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I will be visiting Canada end of the month and am applying for my eTA.

4 years ago I was caught with possession of cannabis and was given a fine. Do I need to declare this in the eTA form?

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    Is there a question about drug-related offences in the application?
    – Traveller
    Commented Feb 14 at 1:08
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    "given a fine" sounds like an administrative thing... Were you brought before a judge and charged with a crime? In what country was it?
    – littleadv
    Commented Feb 14 at 1:24
  • I am in the same position is you, will you post an update so I know how you got on with this?
    – RSVV
    Commented Feb 15 at 7:50

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One of the questions you will be asked during the eTA Application is :

Have you ever committed, been arrested for, been charged with or convicted of any criminal offence in any country/territory?

You haven't given enough details of the offence (eg, which country it was in, and if/what you were charged with), but it seems likely that the answer to this question would be "Yes".

If you answer Yes, you will be asked to provide details of the offence - the more details you can provide, the better your chances of being approved will be. You eTA application will then be manually reviewed, and based on the details you've provided may be approved or rejected. This process will take several days, so don't be surprised that your application isn't approved/denied immediately as they frequently are.

You may be temped to answer the above question incorrectly. Whilst doing this may result in you eTA being approved, it can still be rejected at a later stage if your deception is caught - including up to your arrival in Canada where if you are found to have lied on the application you will likely be refused entry and returned to your home country!

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    It's very unlikely that Canada will refuse you entry for possession of cannabis given that possession of cannabis is legal there. However it is very likely they will refuse you entry for lying on an application.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Feb 15 at 1:00
  • Note that the eTA question specifically asks about "criminal offences". In many countries,minor violations of the law such as the possession of a small amount of cannabis are not considered criminal at all,more on the level of a parking ticket (you pay a fine,get a receipt and that's it). In those cases it's perfectly correct to answer No.
    – TooTea
    Commented Feb 18 at 8:46

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