Services offered at Government of Canada offices outside Canada

As a travel counsellor, you should inform your clients about the consular assistance they can obtain from Canadian embassies and consulates if something goes wrong. Your clients could run into serious difficulty while travelling outside Canada, so it is important to know which services we can and cannot provide.

Canada's consular services:

  • Overview:
    *Non-exhaustive list of Canadian consular services
    Caption text
    Travel information and advice Passport and document services Help for Canadians outside Canada
    Travel.gc.ca Notarial services Arrest and detention
    Travel Advice and Advisories Passport applications and urgent travel documents Well-being and whereabouts
    Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) Proof of Canadian citizenship Medical help and evacuation
    Voting from outside Canada Child abduction, custody disputes, child welfare
    Crises and emergencies
  • We can:
    • Provide lists of doctors, hospitals, lawyers and service providers
    • Provide a list of translators
    • Provide information on local laws and regulations
    • Contact the friends or family of someone who needs help
    • Accept regular passport applications and issue urgent travel documents
    • Help replace lost, stolen, damaged or expired passports
    • Accept applications for certificates of Canadian citizenship
    • Help Canadians vote in elections from outside Canada
    • Provide victims of robbery or violence with advice and information on local police and medical services
    • Provide advice if a child is abducted outside Canada or a person is missing
    • Ask Canadian police to notify next of kin if someone dies outside Canada
    • Help find a funeral home experienced in international funeral arrangements
    • Help to repatriate the remains of a loved one to Canada
    • Provide notarial services at some locations
  • We cannot:
    • Represent anyone in legal matters, post bail, pay fines or legal fees
    • Investigate a crime or death
    • Pay hotel, medical, travel or other expenses
    • Get anyone out of prison, seek preferential treatment or interfere in an investigation
    • Take custody of an abducted child
    • Help with immigration-related problems
    • Answer questions about immigration to Canada or Canadian visas
    • Take fingerprints or obtain a criminal record check

Visit our Assistance outside Canada page for more information on:

  • consular services
  • embassies and consulates
  • requesting emergency assistance
  • the Canadian Consular Services Charter
Help SofiaHelp Sofia!

10 - You had already discussed with Sofia and her parents the importance of buying travel insurance, but you could tell they were a little bit hesitant on the subject and had stated, “won’t the Government of Canada look after her if something happens outside Canada?” You are aware of the services that consular officers can and cannot provide to Canadians needing help outside Canada, so you inform them that for medical emergencies the Canadian government cannot (select all that applies):

 

11 - You also inform them that if Sofia is a victim of a crime, such as a robbery, or runs into legal and local law issues, consular officers can (select all that applies):


While most of our offices outside Canada offer a wide range of consular services, not all can provide passport services. Check the “Need help?” section of the Travel Advice and Advisories page for your client’s destination to find out if passport services are available in that country.


Help SofiaHelp Sofia!

12 - All the countries on Sofia’s list have Government of Canada offices, but some countries have more than one office. Knowing that not all offices offer passport services, you advise Sofia it might be wise to look it up. To get her started, you research the Travel Advice and Advisories for Nepal together, and in the Consular assistance section you find that passport services are available in this city:

Types of offices

As a travel counsellor, you should also be familiar with the different types of offices outside Canada, such as:

  • embassy
  • high commission
  • consulate general
  • consular agency

Check our Canadian Government Offices outside Canada page for a full listing of the types and descriptions of these offices.

Large-scale emergencies abroad

During large-scale emergencies, such as natural disasters and civil unrest, the Government of Canada will:

  • Provide updated information through our Travel Advice and Advisories and social media accounts
  • Send out information by email, and in some cases by phone and SMS, through the Registration of Canadians Abroad service

The Government of Canada may also help your client by transporting them to a safe location if no other means of commercial or personal transportation are available. This help would be provided as a last resort and on a cost-recovery basis.

There could also be limitations to our services, as situations vary from one location to another. This is particularly true in countries with a high potential for violent conflict or political instability, or areas recently affected by a natural disaster. In some cases, the laws and regulations of other countries may affect our ability to provide consular services.

Such unpredictable, large-scale emergencies reinforce the importance of your clients being prepared by reading our Travel Advice and Advisories often, signing up with our Registration of Canadians Abroad service, and getting travel insurance.

Date modified: