Working remotely in Canada for Danish company - Visa type and process?

[Zretty]

Hi.

I run a Danish online marketing company in which I help Danish e-commerce owners grow their traffic/revenue.

As all the work I'm doing can be done remotely, I've been traveling the world with my wife for more than a year.

Now we're thinking about traveling to Montreal for 4-6 months, maybe even more if possible.

I've looked all over the cic.gc.ca website to figure out, which visa I have to apply and I'm lost.

By reading this: cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/about.asp it sounds to me that I would eligible to enter on a Tourist Visa and be honest about what I'm doing when confronted by the immigration officer in the Airport?

My fear is, that if I apply for a Tourist Visa and then tell the immigration officer in the Airport that I'll be working remotely for my Danish company that they'll require a Work Visa instead or something else that requires us to leave Canada before entering again.

I am hoping to get your thoughts on this.

Thanks.

 

[scylla]

It's not clear what your nationality is. Are you Danish as well? If not, what passport do you hold?

 

[Zretty]

I'm a Danish citizen. Sorry for not writing that

 

[scylla]

In that case you'll be applying for an ETA (not TRV - since you are from a visa exempt country). An ETA (along with your passport) allows you to visit Canada. You can work remotely in Canada without a work permit provided none of the customers / clients your company deals with are Canadian or in Canada.

Keep in mind that you are only visitors to Canada and are not allowed to live here. And how long you are allowed into Canada is entirely up to the CBSA officer you speak to at the border. This means you should behave as visitors when you enter Canada (including having a return ticket, not packing like you're moving, and not bringing belongings that tourist typically don't bring with them). You should ideally spend more time outside of Canada than inside of Canada in any give year (or you may run into more issues at the border). If you are coming for an extended stay in Canada, it's also good to bring proof of ties to your home country (in case you're asked) to further demonstrate that you plan to leave once your visit is up. You should also be able to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds available to pay for your stay. Also keep in mind that you will not be covered by the health care system at all. I would very strongly recommend that you take our insurance to cover any emergencies (costs are very high if you have to pay for this yourself). Your insurance most likely will not cover non-emergency care (you'll need to pay for this out of your own pocket).

 

[Zretty]

Thank you so much for your answer Scylla. It was everything I needed.