Americans staying away in droves (from Canada)

[Newsjock]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060817.wtravel0817/BNStory/Business/home

American visits to Canada have sunk to a record low, a government report showed Thursday.

The number of same-day U.S. travellers to Canada hit the lowest since record keeping started in 1972, Statistics Canada said. Visits from the U.S. are 7.4 per cent lower than they were a year ago.

Nor is this trend a one-month blip. In the first half of the year, visits from the U.S. hit a record low amid high gas prices, perceived hassles at the border and a strong Canadian dollar. June was the second straight month that U.S. same-day car visits touched record lows.

[TexasLawyer]

1. we can't afford vacations anymore

nothing personal, Canada....

[pooja]

3. that's true.. the housing market bubble burst..

[Yupster]

11. I just spent a week in Jasper, Alberta

Absolutely beautiful, though I thought $ 18 a day just to be in the park was a bit step for weekly visitors.

[HuckleB]

46. If Canadians have to pay that much, I agree.

But for foreign nationals, that probably doesn't cover the costs of being in the park, so it seems fair to me.

[Sherman A1]

12. Agreed

the cost of gasoline alone is enough to keep you close to home.

[Blue Diadem]

28. We're so close to Canada, but we can't afford to go either

I really miss visiting there.

[pooja]

2. Canada used to be ok to visit because it was relatively cheap

even with their high taxes. Now that the dollar and the Canadian dollar are nearly equal, what's the advantage.

[Zhade]

55. 1) Nicer, more educated people

2) cleaner air and water

3) better, tastier, more interesting food. NO high-fructose corn syrup to be found (at least none I could)

3) ethnic diversity of the kind in a huge city like New York found in the tiniest rural town 20 minutes outside Vancouver

4) peace of mind, friendly cooperation (completely different from here), valuing people for being who they are

A lot more, but I'll stop. I went to Vancouver a month or so ago and can't wait to move there, let alone visit - it's so worth it.

[pitohui]

4. we went a few weeks ago and we were in fact hassled

we were nicely hassled and it is certainly no fault of canada's but my hub is now no fly'd and it was a surprising hassle to get back into the usa, they apologized all up and down, and i know it was no fault of theirs, but i can see why people would decide they just couldn't take that kind of a chance

they told us bluntly it was because he had a common name which we had, of course, already suspected when it happened before

[Gormy Cuss]

35. The nerve of him, traveling with a common name.

:sarcasm:
What a pathetic joke. I have a friend who has been hassled 3 times at the Canada border because she was traveling with her husband and U.S. Customs apparently finds it suspect that they have different surnames.

[Canadian_moderate]

45. The main reason is likely...

the fact that Americans are being hastled when getting back to the USA if they don't have passports. Since only about 15% of Americans have passports, it makes travelling outside the USA more difficult.

Due to stricter border patrol, the wait times to get back into the USA are also much longer with massive waits as cars line up to get back in.

My wife and I normally enter the USA through Buffalo (the Peace Bridge) and it's relatively easy for us there and we both travel with passports. The Queenston/Lewiston border crossing (north of Niagara Falls) is another story and the wait times can be ridiculously long. I find that American customs people tend not to be all that friendly either. Their Canadian counterparts are usually much friendler and easy going.

[pitohui]

47. not so, hubby's passport has the flag on it

his driver's license is okay for travel

they've told him that ea. time he has been stopped by customs that it's a flag on all passports in that name

[Canadian_moderate]

53. A flag on it?

You mean the customs system flags any person with that certain name? That would be another matter and it's likely a form of profiling.

Most of the time we breeze through and sometimes we end up with a cocky young gun or some other powertripper that likes to give us a hard time. One American customs officer asked my wife why she's working in Canada and pretty much questioned her patriotism along with a long series of questions and several snide remarks.

Since our baby son was born we've crossed several times and never had a problem just bringing his birth certificate for entry to the USA, though we plan to get him a separate passport shortly.

[depakid]

50. Canada will also kick people out if they have mior offenses

on their records- and they do run checks on people.

So if you've have a reckless driving ticket or a DUI sometime in your past- technically you're not allowed to enter Canada.

[Zorra]

5. I used to get hassled so much at the Canadian Border that the

little office that the Border Agents always sent me to began to seem like my second home.

[Bozita]

6. US Customs are now a problem -- Going there is no problem

Coming home is very different.

[pitohui]

8. yes it's usa customs

it is weird in canada, they have the usa customs while you're still on canadian soil, at least in alberta they do

whereas returning from latin america, if you are stopped and hassled (and you will be if you're on the dreaded list of persons w. common names) it's in miami or houston -- after you're already on american soil -- so there is not the added fear of what the fuck, what if they don't let me back into my own country?

[AnneD]

29. Hey, I'm from Houston...

and even I got hasseled by customs on the way back in. I wish there was something the city could do to improve it but it is the Feds. The waits are so long that folks miss their connecting flights.

[pitohui]

48. yes it is the feds, no knock on houston intended

i know houston wants to facilitate international travel as much as possible

[agio]

7. I just moved to Montreal

from Boston, and I am loving it up here. I haven't had any problems crossing the border, other than the typical bureaucracy of getting my student visa arranged.

The US dollar certainly doesn't buy as many Canadian dollars as it used to, but still the cost of living is lower than what I am used to. Especially rent!

Now I just need to get my French up to par, so I can order at restaurants without getting the fish-eye.

[gula]

44. Welcome to Montréal

Any newcomers who make the effort to learn and speak French are generally very well received.

Hope you have a great stay.

[Purveyor]

9. Will get even worse once the passport requirement in implemented

Yes, you will be required to obtain and possess a passport to enter Canada and return in the near future.

At $95 a pop, this will be a hefty sum for a family of 4. BTW, there is no minimum age provision. If you have a 5 day old child, he/she must have a passport.

[Dulcinea]

54. We would have liked to visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls

...but we didn't have our kids' birth certificates with us. So we stayed in the US. Too bad, because the Canadian falls are so pretty!

[area51]

10. Americans staying away?

I'd love to move to Canada if I could get a job there.

[Delphinus]

18. Someone just

reminded me of Kristalnacht and how America seems to be heading in that direction. The first place I thought of was Canada even though I didn't pass the "legal" emigration requirements.

[Eurobabe]

13. We went to BC last August, got in no problems, but

like others have said the return trip was nightmare. It took us over an hour and a half to cross back into the US at the Peace Arch during the week after lunchtime. Line moved slower than molasses in January, and we both had passports!

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aquart]

15. Or Gore. Or Kerry, dear.

[leftchick]

16. I just went to Canada for the first time this summer!

It was a pain in the ass getting back in the states. I wish Canada had kept me. :(

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DrDan]

19. it is so obvious

The weak dollar makes the trip expensive

[WePurrsevere]

20. We live on the US/Canadian Border & rarely go over there. Although

we enjoy Canada/Canadians and there's a much bigger shopping selection quite a bit closer then stateside, it can be a hassle.

We went over to Ottawa about a year ago and it was wild getting across the border both ways since we were stopped and asked inside both coming and going. Going in was because we weren't in the computer and our drivers licenses had our old addies since we had just moved, once that was quickly taken care of we were on our way. Coming back into the US was actually sort of funny in a way... the sensors picked up "radiation" on our (fairly new & new to us) vehicle.

After wanding us down, searching the car and running the car through a big car wash looking thing they let us cross deciding that their equipment was faulty. I think we also made them a bit nervous... we are the type that tend to find the humor in weird situations and are basically rather friendly (I find it often tends to diffuse awkward situations)... they expected us to be upset and perhaps even angry and instead they had 3 people joking and laughing about it. :D

[shrike]

25. Off-topic, but do you require a passport these days

to go to Canada? I've always used my driver's license, but you never know.

