If someone could PLEASE help me - I am going to be going to Windsor, Canada tomorrow for the weekend with around 10 total people going - Most of us are hesitant or cannot bring a certified birth certificate - I have had many friends go there with and without certified certificates and were able to cross - Yet I am reading online NOT to bring a photocopy - If anyone has been there recently, will we all be alright crossing with a copy and say 2 ID's?

I am not sure how much things have changed, but we crossed at Windsor and back to the US at Buffalo in June 02 and we did not need our birth certificates. You definately will need ID, and do NOT joke around with the border patrol. Answer everything with simple yes and no answers, and pay attention to the questions being asked. They are looking for inaccuracies in your answers, and if you give them any reason, they will pull you all into customs and tear apart your vehicle, and person looking for anything suspicious. That being said, the odds of that are really small, but be smart about it.

I needed nothing to get into Canada this past November, but it was more difficult to cross back into the States and he asked for id.

I crossed at Buffalo also and didnt need any birth certificate, only an ID and to answer questions correctly.

If someone could PLEASE help me - I am going to be going to Windsor, Canada tomorrow for the weekend with around 10 total people going - Most of us are hesitant or cannot bring a certified birth certificate - I have had many friends go there with and without certified certificates and were able to cross  - Yet I am reading online NOT to bring a photocopy - If anyone has been there recently, will we all be alright crossing with a copy and say 2 ID's?

Unless you plan on crossing in the backcountry, a driver's license will do.

 

EDIT: You should find Canada's immigration and customs web page and check for sure.

Edited March 9, 200620 yr by NorthSideSox72

I don't know when the laws are changing, but I think a D/L is all you need. Soon a passport will be required. And, at some point before the passport, you will need your birth certificate, however, I don't think that's taken effect yet?

For now, all you need is a d/l and to be nice to the border patrol. Not sure how long that will last.

At times, I've been able to drive across the Windsor/Detroit bridge without presenting any ID. At other times, I've had to present my ID and to sit and wait while they searched my car.

 

Definitely bring your driver's licenses. DO NOT bring photocopies of your birth certificates, as that may cause suspicion.

For now, all you need is a d/l and to be nice to the border patrol.  Not sure how long that will last.

I believe it's supposed to change some time this year...at least at the Mexican border that's what I've been told.

I believe it's supposed to change some time this year...at least at the Mexican border that's what I've been told.

 

Yeah well border patrol is a lot more lax with Canada than it is with Mexico, no matter what the politicians tell you. But eventually things will tighten up with Canada as long as the big brother trend in this country continues.

Yeah well border patrol is a lot more lax with Canada than it is with Mexico, no matter what the politicians tell you.  But eventually things will tighten up with Canada as long as the big brother trend in this country continues.

Already has on the Canadian border.

 

For one thing, the personnel at the Int'l Falls/Ft. Frances crossing (Minnesota/Ontario) are in much greater numbers and appear a lot mor ewell-armed than they did a few years back. Also, I used to be able to cross the border in the BWCA/Quetico area just by checking in with the park rangers on the Canadian side. Now, you have to get a special access visa ahead of time to cross the border outside the normal crossing points.

 

So some things have already changed.