Residents of most Commonwealth countries and members of the European Economic Association (EEA) - which includes the UK, do not require a visa to travel to Canada for up to 6 months as long as they have a valid passport. We recommend that children should always have their own passports just to be safe, as the rules on whether children's details can be entered into a parent's passport differ from country to country. This can be a problem if Canada is not your only destination during your holiday.
Travellers are required to have sufficient funds with them for their entire stay in the country and the return to the country of origin must be confirmed, e.g. with a return air ticket or similar. Canadian laws stipulate that the passport must be valid through until the completion of the return journey home. As several airlines require the proof that the passport is valid for six months the Canadian immigration authorities prefer the passport to be valid for six months after the date of the intended return travel date from Canada. Further immigration information is available on the Canadian immigration authority website: www.cic.gc.ca.
You are allowed to take knives such as hunting and diving knives to Canada. Knives with a spring mechanism are not permitted and all fire-arms must be declared. Aside from clothing and items for personal use, travellers are allowed to enter the country with a limited amount of goods without paying taxes or duties. These items must be declared upon entry. Gift items (excluding tobacco, alcoholic beverages and advertising material) up to the value of CA$ 60 per gift can be carried duty-free or sent by mail.
For further information please visit the Canada Border Services Agency online via www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca. Visitors to Canada can carry items for personal use without paying duty. These include: fishing equipment, outboard motors, camping and sporting goods, radios, video cameras, musical instruments, laptops, etc. Although not expressly requested, it is recommended that you prepare a list of these and - if possible, attach the original purchase receipts. Regardless, you will have to declare these items upon entry at Canadian customs and show them to the customs officials when you depart. Canadian customs reserves the right to demand a deposit for any item they call into question. They will then transfer this deposit to the home address of the visitor as soon as the item is verified a having been taken offshore again.
More information is available from your foreign office, for example, for UK travellers: www.fco.gov.uk. Additionally, your local Canadian immigration office can be found www.cic.gc.ca.