Crackdown on Americans driving to Alaska through canada

[waninae39]

Americans are allowed to drive through Canada to Alaska for essential reasons, such as for work or to return home. However, they're not to make unnecessary stops along the way.

In June, Alberta RCMP issued 10 fines of $1,200 to U.S. residents headed to Alaska who stopped in Banff National Park to see the sights.

On July 10, B.C. RCMP fined an American boat operator $1,000 for entering Canadian waters for a vacation.

"It was clear the persons on this vessel had misstated their intention to travel to Alaska and had entered Canada for the purposes of tourism," said the RCMP in a statement.


This is the top part of the tag issued by Canada Border Services Agency that Americans driving through Canada to Alaska must hang from their car's rear view mirror. (submitted by Canada Border Services agency)
To try to curb the problem, the CBSA introduced stricter rules on Friday for Americans driving to Alaska.

Americans must enter Canada through one of five designated border crossings and hang a CBSA-issued tag from their car's rear view mirror that lays out the purpose and rules of their trip.

Before exiting Canada for Alaska, drivers must check in once again with the CBSA
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...aska-1.5670867

[DavidsonOverlander]

Here is more on the border closure for anyone planning a trip across it.

The Canada-U.S. border could be closed for months. Here's what you need to know now

TLDR - don't hold your breath!

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

Here is more on the border closure for anyone planning a trip across it.



The Canada-U.S. border could be closed for months. Here's what you need to know now



TLDR - don't hold your breath!

Will mean lots of campground sites open in FL this coming winter in all probability

[jcl]

Posted here on Friday with full text:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f54...-a-212065.html

Note also that the $1200 fines were levied against tourists encountered in Banff talking about how they lied to the border agency.

Also, no entrance to national parks or campgrounds for those transiting.

Maximum fines and penalties are $750,000 and 6 months imprisonment.

Jeff

[jcl]

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

Here is more on the border closure for anyone planning a trip across it.

The Canada-U.S. border could be closed for months. Here's what you need to know now

TLDR - don't hold your breath!

Good summary.

I would not be planning any cross border trip now, even for next year. Maybe by the end of next year, but that will depend entirely on how the pandemic plays out.

There is going to be a continuing economic hit for all those communities dependent on snowbird spending.

[moosetags]

I sure am glad that we took Lucy to Alaska last summer because it looks like Canada is going to be closed for a long time to come.

Brian

[Rocinante]

So, for now maybe the best way to get to Alaska from the Continental US with your RV is to take the ferry from Seattle?

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

So, for now maybe the best way to get to Alaska from the Continental US with your RV is to take the ferry from Seattle?

For most people it's the only way. in order to drive through Canada you have to have a more important reason than tourism.

[Wetfeet]

Granted Americans cannot travel to Canada, but does anyone know if Canadians are similarly restricted from traveling into the US? Campgrounds in the US are packed this summer due to so many Americans choosing camping as their vacation. If our Canadian friends cannot cross the border this fall to go to FL or AZ, there might be more campsites open. I dread the thought of going south this winter and finding campgrounds overflowing with campers like they are now.

[Mollysdad]

"It was clear the persons on this vessel had misstated their intention to travel to Alaska and had entered Canada for the purposes of tourism,"

NOT TOURISM!
I hope they didn't get the death penalty for being a tourist!
"Canada is a peaceful country and we won't abide tourists."

[Lily&Me]

Googling traveling from Canada to the US...

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...restrictions_1


Maggie

[AldeanFan]

As a Canadian I am current not allowed to travel to the US except for essential reasons.

We normally spend the bulk of our tourism dollars in the US so your economy is not benefiting from our travel this year.

[DR M]

We are snowbirds and have a lot of Canadian friends. I was talking to one of them a few weeks back and he said that Americans were telling border agents that they were going to Alaska, well they were gaming the system and were going to Banff. He said Banff was full of Americans.

Also my golf buddy who goes to Tucson, AZ for the winter and he has a friend from Canada who's trailer broke down on the way back this year (don't remember what happened it), but it is fixed and sitting in Montana and he can't cross the border to get it.

It will be real quite in AZ this year without the Canadians, that is if we even go.

Stay safe everyone and good health.

[rucos]

We cant drive south and you cant drive north at the moment ....Canadians can fly to the states for tourism but you cant fly North until after Aug 21 but it probably get extended again.... im betting it will be 2021 before it opens.....but who knows.

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Wetfeet

Granted Americans cannot travel to Canada, but does anyone know if Canadians are similarly restricted from traveling into the US? Campgrounds in the US are packed this summer due to so many Americans choosing camping as their vacation. If our Canadian friends cannot cross the border this fall to go to FL or AZ, there might be more campsites open. I dread the thought of going south this winter and finding campgrounds overflowing with campers like they are now.

My wife is a dual citizen, so she can cross anytime as long as she self-isolates for 2 weeks when she returns to Canada. There's no requirement for self-isolation on the US side. I'm not a US citizen, and am therefore not allowed to go with her. Normally I would have been back and forth at least a dozen times since my last trip in early March. She has a large extended family in Michigan who I am not able to visit. I could fly, but I'm not crazy about the added exposure of being on an airplane, and there's also the expense and extra time.

I heard this morning that campgrounds across Ontario have seen bookings increase 25% this year over last.

[Toasterlife]

My understanding is that US citizens are allowed to drive to Alaska, but "no lallygagging" , and no land based tourist trips in either direction. Canadians can fly to the US but not the other way around. When Canadians return they must quarantine. With the huge in-balance in Covid cases in the US vs Canada I doubt many Canadians would chance coming to the US this winter, especially since they are unlikely to be able to get health insurance for the trip. On the subject of health insurance, most southern destinations i.e AZ and FL are looking particularly dangerous, and many US health insurance policies are state specific.

[Lily&Me]

I met a man in Wyoming a few weeks back, who was traveling in a new Class B with a friend.

He was very open about their plan to go into Canada, simply say they were passim’ thru on their way to Alaska, then do what they wanted to in Canada.

They had no plan to actually go to Alaska.

Apparently there lots of folks thinking and doing the same, and I think the hefty fines are appropriate.

Maggie

[AldeanFan]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

I met a man in Wyoming a few weeks back, who was traveling in a new Class B with a friend.

He was very open about their plan to go into Canada, simply say they were passim’ thru on their way to Alaska, then do what they wanted to in Canada.

They had no plan to actually go to Alaska.

Apparently there lots of folks thinking and doing the same, and I think the hefty fines are appropriate.

Maggie

I hope these people get caught and served with the maximum penalty.

Canada has done an admirable job of containing this virus. We don’t need shellfish visitors ruining all of our hard work and sacrifice.

[21Airstream]

Originally Posted by AldeanFan

I hope these people get caught and served with the maximum penalty...

+1. People that violate the rules just ruin it for the rest of us.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by AldeanFan

. . .
. . . We don’t need shellfish visitors ruining all of our hard work and sacrifice.

What kind of shellfish do you have in Niagara on the Lake? I thought they were mostly a salt water crustacean. Maybe fresh water prawns, as are often featured in that TV show "Prawn Stars" ???