Canada’s Ruling Party Backs New Rules for Ukrainians with Biometric Passports

(CANADA) – Canada’s ruling Liberal Party adopted a resolution backing visa-free trips for Ukrainian citizens with biometric passports, proposing entry for stays of up to 90 days within a 180-day period through an electronic travel authorization, or eTA, system.

The measure, titled “Eliminating the Visa Requirement for Ukrainian Citizens,” won majority support at the party’s 2026 convention and now stands as official party policy. It urges the Government of Canada to create eTA-based entry for Ukrainians similar to access already available to citizens of certain European countries.

That vote did not change Canada’s border rules. Ukraine still appears on the federal list of countries whose citizens need a visitor visa to enter Canada, and official Government of Canada websites do not list Ukraine among countries eligible for eTA-only access.

The gap between party policy and government policy is central to what happened this week. The Liberals endorsed a political position inside the governing party, but travelers cannot use that resolution as authorization to board a flight or seek admission at the border.

Current federal action has focused instead on Ukrainians already in Canada. On March 31, 2026, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab announced extensions that allow eligible Ukrainians to apply for open work permit extensions until March 31, 2027, for periods of up to three years.

Eligibility covers Ukrainians who arrived by March 31, 2024, along with certain later arrivals who came by December 31, 2024. The temporary public policy took effect on April 1, 2026.

Diab signed that policy on March 27, 2026. It applies to holders of valid work permits issued under earlier Canada-Ukraine authorization measures and requires valid temporary resident status in Canada.

New visitors face a different system. After the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, or CUAET, programs ended, Ukrainians seeking to visit Canada had to return to standard visitor visa procedures.

Those numbers remain large. Since 2022, Canada has approved more than 960,000 CUAET applications out of 1.2 million received, and about 248,000–300,000 Ukrainians and family members arrived through the program.

That record gives the Liberal Party resolution a wider political context. Canada has already admitted a substantial number of Ukrainians under emergency measures tied to Russia’s invasion, while Ottawa has recently concentrated on temporary status extensions for those already here rather than opening a new lane for short-term entrants.

The proposed system would mark a clear shift if the government adopts it. Instead of requiring a visitor visa in advance, Ukrainians with biometric passports would seek travel clearance through an electronic travel authorization for short visits, the same basic model the party resolution points to in some European arrangements.

Nothing in the current rules shows that change has taken effect. As of April 2026, the eTA-based approach remains a party commitment awaiting government action, with no confirmed timetable for implementation.

That leaves two parallel realities in place. Politically, the governing party has signaled support for easier travel by Ukrainians with biometric passports; administratively, the entry system still requires a visa for new visitors from Ukraine.

The distinction matters most for people making immediate travel plans. Airline staff and border officials work from federal entry rules, not convention resolutions, and those rules still treat Ukraine as a visitor visa country.

The Liberal resolution sets out detailed parameters for any future change. It calls for short-term stays of up to 90 days within a 180-day period, a structure commonly used in visa-free travel systems that cap the duration of visits while allowing repeated short entries within a broader window.

Even with that detail, the proposal remains exactly that, a proposal. Ottawa has not designated Ukraine for eTA-only access, and the government has not announced a start date, regulatory change or operational launch tied to the convention vote.

What Ottawa has announced is narrower and more immediate. The work permit extensions unveiled on March 31, 2026 target Ukrainians already present in Canada under earlier measures, and the public policy that began on April 1, 2026 ties eligibility to existing permits and temporary status.

That approach fits the recent direction of federal action. Rather than reopen emergency entry pathways for new arrivals, the government has extended legal stay and work options for people who came under CUAET and remain in the country.

The volume of earlier arrivals explains part of the pressure on policy choices. Approving over 960,000 applications from a pool of 1.2 million and receiving roughly 248,000–300,000 Ukrainians and family members through CUAET placed Canada among the countries that responded on a large scale after 2022.

Short-term travel rules now sit in a separate policy debate. The Liberal Party’s convention delegates endorsed removing the visitor visa barrier for Ukrainians carrying biometric passports, but the federal government has not yet converted that party position into a formal change at the border.

Until that happens, the practical rule remains unchanged. Ukrainians planning new visits to Canada must continue to apply through the standard visitor visa system, not an electronic travel authorization.

Anyone watching for a shift will need to follow formal federal announcements rather than party resolutions alone. The next signal would come if the government updates its visitor visa rules, adds Ukraine to eTA-eligible countries, or announces how and when any new visa-free trips system would begin.

For now, the clearest measure of Canada’s policy toward Ukrainians is not the convention floor vote but the legal framework already in force: extended work options for eligible people inside the country, visitor visa requirements for new arrivals, and an eTA proposal still waiting for the government to act.