US/Canada Border Crossing

Status
Not open for further replies.
I cross over at the Johnstown/Ogdensburg crossing on a fairly regular basis and never have any problem with the US CBP. The US CPB guys at the Ottawa airport are somewhat more strict - I was asked once why I didn't bring business cards to a meeting in Washington...

I did get held up by CBSA a couple of times for not having receipts for goods in the last 30 years, once for trying to bring back asparagus roots back to Canada, and once for having Weed and Feed fertilizer. Don't try importing fertilizer into Canada unless you have the proper permits...
 
Don't tell them that you are temporarily working in Canada. Better to tell them that you are in training. Ask me how I know this...
 
We also have Nexus cards, but an EDL is more convenient if you don't cross much at rush hour. (Nexus lanes are open mostly at peak times). You can use the Nexus card on flights between the US and Canada, inside Canada, or inside the US and any land or water crossing. (I'm hoping one day soon to kayak back and forth to Canada) The interview was pretty harsh with CPB, but those folks are way overstressed with the border issues. You have to cut them a lot of slack. We usually cross at the Detroit/Windsor tunnel or Blue Water bridge. I've only been stopped once, on the Canadian side, and that was for a random inspection. Very polite when they removed my car seats. They even put them back together (!) , and I still made my flight from Windsor.

One thing I've learned is to never bring fresh fruit or vegetables, or meat. The rules for what your can bring change all of the time. If you forget, tell them, and they will toss out whatever you can't bring. Also declare all of your booze. 99% of the time they don't care, and they can make things very expensive if you don't.

My best story was crossing to get home on 9/11 when they sealed the border. I expected to be stuck in Toronto for a few weeks, but the ferry crossing at Marine City, MI was still open, the locals were still going back and forth to buy gas and beer, and the cyclists to ride along the Canadian riverfront. Sadly, the ferry dock was destroyed by ice a year or two ago and it hasn't been rebuilt.
 
I had to make 2 trips to Guelph, ON last summer. (mom was going on a girls trip with some of her HS class mates, the Nearest one lives in Guelph, one trip up to drop her off, return 10 days later to pick her up)

Heard too many horror stories about the traffic, and...firm tendencies...shall we say at the ambassador Bridge, and i'd never driven a tunnel before(flat land northern ohio), so on the way up we Took the Tunnel. getting into Canada is a Breeze. the only thing that stood out is, when the guard asked why we were coming into Canada.:
So what's the Purpose of your Visit?
- I'm Taking Mom to visit an old school friend in Guelph.
Oh, you went to School in Canada mam?
-no, Boarding School in India...My Parents were Missionaries.
Oh, well have a nice Visit! Good Day.

on the way back home the next day, I took the 403? up to Sarnia, and Crossed @ the Blue Water Bridge, as that's the one dad Dad liked best when they used to go Rice lake.
I don't know if I Looked Shifty ( bladder Bursting, and Car Running on Fumes) but I got the 3rd Degree on the "anything to declare" question.
mom had purchased some Indian Groceries for me to bring home, and I guess I wasn't describing what i had well enough(I wasn't 100% on what i had anyway)...eventually she just had me pop the trunk so she could see for herself. after a minute, she closed the trunk and told me i was good to go.

on the next trip up, took the Tunnel both times, no real dramas. the US guy on the way back in asked some rather odd questions....
there was the "and does this vehicle belong to one of you?"
"Are you Two Related?" - yes, she's My Mother (we look alike, same last name, and same home address on both passports...)
the "You'll have to speak up, I've been to too many concerts"

All this AFTER we waited at the Empty booth(the OPEN light was on) for a couple minutes before he walked out of the nearby building and shouting at his buddy in the next booth over that he was over in the casino...
 
