I am an American, have an unpaid parking ticket in Montreal, and am considering a road trip shortly that would take me from Detroit to Buffalo through Hamilton and Fort Erie. Would my ticket in Quebec prevent me from entering Ontario?
Not unless you’re so far behind in paying it that there’s an warrant out for your arrest.
It’s from April or May 2006.
Same car and plate?
I think I have an unpaid ticket in Toronto from April or May 2006. It was left under my wiper, but was illegible. Whenever I tried to pay online or on the phone system, the ticket number was never recognized, so I’ve just ignored it. Never have a problem going into Windsor with that car, and I do it quite frequently.
Where are you driving from? I might recommend going to Port Huron-Sarnia rather than crossing in Detroit.
Same plate, different car.
I’ll be coming from Chattanooga, Tennessee and am going to Danvers, Massachusetts. The reason for the massive detour is because I’ve not been through Ohio, Michigan, or Ontario and wish to mark them off my map of states and provinces visited. Is Port Huron much quicker to enter through? Google Maps says it doesn’t add any miles to my trip at all so I have no problem going through it instead.
Why not call ahead and ask?
Hadn’t thought to, honestly. I’ll do that tomorrow.
Just make sure to tell them that the reason you’re coming back to Canada is to pay the ticket. 
Right now I-75 and I-96 are severely screwed up due to a multi-year highway construction project, so it could make getting to the Ambassador bridge quite frustrating. Then once you do make it across, you have about 5 miles of surface traffic to contend with before you hit the 401. Because it’s a major truck route, it kind of sucks. On the other hand if you cross through Port Huron, you get to see the twin spans of the Blue Water Bridges. One is ancient, and the other is about 15 years old. The I-94 ends at the bridge, and the 402 picks up right after Canadian customs. Nice and quick. You’ll rejoin the 401 near London, but you may consider taking a slight detour through Stratford. It’s still only spring (just barely), but it’s still charming without all the green.
Ah… if you’re coming up I-75, look for an alternate route. Maybe take I-375 to I-94, then you can hit I-75 again outside of town. Or take Southfield Road from I-75 to I-94, and hit I-75 again outside of town. Depending on time of day and day of week, the I-75 construction will just piss you off.
Actually, I’d recommend this version, because of the downtown mess where I-75 is close to the bridge. Ignore my silly “rejoin I-75” nonsense above, 'cos, well, you need to take I-94 to the end. I-75 near the bridge is closed completely, and you don’t want to get involved in the detours which all of the cargo trucks also use!