new tab) can help you understand which fees apply to you.

Submit your application

Families should send their individual applications in one package. The principal applicant must send this combined package to the location where their application will be processed.

Select the country/territory you’ll be applying from to find out where to submit your application. You can choose your country of nationality or the country or territory where you have been legally admitted:

• Afghanistan
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• British Virgin Islands
• Burkina Faso
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Cayman Islands
• Central African Republic
• China (People’s Republic of)
• Comoros Island
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Czech Republic
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Hong Kong SAR
• Liechtenstein
• Marshall Islands
• Micronesia (Federated States of)
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• North Korea
• North Macedonia (Republic of)
• Palestinian Authority (Gaza)
• Palestinian Authority (West Bank)
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Sierra Leone
• Solomon Islands
• South Africa
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Switzerland
• Timor-Leste (Timor oriental)
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turkmenistan
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• US Virgin Islands

If you need to give biometrics (fingerprints and photograph), and you’re applying on paper, submit your application in person . VAC staff will check that it is complete and will confirm that you have paid the correct fees before you can give your biometrics.

Credit cards and prepaid cards

We accept the following credit cards and prepaid cards:

• MasterCard ®
• American Express ®
• UnionPay ® (for online applications only; debit cards not accepted)

If you use a prepaid credit card, keep it for at least 18 months after you pay to make refunds easier. Find more on prepaid cards .

We also accept all Visa Debit cards.

The card you use doesn’t have to be in your name. The cardholder’s name will appear on the receipt but it does not need to match your application.

Debit cards

• be from a Canadian bank using INTERAC ® Online
• be registered for online banking through your bank’s website

We also accept all Debit MasterCard ® and Visa ® Debit cards. If your card has the Visa Debit logo on it, alone or with the INTERAC ® Online logo, select Visa Debit as your payment method.

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