4 ms·

I drove from Detroit to Toronto via Windsor, and was subjected to a vehicle search and questioning. I pulled up my hotel reservation at the agents' request, an

by elhudy 8y ago

I drove from Detroit to Toronto via Windsor, and was subjected to a vehicle search and questioning. I pulled up my hotel reservation at the agents' request, and he snatched my phone out of my hands and started going through my emails. He couldn't wrap his head around why anyone would want to take a roadtrip to toronto for an extended weekend, other than to run drugs. I've also been interrogated when flying into Canada for work. Canadian border security is notorious for this kind of stuff.

jrace 8y ago
Try being a Canadian and going the other way!
- refurb 8y ago
  As a Canadian who has gone both ways dozens of times, I’ve definitely gotten a much tougher treatment by the Canadian side. I had to bite my tongue to not say “I’m a citizen, you have to let me in.”
  - garyfirestorm 8y ago
    this comment made me sad. i am a south asian national, i do have a canadian tourist visa and was hoping to go watch F1 in 2019 in Montreal. reading all of this is probably going to change that plan :/
    - ardoi 8y ago
      I'm a Canadian permanent resident and the dozen or so times I've crossed the border into Canada I've never had a negative experience. I've always found the Canadian border agents to be polite and courteous. I cannot say the same for their US counterparts. Not doubting the negative experiences described above just that my personal random sample has been different.
      - barrow-rider 8y ago
        Ditto. The Canadians were pretty easy to deal with. The US is always a PITA, esp. after long international flights. One time they flagged me for "smuggling halogen headlights" or something and searched ALL of my stuff. Missed my LA-DC flight because of it. And I'm a white, clean-cut US citizen.
    - rdtsc 8y ago
      Keep in mind that people who cross the border without any incidents don't usually bother posting about it. I wouldn't alter your plans just based on a few comments here at least.
    - alain_gilbert 8y ago
      I'm a Canadian, and the most nerve wracking question I was ever asked (that I can recall) was: Do you bring back any food ? (I had a undeclared box of cereal in my backpack)
ppppppaul 8y ago
I'm Canadian. I get searched all the time by both sides. Canadian side has been worse for me, so far. I really like going to other countries, their customs tend to be reasonable. coming back home is always a nerve racking experience. I haven't been asked for my phone yet, but have been asked for my camera. I'm being drawn more and more to paying for online storage/sync solutions and clearing my phone and laptop before traveling to the USA or Canada. actually more worried about Canada.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- coldacid 8y ago
  That's what I do. Anything that I think would cause me problems coming back into Canada gets pushed to the cloud while I'm still out of country, then deleted from my devices. Next, I log out/disconnect from my cloud services and uninstall their apps. Once I've cleared customs, I take a few minutes to reinstall and reconnect everything. It's a hell of a lot better than dealing with the bullshit that is CBSA.
- Yetanfou 8y ago
  If you have a reasonable internet connection at home this might be the moment to get your own server. Next to online storage (Nextcloud/Owncloud, Seafile) it can host your mail (postfix/exim w/dovecot + spamassassin + sieve), source repo (gogs/gitea), miscellaneous web things you might want to host, media streaming server (airsonic, ampache, etc), personal VPN (openVPN) and more. This gives you far more flexibility (and storage) than commercial online storage/sync solutions for the price of some work to set it up and the electricity to power the thing.
balladeer 8y ago
> he snatched my phone out of my hands and started going through my emails Is it not illegal - the "snatching" part?
- krageon 8y ago
  It doesn't matter whether or not it is. While you are there they are your gods and after you leave they're untouchable. If the border security is rude or downright abusive your only recourse is just not going to the country in question.

by elhudy 8y ago

jrace 8y ago

Try being a Canadian and going the other way!

refurb 8y ago
As a Canadian who has gone both ways dozens of times, I’ve definitely gotten a much tougher treatment by the Canadian side. I had to bite my tongue to not say “I’m a citizen, you have to let me in.”
- garyfirestorm 8y ago
  this comment made me sad. i am a south asian national, i do have a canadian tourist visa and was hoping to go watch F1 in 2019 in Montreal. reading all of this is probably going to change that plan :/
  - ardoi 8y ago
    I'm a Canadian permanent resident and the dozen or so times I've crossed the border into Canada I've never had a negative experience. I've always found the Canadian border agents to be polite and courteous. I cannot say the same for their US counterparts. Not doubting the negative experiences described above just that my personal random sample has been different.
    - barrow-rider 8y ago
      Ditto. The Canadians were pretty easy to deal with. The US is always a PITA, esp. after long international flights. One time they flagged me for "smuggling halogen headlights" or something and searched ALL of my stuff. Missed my LA-DC flight because of it. And I'm a white, clean-cut US citizen.
  - rdtsc 8y ago
    Keep in mind that people who cross the border without any incidents don't usually bother posting about it. I wouldn't alter your plans just based on a few comments here at least.
  - alain_gilbert 8y ago
    I'm a Canadian, and the most nerve wracking question I was ever asked (that I can recall) was: Do you bring back any food ? (I had a undeclared box of cereal in my backpack)

ppppppaul 8y ago

I'm Canadian. I get searched all the time by both sides. Canadian side has been worse for me, so far. I really like going to other countries, their customs tend to be reasonable. coming back home is always a nerve racking experience. I haven't been asked for my phone yet, but have been asked for my camera. I'm being drawn more and more to paying for online storage/sync solutions and clearing my phone and laptop before traveling to the USA or Canada. actually more worried about Canada.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
coldacid 8y ago
That's what I do. Anything that I think would cause me problems coming back into Canada gets pushed to the cloud while I'm still out of country, then deleted from my devices. Next, I log out/disconnect from my cloud services and uninstall their apps. Once I've cleared customs, I take a few minutes to reinstall and reconnect everything. It's a hell of a lot better than dealing with the bullshit that is CBSA.
Yetanfou 8y ago
If you have a reasonable internet connection at home this might be the moment to get your own server. Next to online storage (Nextcloud/Owncloud, Seafile) it can host your mail (postfix/exim w/dovecot + spamassassin + sieve), source repo (gogs/gitea), miscellaneous web things you might want to host, media streaming server (airsonic, ampache, etc), personal VPN (openVPN) and more. This gives you far more flexibility (and storage) than commercial online storage/sync solutions for the price of some work to set it up and the electricity to power the thing.

balladeer 8y ago

> he snatched my phone out of my hands and started going through my emails Is it not illegal - the "snatching" part?

krageon 8y ago
It doesn't matter whether or not it is. While you are there they are your gods and after you leave they're untouchable. If the border security is rude or downright abusive your only recourse is just not going to the country in question.