National Defence has issued a travel bulletin to Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and civilian Defence employees outlining how Europe’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) and the upcoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will affect official and personal travel. The notice, dated 10 April 2026, stresses that CAF personnel and their families must carry supporting documents to prove NATO SOFA status or other exemptions when the biometric systems go live on 26 April 2026. EES replaces the manual passport-stamping regime with a central EU database that records biometric data and the exact days spent in the Schengen Area. ETIAS—scheduled to follow later in 2026—will require pre-travel authorisation comparable to the U.S. ESTA. While many military travellers qualify for exemptions, these need to be flagged proactively at border crossings; failure could lead to denied entry, fines or even bans. The Defence bulletin urges travellers to familiarise themselves with CANFORGEN 048/26 guidance (available on DND’s secure network) and to travel with NATO orders, military ID and, where applicable, Status of Forces Agreement certificates for dependants. It also recommends building in extra airport time as border-guard training ramps up across France, Germany and Italy. The advisory is a reminder for all Canadian organisations with Europe-bound staff—not just the military—that entry procedures will soon become more rigid and data-driven. Corporate travel managers should update checklists to include ETIAS applications (expected to cost €7) and reinforce the 90/180-day Schengen rule, which EES will now track automatically.
