Rving into Canada & back to US

We are making our first trip into Canada via RV. We will be on the way to AZ (long-way around) and will, thus, have all the stuff we have to haul down there from Oregon. Will we have trouble getting into Canada and then back into the US with our food staples (flour, sugar, etc.)?

Hi folks, welcome to the RV forum, this is the right place for all the questions you will run across.

Depending on what you're taking from Oregon to Arizona via Canada you may want to check with US customs/border services to identify and record valuable items that may be open to question, IE; jewelery artwork etc.  Firearms are always a touchy issue and are very restricted in Canada.

Normal staples that are carried as part of life on the road have not been a problem, depending on the region there may be some restrictions of fresh fruit, and some types of meat.  When we crossed into the US last fall we were able to keep everything we had in the fridge including beef.  This spring we weren't even asked about food stuffs when we crossed northbound into Canada ( into Manitoba)

These questions can be answered in detail by checking with both US and Canadian agencies at the listed web sites.  They each have a sections for FAQ's of border crossing travelers.

Canadian Customs

US Customs & Border

Enjoy the travels

Dale

Thank you. I'll check your recommended websites.

The two websites that Gypsy Rovers had gave might be a big help for your travel
well you can bring can goods with you but at least check on  those sites for
assurance for the things that you can bring along the way without a hassle

crrkelley said:

We are making our first trip into Canada via RV. We will be on the way to AZ (long-way around) and will, thus, have all the stuff we have to haul down there from Oregon. Will we have trouble getting into Canada and then back into the US with our food staples (flour, sugar, etc.)?

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We just got back from a trip to Canada. Crossed the boarder just two days ago. I don't think you will have any trouble with flour and sugar. It's mainly certain fruits and veggies they are after. And you will have a lot more trouble getting back into the USA than getting into Canada.

Coming back into the USA, we honestly thought we declared all the fruits and veggies we had.

Then the RV gets  searched (as usual, for us, coming into the USA from Canada). They found one orange and confiscated it.  We did NOT declare it, because we thought we ate them all. But somehow one fell out of the sack and rolled to a hidden location on its own.

BTW, that orange came from Spokane, WA and had a brand sticker on it. But it made no difference. You can bring oranges into Canada, but you cannot bring them back into the USA. They don't care where they came from originally.

Anyway, they freaked out over this one orange and were ready to give us a $300.00 fine for not declaring it. They gave us a break only after they were convinced it was an honest mistake.

Expect to have your RV searched coming into the USA. We never made it yet into the USA without a search and we have been up to Canada and back many times.  We did mention all other fruits and veggies.

Then, when we came into CA, we mentioned we had two ears of corn. That was no problem coming into the USA, but in CA they had us take all the  husks from around the corn. IOW, the corn is allowed in CA, but their husks are not.

Coming into Canada, they just wanted to see our passports and ask us if we are gun owners (we are). Then they asked when the last time any of our guns were in the RV. "Never" was the honest answer. The only other question we were asked, was how Tom & I know each other. We are asked that every time into Canada as well as back into the USA. Seeing two guys in one RV seems to make them all ask questions at the boarders. We just tell them "we are a gay couple that's been together for 35 years" and then they ask no more questions about that.

BTW, we have NEVER  been searched going into Canada, but have been searched every time coming back. Getting into Canada only takes a couple of minutes. Getting back into the USA takes about a half hour because of the search. That's if there's nobody in line.

    Unfortunately, US politico's are doing everything in their power make our border guards act more like yours.  This is despite the fact that neither seem to able to catch real criminals or terrorists, with the latest being the US homegrown who visited his grandmother twice in the past year, despite having spent time in a Pakistani terrorist training camp.
    BTW, we have only ever encountered any real trouble once, with an overly officious supervisor at a Vancouver Island ferry prior to boarding a ferry to Seattle, and never in the Coach.

I guess we were lucky as we had no problems entering Canada or returning to US.  The Canadian border didn't even require ID to enter.  After several months in Canada we expected more of a problem entering US but again no problems.  They asked about some meats which we had already cleared out and wheter all of our vegetables were from either US or Canada.  Since we didn't know, they inspected the fridge and removed a few things but were very nice.  Most all the people in the station came on board and two brought treats for Charlie.  The others played with the cats.  When they were done I asked if they would stamp our passport since we've had it long enough that it will expire shortly and we wanted at least one stamp in it.  Another agant came out from inside and stamped both our passports.  While in Canada we heard a lot of terrible stories about people crossing into US so maybe you just have to pick your spots to cross.  We crossed into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie and previously at Buffalo and crossed back into US near Glendive, Montana and previously at Seattle.  My personal observation is that the Canadian border patrol looked serious and never smile and both times we crossed back the US agents were very pleasant, smiled but you could tel it was a front and that they were sizing us and our vehicle up very closely without being obvious. 

