next season trip to Canada

dvx216

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Feb 1, 2012
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Catawaba Island/Orrville,Oh.
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340 Sundancer 2001
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So we are planning to go to Leamington what is required to go and come back from Canada. Our Passports are current.
 
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So we are planning to go to Leamington what is required to go and come back from Canada. Our visa are current


We did a few trips to Canada this past summer. Arriving in Canada there’s a number to call Canadian border patrol to let them know your arrived. They will ask you a series of questions about everyone aboard and a few questions about your vessel. If you have pets you’ll just need to make sure they’re vaccinations are up to date and bring any documentation you have. And of course bring your passports!

Arriving back in the US my wife as I both have Global Entry pass which made it pretty simple. We used the CPB Roam app when we arrived at our marina.
 
My word of advise is to do your own research. I called that number and was given advise from several experienced boaters on what to do when entering Canada. The result was 2 seized boats, $2000 in fines and placed on a watch list and not eligible for a nexus card for 2 more years after being given a report number and checking in with Canpass.
 
This is the kind of thing I've run into on the internet it is very foggy on what are the steps to prevent any problems even when you go to the Canadian border site. I would love to go to Leamington but not if it means running into any problems.
 
This is the kind of thing I've run into on the internet it is very foggy on what are the steps to prevent any problems even when you go to the Canadian border site. I would love to go to Leamington but not if it means running into any problems.
Going over is easy. You stay off shore stop and call canadian customs. This call can be made from the moment you enter Canadian waters and before touching land. You will need a passport at a minimum you give them the passport numbers, names of everyone on board and away you go. They have the right to meet you and search the boat but rarely happens.
Same on your return
 
Couple of things to do in January so that re-entry goes smoothly. Go to dtops website and get user fee decal. Also get Border Patrol app and enter your info. Passport numer, decal number, and boat info. Makes the whole process on U.S. side very easy. Enjoy Leamington, great place to relax.
Marty
 
Always been easy for us going to ontario. Call the 1800 CAN PASS number when we hit the dock in Canada. Have a pen ready, they’ll give you a check in number that you need to put in your dock facing window. Have passports ready, boat reg #, and how much booze/tobacco ready to report.

return couldn’t be easier now that CBP has the CBP Roam app. As mentioned above, you load hour info into the app and just press check-in once you return. Takes about 5-10 minutes and you get a popup saying welcome home.
 
Going over is easy. You stay off shore stop and call canadian customs. This call can be made from the moment you enter Canadian waters and before touching land. You will need a passport at a minimum you give them the passport numbers, names of everyone on board and away you go. They have the right to meet you and search the boat but rarely happens.
Same on your return
This is not the case unless you have a Nexus card. Otherwise you are required to 'land' at what CBSA refers to as a Telephone Reporting Centre - which is just about every marina! https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/services/trsm-sdtm-eng.html They have asked where we are reporting from when we call in.

Wish they had a online submission app like the US Roam, which works very well.
 
This is not the case unless you have a Nexus card. Otherwise you are required to 'land' at what CBSA refers to as a Telephone Reporting Centre - which is just about every marina! https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/services/trsm-sdtm-eng.html They have asked where we are reporting from when we call in.

Wish they had a online submission app like the US Roam, which works very well.
It must be different at different places?... I go to grand bend and leamington all the time and just call in with passport numbers.
 
This is not the case unless you have a Nexus card. Otherwise you are required to 'land' at what CBSA refers to as a Telephone Reporting Centre - which is just about every marina! https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/services/trsm-sdtm-eng.html They have asked where we are reporting from when we call in.

Wish they had a online submission app like the US Roam, which works very well.
I run into Americans all the time that say they will go never go to Canada because of all the horror stories they have heard. This thread is another example of that.
To tell me that this is not the case is wrong... Why would I post it if I didn't do it?
To the OP here are two phone numbers
Canadian customs 1-888-226-7277
US customs 1-313-393-3793
Give them both a call and ask them the requirements for your destination.
This is not a hard process and should not be stressful or something you shouldn't do because of what you heard or read
 
It must be different at different places?... I go to grand bend and leamington all the time and just call in with passport numbers.
From the mouth of the customs agent directly. I'm sure there are cases where calls have been made from close to shore, the requirement is to 'land' and then check-in. Although, with Nexus (trusted traveller) you can call in advance. I'm sure there is some lax application of the requirement depending on who you reach but that is at your risk. Not doubting what you do.
 
Tomco is correct.

My friend and I had our boats seized and had to pay $1000 to get them back plus other fines/fees and were placed on the watchlist.

We anchored off of Peelee. Called CanPass immediately. Gave all of the appropriate information and told them our business/intentions. Was given a report number and told to place it on the boat and take a copy to shore when we went to the winery.

When we got to shore we were greeted by Border Patrol that was waiting for us. They asked if we checked in and we said yes. They asked for our report numbers and passports which we provided. Over $2000 and 5 hours later we were free to travel Canada as we saw fit. We were told that we did not check in properly that we needed to go to shore 1st and check in before we went back out and anchored. Lesson learned. Like I said before, do YOUR OWN research. obviously people's e experiences differ.
 
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We have been north into Canada (on the boat) at least 10 times now... In the beginning with just passports, we would land at the customs dock with agents or just one with a customs phone to call the agents. We then got the CAN-PASS and as soon as we crossed into Canadian waters we would call in, they would ask all the questions, what marina we would be in, give us our clearance ## to post in the window and tell us an agent could come by (never happened once). CAN-PASS is now phased out so this last year we got the NEXUS card and are able to do the same thing with the phone check-in both ways. This is just my wife and me... Because you can't do this unless everybody board has the NEXUS card.
 
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We jump back and forth all the time. Never had an issue with US or Canadian customs. When coming back into Canada we always stop at a designated CBSA dock where there are phones but typically not manned. One person is allowed to leave the boat to go pick up a phone where a CBSA agent will come up on the other end. Names of all persons aboard, passport numbers, citizenship, and how much alcohol on board are the typical questions. You’ll be assigned your clearance number and done. Easy peasy. It’s always a good idea to fly a Canadian flag (or US flag in our case as our boat is registered in Canada) from a secondary position on the boat once cleared and in the other’s waters
 
I rest my case.... these threads always end in scaring anyone trying to cross the border
My advise is do your own due diligence and talk to customs directly. They are very helpful. Canada actually wants you to come over... heck today they will pay you to stay
 
Exactly.
 
Very unfortunate experience and not typical! I have travelled (air) a lot between Canada and the US and have occasionally had the agent from hell (on both sides) - seeming random and illogical. Now that we have the boat and travel back and forth between countries I made absolutely sure I knew the procedures and follow them with no exceptions. There was just so much bad information on the dock on how to do it and what other captains do - one said they don't always check in and have never had a problem so we would be ok - not his boat at risk! To emphase this, our last trip to Clayton NY in Sept we had checked in via ROAM and were just tying up the dock lines when we looked up to see a sizeable Border Patrol officer standing there checking that we had entered properly. After the official business was taken care of we had a nice chat for 20 min … he did have an interesting point about his work. He had spent 6 yrs on the Texas border with lots of 'action'. The boating scene on the St. Lawrence was pretty tame and somewhat boring - he looked forward to finding those breaking the rules (he seemed pretty reasonable and would issue warnings).

Crossing is an easy (and almost always painless) process - even more so on the US side with the ROAM app.

Any result from filing your complaint with CBSA?
 
I've never had problems traveling internationally before or after that incident.

No action was taken after review from multiple Canadian Agencies and Government Officials. In all fairness, I was in the wrong in that situation. I should've went to shore and called in giving the Border Patrol the option to search my boat if they wanted. I wasn't a registered CanPass user. I totally missed protocol .I should've done my own research.

Oh well. Lesson learned!
 
I've never had problems traveling internationally before or after that incident.

No action was taken after review from multiple Canadian Agencies and Government Officials. In all fairness, I was in the wrong in that situation. I should've went to shore and called in giving the Border Patrol the option to search my boat if they wanted. I wasn't a registered CanPass user. I totally missed protocol .I should've done my own research.

Oh well. Lesson learned!

Still ..sounds like you got a real C$%KSUCKER for an agent. He could have and should have handled that a bit better. There's always that guy.
 

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