5th wheel inspection in Canada

We're headed to Canada next month for the first time with our 5th wheel. In Texas we have an inspection sticker on our 5th wheels that the dealer puts on when it is sold. It expires in 1 year but nobody I know ever has them re-inspected. Is this expired inspection sticker going to be a problem with the Canadian officals?

    Similar to any State, it would only come up if you are involved in an accident.  Border officers will never look at such a sticker.

Ed

My understanding is that if you are legal in your home sate, Canada will honor that.  Reciprocity I think they consider it.

Reciprocity has nothing to do with vehicle inspections - just driver licenses and vehicle registrations & titles. Canada could care less about Texas' requirements for inspections.  Just make sure there are no warrants out for your arrest, like an unpaid traffic ticket. THOSE are likely to turn up on the records at the border.

Also folks with DUIs aren't allowed into Canada.  Although there might be some rules about how old it is or if you have a pardon.    However USA allows Canadians with DUIs to cross into the US.  Irritates some folks that does.

Here in Ontario, the provincial police periodically setup spot checks and pull over vehicles that are towing anything and older looking transport trucks. They inspect the vehicle for safety and send you on your way. It took a summer of wheels falling off transports and boats falling off trailers etc. causing pileups and deaths to get that in place. It's been happening for a few years now. Unsafe vehicles get towed at owners expense.

Thanks for everybody's comments. Sounds like we'll be OK as long as we're not in an accident and keep or rig operating safely, as we do anyway.

Does anyone know of a place to store firearms before entering Canada? I would think this is a common practice, but I don't know. We will be crossing on or near the I-5 area. I've read on this forum that east of I-5 is a better crossing but I'm not sure exactly where.

Larry O. said:

We will be crossing on or near the I-5 area. I've read on this forum that east of I-5 is a better crossing but I'm not sure exactly where.

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Depends on your destination.  Peace Arch, which is the I-5 border crossing, can get very heavily backed up especially on Friday/Sunday evenings.

I cross at Sumas/Abbotsford but that's because I have relatives east of there in Chilliwack and I'm going to visit Microsoft near Seattle.    If you are going east from I-5 then that will save you quite about 20 miles compared to staying on I-5

Alternatively you could take WA state highway 539 straight north from Bellingham and cross there.  Then head east as soon as you get to the Trans Canada.

Or you could head east about 50 miles and cross at Osoyoos BC/Oroville, WA. 

Tony_Alberta said:

Alternatively you could take WA state highway 539 straight north from Bellingham and cross there.  Then head east as soon as you get to the Trans Canada.

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We like this one although the new traffic circles on the WA side are a bit of a nuisance. This crossing is not open 24 hours.

Thanks,
Larry O.

RoyM said:

We like this one although the new traffic circles on the WA side are a bit of a nuisance.

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Yes, I'd forgotten about those.  They are a bit irritating.  I'm used to those in Edmonton, Alberta although they've now added a few in the BC lower mainland.

Alternatively from I-5 at Burlington you could go NE on Hwy 20 and then north on Hwy 9.  Indeed I should take that route next time just for something different.  Or from Bellingham NE on Hwy 542 to Hwy 9 and then north.  I've been that way once about eight years ago and it was decent enough although no shoulders as I recall.

We have entered Canada in an RV many times, but always into British Columbia or Alberta - until summer before last. If what we experienced in eastern Canada is par for the course, we will never go back. We were in our MH and traveling with a friend in her fifth wheel. We left Wyoming and headed for Nova Scotia - entering Canada at Sault Ste. Marie. The border crossing is a quarter mile or so north of a VERY long bridge. We were in line in front and she was directly behind us. We passed through customs and pulled off at the first opportunity to wait for her. Finally after a wait of better than a half hour, we doubled back to see what the hold-up was. Fortunately there was a place for us to park right across the street from the border station, and there she was, with practically everything she owned in the fifth wheel piled on the ground beside the rig. Even from across the street, we could tell she was nearly hysterical. I started across the street to talk to her, but she frantically motioned for me to go back. More than 2 hours later, she was able to leave and when we stopped for a conference, she told us what had happened. She had lost her husband the previous winter, and in packing her fifth wheel for the trip, she had wisely removed the pair of Glocks that they owned. However, when she was targeted for an inspection, the agent came in with a metal detector, went straight to the bedroom and hit on something in an upper cabinet - a box of 9mm ammo. Her late husband had put it in the rig, and she knew nothing about it. Needless to say, the ____ hit the fan. They absolutely would not believe anything she said and treated her like the worst kind of criminal. Here's the worst part - she has bad knees and they made her walk back to the bridge, across the bridge, and another several blocks to a sporting goods store in the U.S. and give them the box of ammo. Then she had to walk all the way back to the rig, and was limping after that for days. I realize that it is their country, they can make their own rules, but enforcing the rules the way that they did was way beyond reason. There is no excuse for the manner in which this was handled. The bottom line, be very careful to observe all the rules.

