canadian entry
 

Can anyone tell me what I will need to drive my car into canada on vacation. I have a passport but it is not current. Do I need a birth certificate or is a photo driver liscense adequate?
What will I need for my vehicle?
Are there any items I should make sure I do not bring with me, besides the obvious such as drugs, weapons, explosives.
For instasnce what about prescription drugs. What kind of documentation will I need there?
Thanks for the help [email protected]

What country are you a citizen of? That will make a difference in regards to what documentation you need. If you are a US citizen, you will need your driver's license and birth certificate. I have never had a problem bringing prescription drugs over. Customs never asks about them either.

Common sense: no firearms, any illegal substances, sometimes they'll ask random questions, but the average traveler/tourist should have no problems. As for your vehicle, I am not sure what you mean by "what you'll need" for it.

Don't bring plants and flowers.

There may even be resrictions of some prepared foods, if you have a picnic with you, but for most people, this is not a problem.

I'm assuming you are not bringing live animals. You can do this, but there are rules.

Gandb7, for your car you need a registration document that states the vehicle owner's name and you also need a document proving that the vehicle is insured.

It is wise to transport prescription drugs in their original containers, as the labels indicate the names of the drugs, the fact that they were issued under prescription, and the fact that they were issued by a legitimate drug store.

Canada does have rules regarding minimum insurance that must be carried for motor vehicles operating there.

Best way to handle it, I think, is to to request of your insurance co. or agent a "Canadian Motor Vechicle Insurance Car" (not the exact title - but they'll know what you're talking about.

Another is to go to one of the Canadian Tourist sites, check out the auto insurance requirements, make sure you meet them and carry a copy of your policy with you.

What you don't want to have happend is get into an accident (even a fender bender) and not be able to show (even it you do have it), that you carry adequate insurance.

I've crossed from Vermont to Canada dozens of times, and have never been asked for a birth certificate. A few times I've been asked for a drivers license, and once our car was randomly choosen for a search.
The basic set of questions -
Where are you from?
Are you a US citizen?
Can I see some identification?
Where are your passengers from?
Are you carrying any firearms or alcohol?
Where are you going?
For what reason?
For how long?
Have a good trip!

One item not mentioned that cannot be brought into Canada (at least Ontario) is radar detectors.

Crossing the Canada-US border for Canadian or US citizens requires (in absence of a valid passport) both proof of citizenship (birth certificate if born in Canada/US) and government issued photo ID. You may or may not be asked for it.

If you are a US citizen, then your passport (even though expired) should be adequate (although I'd still carry drivers license and birth certificate to be sure). When we passed through last summer, we showed the agent our expired passports, and he said that was proof enough that we were US citizens (otherwise we wouldn't have had the passports in the first place).

Your problem is not getting into Canada
!
Your problem will be getting back into the United States. If yuo don't have a current passport, then you better have a birth certificate and a photo ID issued by a government agency. Usually a driver';s license alone will not suffice; you need it and your birth certificate.
I doubt very much if a driver's license alone will do it because it is not proof of anything except you drove a car for a license examiner at one point in your life.
I have never had to show anything entering Canada EXCEPT at airports.
That is a different ball game so I take my passport always. Just easier that way.

Canada does have minimum insurance requirements. Your agent should issue you a yellow card for Canada. For me it is a standard item anymore.
I forgot it once, and just took the insurance policy itself. I was never stopped so I don't know if that would have convinced the police or not.

But there is always a first time.

At the Canadian border checkpoint, take off your sunglasses, and look at the agent, answer the questions politely, and you will soon be on your way.

The only time I ever saw a vehicle searched was when I was going to Waterton park from Glacier NP. Some guy in a VW van immediately ahead of me smarted off about having enough liquor to get all the Indians drunk and enough boom boom to blow up that end of Canada. The border officers decided it was time for some exercise, so they did a full scale search. As I drove on, the outsides of the van were rapidy piling up on the pavement, even the spare tire. I don't know if the tire was taken off the rim or not. By then I was down the road and quite happy to be there.

But in all my highway crossings and airport entries. I never had any trouble with the Canadians. They are polite, professional, thorough, and efficient. My troubles since 9/11 always come from the surly Americans.
Like the guy who took my passport, looked it, and then said "What's your name?" What a jerk.
I could draw some parallels with Iraq here but I will refrain.

Just don;t try to bring any fruit into the USA. It will be confiscated.
Don't have any beef either.
Last year Alberta beef was banned.
Best to show up empty handed on the food game, except for baked goods and candy bars.

I agree that if there's any delay it'll be returning to the US. Most US inspectors are pleasant but it seems that there's many who are surly. If they've had a bad or too-harried day, you'll catch it, too. I'll tell you one thing. No matter the length of the line, the inspectors will not hurry, so its possible you can be waiting a very loooooong time in line. And if you have my luck, it seems I'm always stuck in the slowest line!
If your passport is expired, just leave the damn thing at home. It's not worth the potential hassles it might raise. Just bring a copy of a notorized/certified birth certificate for everyone on board, including children. By the way, we used to go to the orchards along the lake just outside of NOTL and buy fresh fruit by the bushel. We never had any problems returning to the US with it. Perhaps there's been a change in US customs rules?

Just get a Passport.In these post 911 days there is no valid reason not to have one.Just imagine a scenario where you are in Canada and a major incident happens in the US, or Canada, and the borders are suddenly tightened up.It seems to me the first people that will be allowed to cross are those with a valid passport.
I know this all sounds a little paranoid,but havening a passport seems common sense to me.

Last year in Calgary my wife had two apples in her carry on luggage.
They showed up on the x=ray machine and the customs officer took them from her.
the irony of it was that she bought them in Shelby before we crossed the border and still had the cashiers receipt. No dice; no apples allowed. She did not even have the option of eating them! he just took them. Bet he ate them for lunch.
Good source of free food.

I've been driving to Montreal and the Eastern Townships regularly from the Boston area for years and years. A driver's license had always sufficed, and maybe it still does.

However, the last year or two I've taken my passport. My observation at the border corssings (primarily the I-89 and I-91 crossings in VT) is that people with passports get processed far more quickly than people who use alternative means of ID.

If you have a passport, bring it. If you don't have a passport, consider obtaining one.

Taking a lady's apples from her carry-on baggage? What a moron that inspector was! Heck, some of the airlines make it known that it's ok to carry on some snacks. I'd sqawk and ask for a supervisor if some idiot inspector tried to scarf my food. What next, confiscate a baby's bottle?