I rarely cross from the US to Canada or Mexico by car, but I recently did. All I really knew was that US citizens just need their passport and that the US-Canada land crossing has a reputation for being a lot quicker than the US-Mexico land crossing.
Contrary to what I expected after reading about others’ experiences, the US agent was more friendly on our way back than the Canadian agent on our way to.
United States to Canada
When we crossed to Canada by Champlain, NY in 2024, it was very quick. You can look ahead to see what current crossing times are at https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/bwt-taf/menu-eng.html.
We only had to wait for two cars. When we pulled up, the agent took our passports and told us to roll down the back passenger window, too.
As she noted us in the system, she asked who 3 out of 5 people were by name. The people she skipped were the driver, who had placed his passport on the stack last, and the baby, who probably would have ignored her asking “Who is ____?”.
Why are you going to Canada? Where are you going in Canada? Are you going to leave anything in Canada? Do you have any weapons to declare? (To emphasize the point, the sign under her window noted in English and French that we should declare our weapons.)
With everything answered, we were on our way!
Canada to United States
The way back was also pretty quick. We took the same crossing to Champlain, NY, and, again, we only had to wait for two cars.
Although some of us are registered for Global Entry, not all of us were, so we knew that we would have to take a regular lane instead of the one marked NEXUS. When we arrived, there was only one lane open. It was not NEXUS.
The agent at the window was friendly-professional. We pulled up, handed over our stack of passports, and answered how many people were in the car, where we lived, why we were in Canada, and what we had to declare.
And then we headed south to our home.