She was lucky it was Canada. A similar mistake in Mexico probably would have resulted in a jail sentence and a confiscated RV.

    Articfox, I would hate to think what would happen to us if we were caught carrying illegal substances by US border guards when going into the States, my feeling is that their instructions are that there is no longer any tolerance for non-compliance. 
    It may seem insignificant to you, but virtually all of our illegal handguns in Canada are as a result of guns or ammo smuggled into country, mostly from the US.  That is why we always tell people to make sure you do not bring along guns or ammo,(or any prohibited weapons), it will cause severe problems if discovered, and similar to the US, ignorance of the law is no excuse.  They obviously believed her or she would have ended up in jail here too.

Ed

Hfx_Cdn said:

    Articfox, I would hate to think what would happen to us if we were caught carrying illegal substances by US border guards when going into the States, my feeling is that their instructions are that there is no longer any tolerance for non-compliance. 

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Indeed.  Some of my cousins inhale that illegal tobacco stuff.  If they are visiting I'm going to ask that they smoke outside.   

I can also see the one cousins son thinking it would be a great prank if he left a reefer, I think that's the term, in my couch cushions.

I'm tempted to see if I can have a Canadian police dog sniff the fifth wheel before I cross the border just to be on the safe side.  I'd far sooner deal with them than US Border.

Also when coming back from Mexico I'm going to carefully inspect the propane compartment to ensure there are no "packages".  Which is extremely unlikely but that should only take a few seconds to double check.

ArcticFox,

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, ON here. Don't live there now though.

While I really want to believe the last part of your story, I can't find it possible that they made her walk back over the bridge and back again. If they did, I'd be contacting the Canada Border Services and file a complaint.

It's unfortunate that there was ammo in the trailer she was pulling, but you would think that in the abscense of guns, they would have believed her story and simply seized it.

Not critisizing here but really.....file a complaint if true!

Mike

While I really want to believe the last part of your story, I can't find it possible that they made her walk back over the bridge and back again. If they did, I'd be contacting the Canada Border Services and file a complaint.

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Mike,

Yep, they really did. I suggested to her at the time that she raise a stink, but she was so intimidated by it all that she would not have any part of it. She is, by nature, non assertive, and I think she was afraid of being thrown into jail - leave it alone she said.

That's 2 miles there and back. Somebody's head would be rolling for sure!

I stopped at Detroit this summer heading west. The guard asked me to turn off the truck and open the trailer so he could have a look inside. I did so, no problem.

He told me to wait outside and I took a look over my shoulder, there stood another guard, hand on his hip.

I asked if he was backup and he said YEP.

Not that I had anything to hide though!

Mike

CDN_Taxman said:

ArcticFox,

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, ON here. Don't live there now though.

While I really want to believe the last part of your story, I can't find it possible that they made her walk back over the bridge and back again. If they did, I'd be contacting the Canada Border Services and file a complaint.

It's unfortunate that there was ammo in the trailer she was pulling, but you would think that in the abscense of guns, they would have believed her story and simply seized it.

Not critisizing here but really.....file a complaint if true!

Mike

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Living on a border town most of my life ... Niagara Falls, Ontario ... and having been a police officer here for 35 years ... I have to admit that I find it somewhat strange that the CDN Customs would "force" anyone to walk back across the bridge to dispose of ammunition. Generally it would just be seized by the local customs and disposed of. Firearms are another matter. Better not to even enter Canada with them but if you do ... declare them and ask to have them stored until you depart. At least that was the way they use to do it. BUT ... it would be best to make sure you can do that now. Much has changed and they may no longer offer the service of storing them for you.

I understand that the lady was probably very intimidated and frightened ... but I for one would not have tolerated the officers behaviour. I would have filed a complaint so fast his/her head would still be spinning.