[DrDan]

26. yes you do - effective 1/1/06

[KurtNYC]

30. That's not correct

Per DHS:

A U.S. citizen is not required to bear a valid passport to enter or depart the United States (under 22 CFR 53.2):
...
b. When traveling between the United States and any country, territory, or island adjacent thereto in North, South or Central America excluding Cuba; provided, that this exception is not applicable to any such person when proceeding to or arriving from a place outside the United States for which a valid passport is required under this part if such travel is accomplished within 60 days of departure from the United States via any country or territory in North, South or Central America or any island adjacent thereto;

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/documentary_requirements.xml

The requirements will change at the end of this year.

edit to add:
Timing and exact changes described here:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

Don't listen to people who don't know what they are talking about. Canada is close, cheap and full of wonderful people and places. Don't let the lack of a passport stop you this year.

[annarbor]

32. Just returned from Montreal on Tuesday...

Had a wonderful time and I would live either there or Toronto if I could. You must however, present your passport when entering and leaving Canada. I flew from Detroit to the Montreal-Trudeau Airport. Had to show a passport on both sides of the lakes. I've got the stamp to prove it.

Ann Arbor

[KurtNYC]

37. And I travel to Canada regularly

with a passport and they ask for it and stamp it both ways but you do not need a passport to re-enter the US unless you travelled from the US to Canada then any 3rd country back to Canada and then back to the US.

The Department of Homeland Security website details the requirements and I have seen other travellers who used the alternate documents: valid US driver's license plus certified birth certificate or other doc on that list.

[Tempest]

41. He obviously meant 1/1/07, not 1/1/06

And come January a passport is required for travel back into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.

[GOTV]

51. I just went to Toronto and back a few weeks ago...

... I did not have and was not asked for a passport. I'm going back at the end of September as well.

[KurtNYC]

27. It is coming back that is harder

A passport is preferred but they recommend a variety of other documents if you don't have a passport. It varies also by what mode of transportation you are using to cross the border.

http://www.gonorthwest.com/Visitor/planning/border/border.htm

[Tempest]

42. You need a certified birth certificate or passport now

I just got back from Mexico and those were the only two documents they were accepting at the airport coming back.

They were not accepting driver's licenses.

[triguy46]

21. Not just canada

Many tourist destinations are feeling the benefit of the Cheyney oil policy.

[Straight Shooter]

22. Canada has lost the advantage of savings on the $$$.

I would still love to live in Canada. Their dollar is getting stronger against ours, though, and it's erased the slight economic advantage.

Same thing for vacations. Expensive to drive there, no advantage to vacationing there, not that I can even afford a vacation here in the U.S., anyway, and I don't think my car would survive the trip.

[iverglas]

23. two basic facts / factors

Both have been mentioned here:

1. The stronger Canadian dollar -- we aren't a cheap quick holiday / shopping destination any more

2. The requirement imposed by the U.S. that US citizens re-entering the US have US passports -- US citizens know what a time-consuming hassle it will be to get back across the border

No. 2 has nothing to do with us, and we have made every effort to have an exemption given from the passport requirement as between Canada and the US.

I guess we'll just have to see how Florida fares next winter, when Canadians decide whether it's worth the hassle to cross. Of course, if the Cdn dollar stays high, it just may be.

[KurtNYC]

31. Nope - if a US citizen just goes to Canada and back

there is no requirement for a Passport.

If you do not have a U.S. passport, a U.S. citizen may be required to prove citizenship by presenting a:

- U.S. state or federal government-issued birth certificate or record (note: hospital-issued birth certificates are not acceptable) or baptismal record, Certificate of Citizenship, or Certificate of Naturalization - Photo identification document, like an unexpired driver's license or military ID.

See bottom of:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/documentary_requirements.xml

But by all means carry one if you have it.

[iverglas]

33. forgive me

Nope - if a US citizen just goes to Canada and back
there is no requirement for a Passport.

