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Tackster

Newbie
Jan 21, 2026
2
0
I am an Italian citizen employed in Ireland for an Irish company office. This company is a subsidiary of an American company (think Paypal, Amazon, etc.) that also has subsidiaries in Canada. However, my work contract is Irish, the company I am directly employed by is the Irish office, my pay is in Euro to my Irish bank account, etc.

I want to go visit my girlfriend in Canada and spend some months with her. During that time my goal would be to remote work from Canada under my current employment. My employer does not care, so long as I do my hours they don't even care about time zone differences. And so long as I'm there less than 6 months there shouldn't be tax implications, etc., back home. In a perfect world I would travel on an open ended ticket and return when comfortable, maybe 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, whatever is under the limit that is allowed. If necessary though I can book a return date so things are clear.

At no point would I be working for a Canadian group, with Canadian people or in any way interacting with Canada's labour market. I would not be in communication with my companies Canadian offices.

Is it possible to do all this under an ETA without having to seek a work permit? My company would not offer to help me with that, they aren't interested, this is just for me to have personal time in my relationship. Would there be issues at border control if I explained all this honestly and clearly?

Extra info in case it's relevant: The goal would be to confirm that the relationship works and if that's the case eventually look to marriage, getting Canadian citizenship and moving over permanently. But that's a long term scenario and not sure if it would be relevant/of interest/helpful to explain to border agents
 
I am an Italian citizen employed in Ireland for an Irish company office. This company is a subsidiary of an American company (think Paypal, Amazon, etc.) that also has subsidiaries in Canada. However, my work contract is Irish, the company I am directly employed by is the Irish office, my pay is in Euro to my Irish bank account, etc.

I want to go visit my girlfriend in Canada and spend some months with her. During that time my goal would be to remote work from Canada under my current employment. My employer does not care, so long as I do my hours they don't even care about time zone differences. And so long as I'm there less than 6 months there shouldn't be tax implications, etc., back home. In a perfect world I would travel on an open ended ticket and return when comfortable, maybe 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, whatever is under the limit that is allowed. If necessary though I can book a return date so things are clear.

At no point would I be working for a Canadian group, with Canadian people or in any way interacting with Canada's labour market. I would not be in communication with my companies Canadian offices.

Is it possible to do all this under an ETA without having to seek a work permit? My company would not offer to help me with that, they aren't interested, this is just for me to have personal time in my relationship. Would there be issues at border control if I explained all this honestly and clearly?

Extra info in case it's relevant: The goal would be to confirm that the relationship works and if that's the case eventually look to marriage, getting Canadian citizenship and moving over permanently. But that's a long term scenario and not sure if it would be relevant/of interest/helpful to explain to border agents

Yes this would be an issue if your employer has offices in Canada or customers/clients in Canada.
 
What can be done? Work would have no reason to sponsor me for a work visa, I'm not travelling there for work specifically. Am I just hard limited to 'visit only' without any remote work?
 
What can be done? Work would have no reason to sponsor me for a work visa, I'm not travelling there for work specifically. Am I just hard limited to 'visit only' without any remote work?

Only real option is to come to visit for a short period of time and not work.
 
What can be done? Work would have no reason to sponsor me for a work visa, I'm not travelling there for work specifically. Am I just hard limited to 'visit only' without any remote work?
Look into an IEC / working holiday visa. You can't work remotely in Canada without a work permit.