I've most likely been over the US-Canadian border many times, while working on the Maine Forest Rally in the past (upper northwest corner of Maine), without even knowing it, on the 7 Islands' owned forestry roads.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted by dailydriver
I've most likely been over the US-Canadian border many times, while working on the Maine Forest Rally in the past (upper northwest corner of Maine), without even knowing it, on the 7 Islands' owned forestry roads.
wink.gif



Back in 2006 I bought a cheap Canadian car on Ebay that didn't meet USA safety or emissions requirements. The only way I could bring it back was as parts, defined as a vehicle without an engine or transmission. So after paying the seller, I pulled the engine and transmission in the guy's driveway. That went pretty smoothly and after loading the parts into the van and the car on the dolley, I made a run for the border. I had previously spent hours on the computer looking at satellite images of the border on Google maps within 100 miles, looking for one lane or dirt road border crossings. They were all blocked with jersey barriers or fencing even back then due to the 9-11 attacks. Settled on an out of the way crossing with one officer in a small trailer office. He was hesitant in letting the car in, but after educating him on the difference between a car and parts, he made a few calls and 10 minutes later I was allowed to go through.
 
Originally Posted by Pelican
Who remembers when we could cross either border by just showing a driver's license?
smile.gif
I do!

I remember when I could drive into North Dakota without even stopping. If you had a semi-reasonable car and looked semi-sane and had a Saskatchewan plate on the front (we had front plates then), you just got waved in. The only time pre-9/11 that I actually ever spoke to an American border guard was when flying to the States.

As Snagglefoot mentions, the return is always the bad part, and always was. It's against our Canadian identity to pay less than an hour and a half of minimum wage for a pack of cigarettes or a dozen beer, so all returning Canadians are subject to a cavity search.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by Kestas
Decades ago it was a breeze to cross the border. Things have gotten really uptight in the past 18 years. Going to Canada is not much of a problem, though I have run into some shakedown. They are really adamant on not letting anyone in who has had a DUI. These people are persona non grata. Once the leading question was "have you ever been fingerprinted?"



It's interesting you mention that because if you are in law enforcement or security fields you need to be fingerprinted for background checks.
I have my credentials for my jobs that will answer the reason why luckily when we cross.

Oh and attitude....true, I have never been treated rudely by the Canadian Border Guards...even though I am a US citizen, but I've been treated very rudely by our own crossing guards..it's unprofessional and shameful. Does make the US look bad too.


IIRC, all military personnel have been fingerprinted since at least the 1970s. My stepfather was fingerprinted for his security clearance, my sister for a background check (working with children), me for a chauffer's license.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by dailydriver
I've most likely been over the US-Canadian border many times, while working on the Maine Forest Rally in the past (upper northwest corner of Maine), without even knowing it, on the 7 Islands' owned forestry roads.
wink.gif



Back in 2006 I bought a cheap Canadian car on Ebay that didn't meet USA safety or emissions requirements. The only way I could bring it back was as parts, defined as a vehicle without an engine or transmission. So after paying the seller, I pulled the engine and transmission in the guy's driveway. That went pretty smoothly and after loading the parts into the van and the car on the dolley, I made a run for the border. I had previously spent hours on the computer looking at satellite images of the border on Google maps within 100 miles, looking for one lane or dirt road border crossings. They were all blocked with jersey barriers or fencing even back then due to the 9-11 attacks. Settled on an out of the way crossing with one officer in a small trailer office. He was hesitant in letting the car in, but after educating him on the difference between a car and parts, he made a few calls and 10 minutes later I was allowed to go through.

So...what was it?
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted by Squirrelee
Last year, we got up early to head over to St. Catharines for breakfast and I sleepily pulled right up behind the guy in front of me at the guard booth. For those who don't know, you're supposed to stop at a stop bar 50 yards back from the guard booth and wait until you're signaled to pull forward. My wife just about died - lol. The guy in the guard booth just shoved his hand out the window and motioned me back. Once we were signaled to move forward, he didn't even mention it. I assume he sees that quite a bit.
crazy.gif



