Travel to Canada

Travel to Canada
If you are a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident of the U.S., consult the U.S. Department of State or the Travel Canada for information about entry requirements. If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you may need a visa even for a one-day trip. Before you mail your visa application to the Canadian consulate, make sure that you have a travel signature from the current semester on your I-20 or DS-2019 form. (The Canadian Consulate will only accept visitor visa applications by mail. It is not possible to apply in person. ) Read the following information carefully. If you have any questions about returning to the U.S., please contact the U-M International Center.
Canadian Consulate in Detroit

Canadian Tourism Commission
Entry to Canada
You may need to apply for a visitor visa to enter Canada. See the list of countries.
For more detailed information concerning Visitors Visas, refer to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Additional information about immigration to Canada can be found in Canadian Immigration  from the Detroit office of the Canadian Consulate General.
Return to the United States
Carefully read the Travel Advisory.
When traveling outside the United States, you need to have the proper documents to return. If your dependents (J-2/F-2) in the U.S. will travel without you, they will need their own travel documents.
For all applicants, including tourists in the U.S., you should prepare the following documents:
Form I-94 with D/S notation or with an unexpired date (D/S means duration of status)
A valid passport containing your most recent U.S. visa. If you have obtained a new passport since you arrived in the U.S., you will need both the new and the old passports.
If your U.S. visa has expired, you may reenter the U.S. from Canada if:
You have not traveled to a country other than Canada;
You did not stay in Canada longer than 30 days; and
Your visa has not been canceled (not the same as expired) by a cancellation stamp or by automatic cancellation of any U.S. law (e.g. after the Gulf War, visas issued by certain countries were considered canceled);
You were not denied a U.S. visa at the U.S. consulate in Canada during this trip; and
You are not a citizen of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea or Cuba.
For 4 & 5, please read the detailed information in the travel advisory.
For F-1/J-1 and F-2/J-2 dependents, you should also have:
The signature of Designated School Official (for F-1/F-2 ) on page 3 of your original I-20 or the signature of Responsible Officer/Alternate Responsible Officer (for J-1/J-2) on your original DS-2019 (under "Travel Validation by Responsible Officer").
The program completion date (Item #5 on From I-20/Item #3 on Form DS-2019) is later than your intended date of return from Canada.
Special Notes for F-1/J-1 students and J-1 scholars
We will not be able to endorse your I-20/DS-2019 (nor your dependents' I-20/DS-2019) if you have completed your program (e.g. degree, Academic Training, OPT, research) and would like to travel to Canada during your grace period.
An F-1 student in OPT following completion of studies who travels to Canada temporarily (less than 30 days) can be admitted to resume employment for the remainder of the authorized training period, provided the student presents the endorsed I-20 and an unexpired EAD.