The federal government is warning Canadians to avoid all travel to Venezuela, citing escalating security risks.
“The current situation in Venezuela is tense and could escalate quickly,” Global Affairs Canada said in an updated travel advisory. “Borders and airspace could close at short notice.”
The warning follows U.S. military strikes on Venezuela, targeting several sites in the capital Caracas and capturing the country’s president Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
“The Embassy of Canada to Venezuela has not been open since 2019,” the advisory said. “Our ability to provide consular assistance to Canadians in Venezuela is severely limited and done remotely.”
Global Affairs Canada’s travel advice and advisories cover more than 200 countries and territories, with each assigned one of four risk levels. The “avoid all travel” level is the most severe and includes approximately 20 of the most dangerous, volatile and repressive places on the planet, including war-torn countries like Ukraine and Yemen, those with authoritarian regimes like Iran and Russia, and countries facing violent civil unrest like Haiti and Myanmar.
Martin Firestone, president of Canadian travel insurance company Travel Secure, warns that most travel medical insurance policies will not cover you if you visit a country or region with an advisory to “avoid all travel” or “avoid all non-essential travel.”
“From a medical insurance perspective, know now that once the advisory has been called for Venezuela, that there is no coverage for any medical issue that one would have that they could link to the reason why the advisory was called,” Firestone told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “So if you were in a robbery or hurt or shot or something like that, no coverage.”
With airspace around neighbouring countries affected by the recent U.S. strikes on Venezuela, Firestone also warns that further unrest or military action could cause flight cancellations and leave travellers stranded in nearby destinations like Colombia, Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago.“That’s where it gets a little scary, is this going to affect people’s travel to other countries, even other than Venezuela?” Firestone said. “Bottom line is you have to avoid Venezuela 100 per cent, the question is, what about all the neighbouring countries?”
Travel advice for Canadians in Venezuela
In an email to CTV News on Sunday, Global Affairs Canada said it is not aware of any Canadian citizens who have been injured as a result of recent events.
The federal government advises Canadians who choose to travel to Venezuela to be prepared to shelter in place, maintain sufficient supplies of food and water, closely monitor local and international media, and register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service.
“There were 795 Canadians registered with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service as of January 4, 2026; however, this number provides only an estimate of Canadians who may be in the country as registration is voluntary,” Global Affairs Canada told CTV News Sunday.
Canadians in need of emergency consular assistance can contact Global Affairs Canada’s Emergency Watch and Response Centre by calling 1-800-387-3124 in Canada, or 1-613-996-8885 collect from outside Canada, or by emailing sos@international.gc.ca.
What Air Canada travellers need to know
In response to the situation in Venezuela, Air Canada has implemented a policy allowing customers to make changes to certain itineraries without penalty.
We have issued a travel advisory with a flexible rebooking policy for customers travelling to the Caribbean and South America.
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) January 3, 2026
For more information, please visit: https://t.co/KfJNFnbMov https://t.co/XMyIi4kqmP
The policy applies to passengers who purchased an Air Canada ticket no later than Jan. 2, 2026, for travel scheduled between now and Jan. 6, 2026, and whose itinerary includes flights to or from a number of destinations.
Eligible airports include Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as Bogotá and Cartagena in Colombia and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
Air Canada says affected passengers can change their flight free of charge to another date up to Jan. 13, 2026, subject to availability in the originally purchased cabin. Fare differences may apply for travel outside those dates.
Customers who booked through Air Canada Vacations are advised to contact the tour operator directly.
Travellers requiring assistance can contact Air Canada at 1-888-247-2262, or 1-800-361-5373 for Aeroplan flight reward bookings.
