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I’m finding this thread amusing. I grew up 10 miles from the border and am a dual citizen...I have crossed the border at Niagara Falls probably 500 times over the past 25 years, including nightly club trips.
AlaskaErik brings up some good points. When you pull up to immigration, remove your sunglasses, roll down the window and have immigration docs ready. Answer clearly and just what was asked. Gone are the days pre-9/11 when it was simple or easy (in either direction).
I agree with gassing up before crossing into Canada. Don’t sweat having to get gas in Ontario, just be prepared to pay more.
You will not hit any moose. Or deer. Or beavers. Or anything if you are sticking to 400-series highways in Southern Ontario.
Do not listen to people giving you directions in Toronto such as “turn left onto Yonge St, go to the end of the road and turn left”.
Canadians generally follow the road rules better than in the US - especially NJ or NY - so if you are slower, stay to the right. Use your turn signals. When merging, most Canadian drivers will let you in, just don’t abuse it. You should be fine driving the speed limit or slightly over.
I visit someone there every month, but they wanted to know his name, how we met, what are our future plans (my response was, "I don't know, we're old and just taking this on a month-to-month basis right now."
I know they don't want people coming in and being a burden, so I said, "Look, I receive an adequate state pension and Canada health providers are considered "out-of-network" under my health insurance, but that means they still pay 80%. I have an elderly mother in NJ. I am not trying to sneak into your country."
They aren't idiots. They know if you're lying.
They are the ultimate profilers and know their job. I can cross back and forth with impunity so they don’t ask me many questions but in the days when I wasn’t a dual citizen I used to get grilled.
Be aware that you will be “profiled” by what kind of car you drive. When we go to Canada in our bland, generic sedan, we get waved right through. When we take our older, well-loved SUV, we get second-staged. Every.Single.Time. Then the fun begins. Other people we know have had the same thing happen.
You get waved right through, lol. I’d have to see that to believe it.
OP- good luck with the border interrogation/vehicle search by CBPS when you enter, then have to do it all over with USCBP when you return to the US.
I started driving to Canada monthly last year. (eastern Ontario). I was amazed how SAME it was. The minor things were different, the kms, of course, and different shaped road markers with little crowns on top.
The one thing about driving through towns on secondary roads that upset me because we don't have this in the USA is that there are chip trucks everywhere. Trucks in parking lots and along the sides of roads that sell french fries, REAL french fries made from potatoes and cooked right there. They sell soft drinks and sometimes hot dogs and whatnot, too, but you can just drive through Canada and get really good french fries without hardly even having to look.
I was questioned by a nice Canadian Immigration lady on the way over the border a couple of times ago. She said that 8,000 Americans per month are trying to move to Canada. I suspect they think it's because of something like health insurance or who is in the White House, but I know the truth. It's chip trucks.
I agree that it is the "SAME".
OP. As long as you have your passport, drivers license and any prescription drugs (less then 30 days worth) in the original container, you should be good to go.
And I have normally only ever see deer just like in the USA.
You get waved right through, lol. I’d have to see that to believe it.
OP- good luck with the border interrogation/vehicle search by CBPS when you enter, then have to do it all over with USCBP when you return to the US.
I should have elaborated. My mistake.
After we show our passports, the dog rabies verification, and state our destinations and dates, and we are driving our nondescript sedan, THEN we are waved through. In our old SUV, it’s halt, get out, get probed, be detained for an hour or more.
It's not just the vehicle that gets profiled. That's why I always wear neutral colors and shave that morning. My hair is already military-style short, so no problems there. I also take off my sunglasses prior to reaching the booth. This is for crossing in either direction.
It's more than that. It's your demeanor, your answers to questions, and the overall "feeling" you give to the inspector.
Timothy McVeigh had military style hair (as do I), so that just shows, in part, that you don't like to fuss with hair.
During some of our border entries, the inspectors and I have had some exchanges that made us both laugh, even the exchange where my wife's passport had expired by two weeks (I wasn't laughing at first ). The Canadian inspector let us through anyway.
It's more than that. It's your demeanor, your answers to questions, and the overall "feeling" you give to the inspector.
Timothy McVeigh had military style hair (as do I), so that just shows, in part, that you don't like to fuss with hair.
During some of our border entries, the inspectors and I have had some exchanges that made us both laugh, even the exchange where my wife's passport had expired by two weeks (I wasn't laughing at first ). The Canadian inspector let us through anyway.
A buddy of mine had a passport that expired while he was up in Alaska visiting. On his return trip Canadian Customs didn't care, it was US Customs that was not amused.
Check with your cell phone carrier about cell phone coverage while in Canada. Verizon has a 5 dollar a day Canada/Mexico plan. No idea what others have. I don't know what kind of car you have, but a lot of newer American cars have a speedometer that can be switched over to metric, so your speed will be displayed in kilometers.
Most American cars from the 70's on have smaller KPH markings along with the MPH markings. You do have to pay attention to which number to look at.
Never had any problems with Canadian border crossings, usually hand them my passport card and they wave me on. However coming back into the US is a different story, 100 questions and a search.
My Audi can be changed to read Kph, when doing so it also gives the temp in C and kph, if you drive a newer vehicle check in the menu's yours might do the same. City speed limits in Northern Ontario are 30kph which will feel deathly slow, all the locals will be traveling faster just don't take the bait the police love to impound cars for excessive speed.
For the first few days driving on Vancouver Island this Spring, I was the only driver obeying the posted speed limits with Canadians tailgating me. By the end of the vacation, I was going 20-30 kph over. lol.
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). The Canadian inspector let us through anyway.
