I am coming to Canada for 6 months but because I might wish to travel a bit in the US afterwards do not want to buy a return ticket back home. My question is, do Canadian immigration officials require a return ticket to enter the country (like the US does)? I have checked the Candian immigration site and I can see nothing that suggests they do, but just wanted to know what everyone else knew.

hi there , i was wondering this myself , and a member on here last year , advised a return ticket always , because , they want to make sure you are going to leave .......
they can be a bit strict in my experience , but maybe someone can advise you better on this
good luck
sharon

Looking at the prices, few single tickets make much sense. BA have a return for £390 so may just get that.

My daughter and I arived on a one way without a visa - the story goes:
Hubby came 1st and got a 3 month work permit.
We came 2 weeks before his work permit ended.
Daughter and I got 6 month visitors permits.
Hubby's work permit finally granted.

The issue of only having a one way ticket was not mentioned, but that could be because when I was asked the reason for our visit I told them we were here to live and she directed me straight to immigration

Probably a good call, even if you throw the return portion away. If you have a one-way ticket, your problems could easily begin at check-in. When I migrated to Canada in 2000 I had a one-way ticket. The Air Canada check-in person at Heathrow didn't like that at all, until I showed her my permanent resident visa.

As I understand it (no-one has ever given a legal reference otherwise) a return ticket is not a legal requirement for entry to Canada as a tourist. However:

- if you do get questioned by Immigration on arrival, not having a return ticket sends all the wrong signals (unless you have a good explanation why not); and

- some airlines don't like this unless you're a Canadian citizen/PR,so get confirmation in writing from them that it's ok before spending money on a ticket.

You may want to consider a single to Canada and a single from the US so that you can "prove" your plans! If you're travelling for a long time (more than 6 months) check your visa requirements.

It may be cheaper to buy a return + a single US domestic, e.g. fly into Montréal, visit Canada & the US and, say fly from San Francisco back to Montréal for your return flight.

Yeah, this is what I thought. As I am heading to Whistler for the ski season I would have a pretty good explanation, but given I am turning up there with no work visa (i am not actually going to work but have to convince them of that!) it seemed that having the return ticket out would probably make things easier.