There *will be*, if the current exemption is not extended. A passport or one of the new pass cards will be required.

What there already is, is time-consuming hassle which can presumably be somewhat alleviated if one is in possession of a US passport.


http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=418&art_id=qw1155885482513U236

The problem, Dow said, is that few travellers are aware of the looming deadline, and the US government has not yet developed a plan to issue proposed drivers license-like high-tech "pass cards" carrying all the information on a traditional passport.

It will be impossible to set up the pass card system by the deadline, he said, and few of the border crossers and cruise customers that do not have passports are moving to get them.

http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18immig.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=40e5827cQ2FQ51Q3CxAQ51Q26j_s7jjQ7DQ5EQ51Q5EQ2AQ2AQ2BQ51Q2A5Q51u5Q51Q3CKsaSMzQ7DjMQ51u5SllSz(aQ7DlQ3E

Published: August 18, 2006
A requirement that Americans returning from Canada, Mexico, Panama and the Caribbean islands present passports will create chaos unless it is delayed, a trade group said.

I guess we should also mention gas prices as a reason for declining visits ...

[annarbor]

34. Sorry...

I flew out last Thursday to Montreal and returned on Tuesday. A Passport WAS required.

Driver's licenses, passports and other forms of identification did not cut it.

Ann Arbor

[Gormy Cuss]

39. Sorry, but a passport isn't required YET.

KurtNYC is correct that proof of citizenship via birth certs or naturalization papers and a government issued photo ID are acceptable proxies for a passport and will be until next January for air travel and another full year for land crossings.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

[KurtNYC]

40. It may SEEM like it is required but it isn't

Here is a story from today's New York Times (although the DHS website is more authoritative IMHO):

The nation’s largest travel industry association urged the Bush administration on Thursday to delay until June 2009 putting into effect a law requiring Americans traveling from Canada, Mexico, Panama and the Caribbean islands to present passports to return to the United States.

Americans now typically present just driver’s licenses or birth certificates when returning from those areas. The law, going into effect in stages beginning in January, also applies to Canadians, Mexicans and Bermudians who can now enter the United States without passports.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18immig.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

They hassle you more when you travel by plane but I did fly back from Trudeau once after presenting only a driver's license (no passport, no certified birth cert). They treated me with contempt but let me back in none the less.

[Tempest]

43. A passport is required starting 1/1/07

If you don't have one, get it now.

[noonwitch]

24. Detroit got their own casinos

The busiest border crossing between the US and Canada is Detroit.

Casino Windsor was once the only casino around, and people were flocking to Canada. Now there are 3 casinos in Detroit, so people are staying home, especially now border security is stricter. I haven't been over since before 9-11, mainly because I don't have my birth certificate. I will have to get one in order to get a passport, anyways, since we will need them next year to go to Canada.

I'm sure the junkies still are going over to buy 222s when they can't get any smack here.

[pitohui]

49. they've had casinos in detroit for years

i won a ton at that bread factory thingy and that must have been in 2000, maybe even 1999?

wouldn't account for a sudden drop-off in canada business now

[OhioChick]

36. We used to

make weekend trips to Canada throughout the Summer months. With pay-cuts, along with gas prices.......what used to be affordable, no longer is. :(

on edit: spelling

[RaRa]

38. My parents don't have to go this year

since the Medicare prescription program kicked in. While I hate the windfall for the drug companies, I'm glad my folks are benefitting.

[mnhtnbb]

52. We were in Toronto in May. Very expensive. Hassled at the airport

on return by rude employees checking immigration forms. We didn't know that US Customs looked at passports in Toronto before you left Canada. The
airline said nothing about it when we checked in.

I won't go back anytime soon. You can spend as much in New York and have a lot more to do.

[screembloodymurder]

56. I love Canada and was in Quebec City in May, but the price of

gas forced me to shorten my trip. Next time I'll take the economy car.