I got yelled at, and I do mean YELLED at, for crossing that line. Back in the early 90's my wife and I had just begun dating and were crossing over to go to Niagra falls for a few hours while cutting through New York. I had never been over the border before and simply wasnt paying attention. I felt like an idiot, because after the guard came out of the booth and yelled at me I did look around and noticed the big bold sign that said to not cross the line until motioned forward, but she went off on me like no other, she was steaming mad. I backed up, waited and a minute or so later I was motioned forward and handed her our ID's. To her credit she did apologize for going off on me, and I said sorry I just wasnt paying attention the way I should have and that I had never crossed the border before. Then she started going off about rules and regulations and I need to pay attention and this and that and was snarky all over again. She started the whole barrage of the regular questions and finished off with asking how long we would be in Canada. By then I had lost my desire to even be there and said "Just a few hours, to see the falls from the other side. We wont be here long, we might get lunch and spend $20 or so, and then we will be out of here. And to be honest, I'm already kind of looking forward to leaving." For whatever reason even after me after mouthing off like that she let us through. And not two minutes later we came to an intersection and some hitchhiker/backpacker young hipster type guy walking along the road starts waving his arms and pointing and yelling at us to get out of his country, he hated the U.S., how dare we step foot in his country, we are a bunch of warmongers, etc etc. My wife looked over and said "Is it just me or do you not feeling welcome here?" Everybody else we ran into was nice as can be but those first few minutes were a little rough.
 
You just have to know what crossings are easier to cross at and which arent. Ive never had much trouble, but some crossings its almost like they are to busy to be messing around with this stuff...
Ive found the USA side is always more in thorough.

Your attitude has ALOT to do with it too. My FIL sometimes acts like a smartmouth, and he has been completely torn down more than once. And detained for a few hours. And he is in his 60s.

I also taken guns into CA, and they are SUPPOSED to verify serial numbers etc. They were to busy talking hockey. They stamped and signed my paperwork, I gave them $$, and they told me I was good to go. Never even looked at my guns. LOL
 
We cross over the border into the US about once a month and it's usually pretty easy but there was one time I was asked to pull over to the side and have my car checked (going INTO the US no less, which is very unusual as it's more common for a CDN citizen to be pulled over when returning from the US) That stop was annoying because that time we were going across to pick up a package that was shipped to the UPS store and we were very tight for time and made it there with only 5 minutes left before they were closing for the night!

I do have a funny story from last year when my wife and I drove across to the US in the Corvette. As I was stopped at the booth talking to the border agent, a couple of other border agents were walking around the car and one of them approached my open window and asked me "is this car from the Toronto area? We have reports of a stolen Corvette from Toronto matching this description and we're going to have to confiscate it for a few days" but as he was saying that he couldn't keep a straight face and then he started laughing and said "just kidding, have a great day!"
laugh.gif


We routinely will just go across for a couple of hours, grab some food, pick up a few things from Walmart, fill up with cheaper US gas, and then come right back home again. I have found that they'll let you spend about $150 or so on those trips and you won't have to pay any duty, but if you go over that amount (unless you've been over for 48 hours or more) then they'll have you pay the duty. It's not that expensive anyhow, so I don't understand why people try to lie to the border guards. Just be honest with them and you'll have no problems. There is no point getting yourself "black flagged" as a trouble maker if you like crossing the border a lot.

When my wife and I retire in 2022 we want to move to the Niagara region which is right beside the border, so we'll probably cross over once a week and buy all of our gas and most of our groceries there. At that time we'll get the Nexus pass so that we can cross over quicker.
 
If you do get the Nexus Patmen, make sure you always declare everything when coming back. I have one and like you said, purchases of about $150 are ok. A friend with a nexus did not declare anything and was pulled over for inspection. He had about $100 worth of goods but they took away his nexus and made him pay duty.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
I'm a Canadian and used to cross the border on business. I always had a passport but picked up a Nexus card to get in the fast track at customs. They also allow the Nexus card to be used for flights between Canadian cities. My card expired so I applied on the internet for new one ($50 US for 5 years). I always get courteous fast service from the US agents. The Canadian agents treat me like a criminal when trying to get back into my own country.
smirk2.gif



When driving back into Canada I always have a full tank of gas, a 6 pack of Coors and some of those tasty corn nuts.
laugh.gif


Yuk corn nuts.
 
At least one Canadian customs agent remembers me. I drive to Montreal occasionally to visit the Rolls Royce aircraft engine overhaul shop. It's always a very straightforward crossing.
 
Standard questions.. fruit etc. We were in the RV both times. We just answer the questions and nothing more. Don't take it personal just go on. Funny though no questions at all entering Thailand. Laos might be another story!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top