We have always found the US border guards to be much more officious than their Canadian counterparts. Even surly, sometimes. But have never been searched. Haven't been across the border since 9-11. though.  Wow - has it been THAT long? Gotta do something about tat!

We've only been searched once, either going or coming, and that was at the I-15 border crossing into Canada back in 1998.

RV Roamer said:

We have always found the US border guards to be much more officious than their Canadian counterparts. Even surly, sometimes. But have never been searched. Haven't been across the border since 9-11. though.  Wow - has it been THAT long? Gotta do something about tat!

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We even got searched (coming into the USA only) even each time  before 9-11-01. I think the fact that we are two guys, and of different races, makes them a bit nervous.

BTW, we crossed the boarder (into the USA)  on 9-09-2001. If we were a couple of days later, we would have had an even  longer vacation in Canada. The day we got home was when 9-11 happened.

Going into Canada has always been just a minute or two of asking questions, save for the very first  time we went to Canada on New Years Eve just before midnight. That was in the late 1970's and when we were a lot younger. I don't think they would have stopped us even then if it were not for the fact of it being New Year's Eve. BTW, then they wanted to make sure we had money and credit cards, which we had plenty of both.

A bunch of even younger guys who were before us were us were NOT allowed into Canada. They refused to  cooperate by showing them if they  had money and / or credit cards.

We've gone across the Canadian border a number of times and were only searched once, going into Canada. Our first 2 times we were towing our car on a trailer crossing from NYS to Quebec. The first time, the car and trailer had NY plates and there were no plates on the RV (we were never stopped or questioned for the 5 months we drove that way). No problems going in either direction. The second time, same vehicles but with AZ plates on all three. The Canadian inspectors spent over a 1/2 hour going thru everything looking for our guns (never owned or carried any, but all AZ residents have guns, right ???), our safe (all motor homes have built-in safes, right ???) and checking out our VCR collection (mostly how to tapes for our washer, etc.). The only time we get searched in the west is crossing Hoover Dam, and that is everybody and only takes 5 minutes at most, never crossing into Canada.

BernieD said:

The Canadian inspectors spent over a 1/2 hour going thru everything looking for our guns (never owned or carried any, but all AZ residents have guns, right ???), our safe (all motor homes have built-in safes, right ???)

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I think you got searched because you said you didn't own any guns. That makes them think you're hiding something, especially being from AZ. But I would think a NV plate, which we have on our RV, would be just as likely to be gun owners.

We've never had a vehicle searched going into Canada (CA & NV plates), but we've always admitted to owning many guns (about 50 of them, as Tom used to be somewhat of a gun collector). IMO, that proves to them we're not trying to hide  anything and take the easy way out. Also, I think the fact that you admit to owning guns proves to them that you have no criminal record.

They did ask, as their first couple of questions if we ever had a DUI or have a criminal record (no to both). And they ask us who we work or worked for too. But it never took us more than a few minutes to get into Canada, save for the first time on New Year's Eve. We did NOT get searched even then, they just wanted to make sure we had money and credit cards and had a good chance of spending some money in Canada. Still took less than ten minutes total time. It would have been less, except we had to wait for a bunch of kids in front of us who were NOT allowed into Canada.

They also ask where you're going and I basically told them all over Alberta and BC, for this latest trip into Canada.

Of course, coming back into the USA, they ask where you have been in Canada.

Coming back into the USA, (when searched) they search for forbidden fruits <such as oranges!>, veggies and sometimes have a dog sniff the RV for drugs.

BTW, the next time we're in Canada, we will keep records of every fruit (not counting us  ;D) that goes into the RV and check them off as they are eaten. They made that big of a deal out of finding a single undeclared orange that it will make us that more careful next time! We got the feeling that we would have been arrested if they found more!

Don,

Your subtle humor continues to crack me up.

Tom said:

Don,

Your subtle humor continues to crack me up.

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I offered a "fruit and nut" candy bar to guy at work.

I told him "I cannot eat such stuff."

When he asked why, I said "it would be cannibalism!"

Boy, did he crack up!

BTW, that was in San Francisco.

And you know what they say about SF:

"SF is like a bowl of granola.  If you remove all the nuts and flakes, all you have left is the fruits."

Now we better get back on subject before Gary catches us.  ;D

DonTom said:

I think you got searched because you said you didn't own any guns. That makes them think you're hiding something, especially being from AZ. But I would think a NV plate, which we have on our RV, would be just as likely to be gun owners.

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Don

I gave basically the same answer as our previous entry with the NY plates and what we have given on all of our crossings farther west. Of course, with AZ plates we had to have guns and they had to make sure we weren't lying. :'(