I grew up in Toronto. I've lived in Medellín for years. And I can tell you the number of Canadians who land here and immediately lose 4 or 5 percent of their budget to things they could've handled in 20 minutes before leaving.

This isn't another generic packing list. It's the stuff Canadian travel blogs miss because they copy American sources, and the stuff your bank doesn't volunteer because they make money on the gap.

Banking: the one thing that matters most

The biggest avoidable cost on your trip is foreign ATM and currency conversion fees. The Big 5 Canadian banks are not your friend here. RBC, TD, BMO, Scotia, and CIBC all charge a 2.5 percent foreign transaction fee on debit and most credit cards, plus a flat $3 to $5 per ATM withdrawal, plus whatever the Colombian bank charges on top.

On a two-week trip, that's easily $150 to $300 in fees for nothing.

What to actually use

Wealthsimple Cash is the best option for most Canadians right now. No foreign transaction fee, no ATM fee on their end, and it's tied to the real interbank exchange rate. Load it before you fly, use the Mastercard everywhere, pull pesos from Bancolombia or Davivienda ATMs when you need cash.

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite still works if you already have it. Zero foreign transaction fee, decent travel insurance built in. The annual fee is $150 but if you're going to Colombia for two weeks and using it as your main card, you break even easily.

EQ Bank is a solid backup. The World Elite debit card has no foreign transaction fees and gets you a cash pickup option. Not as clean as Wealthsimple for daily spending but good to have as a second card in case one gets frozen.

The move

Load Wealthsimple Cash as your primary. Bring a Scotiabank Passport Visa as backup. Leave your big-bank debit card at home or only use it to pull emergency cash inside a bank branch.

ATMs in Colombia: avoid the 28% scam

Euronet ATMs. The yellow ones. You will see them everywhere, in airports, malls, tourist zones. They will offer to convert your withdrawal to Canadian dollars "for your convenience." The rate they offer is roughly 28 percent worse than the real exchange rate.

Always decline conversion. Always choose to be charged in Colombian pesos. Always use a Colombian bank's ATM instead: Bancolombia, Davivienda, BBVA Colombia, or Banco de Bogotá. They have higher withdrawal limits, better rates, and actually belong to banks.

Withdraw during business hours, inside or adjacent to a bank branch if possible. Take out larger amounts less often. Each withdrawal has a fee.

Flights: the actual routes that work

From Toronto (YYZ), the two real options are Air Canada direct to Bogotá (BOG) and Avianca direct to Bogotá. Both fly daily. Flight time is about six hours. Air Canada tends to be more expensive, Avianca more reliable on luggage.

There's no direct flight to Medellín from Canada. You'll connect through Bogotá, Panama (Copa), or the US (usually Atlanta or Fort Lauderdale). The Bogotá connection is shortest; the Panama route on Copa is often cheapest.

From Montréal (YUL), Air Canada has seasonal direct service to Bogotá. Otherwise you're connecting in Toronto or the US.

From Vancouver (YVR), you're always connecting. Best options go through LAX or Houston. The total travel day is long, plan on 14 to 18 hours door to door.

When to fly

December through February is peak: high prices, crowded tourist spots, perfect weather. June through August is the other peak for northern hemisphere summer travelers. The quiet windows are April to May and September to October. Prices drop, the weather is still excellent in most of the country, and nothing important closes.

Visa reality for Canadian passports

Canadians get 90 days on arrival, no visa required, no application, nothing to pay in advance. You can extend once for another 90 days by visiting Migración Colombia inside the country. Maximum total stay per calendar year is 180 days on the tourist visa.

Your passport needs to be valid for the duration of your stay. A return or onward ticket is technically required though rarely checked. Nothing else. This is one of the easiest entries in the Americas for a Canadian.

If you're thinking of staying longer, or working remotely from here for months, there are legitimate longer-term options. Read the visa guides before you assume anything.

Phone and data: get an eSIM before you land

Skip the physical SIM card hustle. Buy an eSIM from Airalo or Holafly before you leave Canada. Activate it when your plane lands. You have working data in 30 seconds.

Prices are roughly $20 to $40 for 10 to 20 GB over two weeks. That's enough for Uber, maps, WhatsApp, and casual browsing. Don't trust your Canadian carrier's roaming packages. Rogers, Bell, and Telus all charge roaming fees that make the eSIM look like a rounding error.

If you're staying longer than a month, buy a local SIM from Claro or Movistar at any shopping mall. Bring your passport. You'll pay roughly 20,000 to 40,000 COP a month for more data than you'll use.

Health insurance: the one you actually need

Your Canadian provincial health insurance does essentially nothing abroad. OHIP covers some emergencies at a fraction of actual cost. The others are similar or worse. Do not rely on this.

What you want:

Colombian private hospitals are excellent and inexpensive by North American standards. A visit to a decent clinic in Medellín for a stomach bug costs around 150,000 COP, roughly $50 CAD, paid in cash or card. For anything bigger, you want insurance.

The weather thing Canadians get wrong

Colombia is tropical but it's also enormous and the altitude changes everything. Bogotá at 2,640 metres is cold year-round, averaging 14°C, and it rains constantly. You will want a fleece, a light rain jacket, and closed shoes. Medellín at 1,500 metres is an eternal spring, 22 to 25°C every day, no exceptions. Cartagena at sea level is brutally humid, 30°C plus, the kind of heat that makes your shirt wet in 10 minutes.

Pack for 3 climates if you're doing a normal multi-city trip. One layer for cold Bogotá mornings, tropical-weight stuff for Medellín and the coast, and honestly you'll live in the same 4 shirts the whole time. Nobody here is checking.

Spanish: more important than Canadians expect

English proficiency in Colombia is lower than it is in Mexico or Costa Rica. Outside tourist zones and business districts, functional English is genuinely rare. Uber drivers often don't speak any. Older shopkeepers don't. Many restaurants don't have English menus unless they're specifically targeting tourists.

Ten words of Spanish changes everything. Hola, gracias, por favor, cuánto, la cuenta, ¿puede repetir? If you can ask for the bill and understand numbers, you'll get through most situations. Duolingo for a month before you fly will get you embarrassingly far.

Canadians tend to be politer than most North American travelers, and Colombians notice. Lean into it. A por favor and gracias go further here than in most places I've traveled.

The short checklist before you fly

What most Canadians still miss

They underestimate how big the country is. They assume they can see Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, and the coffee region in 10 days. They can't, not without spending half the trip in airports. Pick 2 places, maybe 3, go deep.

They don't budget for pesos in cash. Colombia is still heavily cash-based outside major restaurants and hotels. Tips, small cafés, tienda purchases, street food, most of the interesting stuff runs on cash. Pull out 300,000 to 500,000 COP when you arrive and you'll be fine for a few days.

They over-plan. The best parts of a Colombia trip tend to be the unscheduled ones: the coffee farm that someone recommends over breakfast, the pueblo day-trip from Medellín that wasn't on the list, the Sunday walk in Parque del Poblado that turns into dinner with strangers. Leave room.

If you want help turning this into an actual trip, that's literally what I do. A free 20-minute call, and I'll tell you whether I can help or whether you're fine on your own.