A Canadian passport is visa-exempt for short Schengen stays: tourism, visiting family, or business meetings, for at most 90 days in any rolling 180-day window, counted across every Schengen country together. The flight from Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver is long enough that people often book 70–90 days in one go. That pattern uses the entire visitor pot. A second trip the same autumn is where the 90 day rule Europe calculator earns its keep.
For Canadian travellers
- Visa: not required for short stays (tourism, family, business).
- Limit: 90 days in any 180, Area-wide — not 90 days in France plus 90 in Italy.
- Canada’s eTA is for people flying to Canada. It does nothing in Europe.
- IEC / working holiday in a participating country is a national permit, not tourist time.
- ETIAS will be the EU pre-travel check once it is mandatory; it does not add days.
eTA vs ETIAS — two different oceans
Canadians are used to telling visitors to get an eTA before they fly into YYZ. That system is Canada’s. Europe’s counterpart is ETIAS: a short online form, a fee, a decision usually in minutes, tied to your passport. It is not a visa and it does not change the 90-day cap. Apply on the official EU site only. See ETIAS basics.
The long European summer
Because the Atlantic crossing is expensive, Canadians often stay until the ticket is “worth it.” That is rational for airfare and lethal for the rolling window. Ninety days from 1 June to 29 August leaves almost nothing for a September wedding in Italy or a November conference in Berlin. Those later dates still look back into the summer.
Example: Banff to Berlin, then a second trip
You enter Schengen on 10 May and leave on 7 August (90 days). You want to return 15–22 October for a friend’s wedding. On 22 October the look-back still includes most of May–August. You may have only a few days left, or none. Check the wedding’s last day in the calculator with the summer stay entered as a past trip before you buy the second ticket.
Example: France family visit after a working summer
You hold an IEC / youth-mobility permit for Ireland (not Schengen) or for a Schengen state such as France or Germany. Time in the issuing country under that permit is not tourist 90/180. A side trip to Spain during the permit is a short stay in another Schengen state and uses the visitor allowance. If the permit ends and you remain as a tourist, you switch to the 90-day pot with whatever visitor days you already used elsewhere.
IEC, study, and “I’m just visiting cousins in Quebec’s other country”
Quebec–France family ties are real; they do not create a parallel immigration status. Visiting relatives is still a short stay unless you qualify for a family route or a French long-stay visa. Working holiday, study, and work permits are national long-stay statuses. Do not mix a tourist entry with a plan to pick up paid work.
Passport and entry checks
- Passport valid at least three months after the day you plan to leave Schengen, issued within the last 10 years.
- Proof of onward travel: a one-way ticket to Europe with no exit plan is a common refusal pattern on a first visit.
- The Entry/Exit System records days automatically. Keep your own log anyway — our calculator stores trips in the browser so you can match an EES printout later.
Using a Schengen allowance calculator from Canada
Enter every Schengen presence in the last 180-plus days, including a long connection in Amsterdam or Frankfurt where you passed border control (airside transit without entering does not count). Set the next arrival from YVR, YYZ or YUL. Read maximum continuous stay and, if you are at zero, the earliest re-entry date. Do this before the second booking, not at the gate.
This is general information for Canadian passport holders, not immigration advice. IEC, study and work rules are national — check the host country’s official pages.
Test a long summer plus a second trip
Add last season’s dates, then check the wedding or conference. Free, in your browser.Frequently asked questions
Do Canadians need a Schengen visa for a European vacation?
No. Canadian passports are visa-exempt for up to 90 days in 180. Once ETIAS is required, you need that authorisation. Canada’s eTA is only for travel to Canada.
Does an IEC working-holiday permit use the 90/180 tourist allowance?
Time in the country that issued the permit is not tourist 90/180. Short trips to other Schengen states during the permit still use the visitor rule.
Can I spend summer in Europe and winter in Canada every year on a tourist entry?
A ~90-day summer uses the whole pot. A second long trip the same year only works if enough summer days have aged out of the 180-day look-back. Check both trips in the calculator.