Both consulate general and consulate offices strive to support international relations with the United States and to provide information about its neighbor to the north. Consulate general offices are generally bigger than consulates as they provide more services. Consulate general offices process visas and immigration requests, while consulates do not, according to the Canadian embassy. Consulate offices usually are under the jurisdiction of consulate general offices.
Consulate general offices are located throughout the United States. Each is assigned responsibility for Canadian affairs in surrounding states, per a list with addresses on the embassy's website.
Offices are located in Chicago for Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa's Quad-Cities; Denver for Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah; Los Angeles for southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada's Clark County (Las Vegas); New York City for south and eastern New York State, Connecticut, New Jersey and Bermuda; Seattle for Washington state, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon; Atlanta for Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee; Boston for : Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon; Minneapolis for Minnesota, Iowa except the Quad-Cities, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota; San Francisco; Buffalo for western, central and upstate New York State,West Virginia, and western and central Pennsylvania; Detroit for Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio; Miami for Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Dallas for Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Consulate offices are branch offices of consulate general offices. These offices are located in San Diego (Los Angeles), Houston (Dallas); Anchorage (Seattle); Raleigh (Atlanta), and Phoenix (Los Angeles). The Philadelphia consulate stands on its own, serving eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and Camden County, New Jersey.
U.S. citizens and legal residents do not need visas for short visits to Canada. However, they must provide proof of legal residency such as a passport or green card.
Citizens of other countries should check the embassy's website to determine if they need visas, according to the embassy located in Washington, D.C. Canada does not issue visas at the border or point-of-entry, so visitors need to obtain these in advance.
