India has decided to restore the e-visa services for Canada with immediate effect. According to an official statement by the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, Canadian passport-holders who wish to visit India for tourism, business, medical or conference purposes, will be able to avail e-visa facilities starting December 20, 2022.

Although India restored the e-visa facilities suspended in view of the global pandemic from March, 2022 for 156 countries, Canada, the UK and Saudi Arabia were among countries which remained excluded from the e-visa list at that time.

The Indian government reinstated e-visas for British passport holders earlier this month.

With the restoration of the e-visa facilities, the Indian High Commission has asked Canadian citizens who qualify for the e-visa but have applied for a normal visa with BLS Centres in Canada, to vacate or cancel their appointment slots so that the same would become available to others seeking visa/consular services.

Canadian passport-holders seeking to travel to India for any purpose, not qualifying for e-visa, can continue to use the services of BLS, the High Commission said. The same process is applicable to Laissez-passer travel document holders.

The travel and tourism industry in India has been demanding the restoration of e-visa for the UK and Canada ever since it was restored for other countries in March. The government has been withholding the process citing safety and security issues so far.

Travel industry experts attribute the move by India to remove the restrictions and restore the e-visa facilities to countries which have been excluded so far to the G20 Presidency of India.

“We expect more relaxations on international travel by the government in the coming days,” said a leading inbound operator.