God forbid. State motto: “Nearly as exciting as South Dakota!”
My last trip to Canada was my honeymoon. We picked up quite a bit of merchandise in Montreal. Also, at the border, we bought some duty-free gifts with our sales tax refund :), got back in our car, picked up our stuff at the drive-thru window, and crossed the river.
At the American checkpoint, we were asked how much stuff we’d bought while in Canada. “About $900,” I said. I forgot that there was a $400 per person limit on merchandise, lest we be levied. Instead of breaking out the paperwork, though, the guard asked, “Is that $900 American or Canadian?” Honestly, I said, “Canadian.” Since $900 Canadian was only worth about $630 American, we proceeded with no further problem.
Why is there a $400 limit?
Basically, that defines you as an importer, not just a tourist with some mementos.
Since Americans leaving Canada can get their sales taxes refunded, it’s a big temptation for smugglers to buy stuff there and re-sell it in the US. Of course, they’re not going to admit it at the border. But if they’re caught re-selling Canadian merchandise that can be proven to have been brought over without being declared, they’re screwed.
It’s similar to cigarettes: if you bring a certain amount in to Canada, it’s seen as a reasonable amount for personal consumption. More than that makes you suspect to smuggling and trying to circumvent import duties, tobacco taxes, etc.
(The reason my wife and I had such a high amount was that we’d been shopping for a green leather coat, and couldn’t find one in the US. But we found one in Canada for $300Can. We also bought gifts for various people that helped us with our wedding, honeymoon, etc. Plus, we both bought a couple of new outfits for a night out on the town in Montreal.)
It must depend what border crossing you’re at. I have never been asked for ID on EITHER side except when I actually had to go into the little customs office to declare something I’d bought. There have been times I basically did a rolling stop at the checkpoint booth.
Sneaking across the US/Canada border is, as a rule, almost impossible to NOT do. Unless they’re looking for you or you are cosmically unlucky, you’d have to be an imbecile of mythical proportions to not be able to cross the border.
You don’t need to be cosmically unlucky to meet a U.S. crossing guard who had a fight with his wife that morning. I have crossed the U.S./Canada border a few hundred times. I have only been subjected to a complete empty-your-pockets-and-we’ll-empty-your-car search once and I have only been verbally grilled twice, but between my experiences and those of people I know, I know that rare is not the same as “never happens.” (The search occurred on a vacation during which my wife and I crossed at Michigan/Ontario, at Quebec/Maine, at Maine/New Brunswick, and at New Brunswick/Maine. Same trip, same car packed the same way. I doubt that we met a profile, we just ran into a bored guard on our last crossing from NB to ME.)
In high school, we took a band trip to Calgary. Crossing at Montana/Alberta border, we had a basic wave-through. Coming back, though, we had to pull over and each student questioned. We were told to stay completely civil and quiet when not being questioned. We had a slight problem because one of us was born in Italy (military brat), so she got asked more questions.
Our band director related the story of his previous Canadian trip. Just as the US agent was boarding the bus for his interviews, some idiot jokingly said, “Quick, hide it!” This precipitated the entire bus being emptied and all the luggage checked. (They should’ve BCS’ed the joker, IMO.)
My wife and I are U.S. citizens who honeymooned in Toronto. Going up, we breezed through the border check; coming back through Port Huron, same thing. But then my wife suddenly remembered that she’d wanted to send a postcard from Canada and still had it in her possession. So we had to cross back into Windsor – no problem. And then we had to cross back into Detroit, where the customs official, a delightful man, detained us for about five minutes with a half-mile stretch of stopped cars behind us, lecturing us on the joys and responsibilities of marriage. 
So I guess the answer to the question is, it’s easy to cross as long as you don’t admit to being newlyweds!
Living in Montana, I have crossed the Canadian border maybe a dozen times. Crossing at a crossing is rarely if ever a problem – sometimes they basically wave you through. The only time I ever had any trouble at all is when I was taking my dog into Canada and had forgotten to bring her rabies certificate – and even then the Canadian customs people really didn’t care; they let us through, but advised us to get her vaccinated (which she didn’t really need) and obtain a certificate at the next town, because (they said) while they would let it slide and admit us without one, the American customs people wouldn’t let the dog back in without one. But will they pull over the broken down VW bus with the marijuana-leaf sticker on the back and a blue haze inside? Sure.
Crossing at some other point – i.e., in the middle of nowhere – is, I assume a piece of cake. There are literally hundred-mile stretches in Eastern Montana and North Dakota where you could cross into Canada with a circus convoy at noon and no one would be around to see you do it.
With the agricultural economy in Eastern Montana in particular, the customs agents are not looking for dope smugglers, they are looking for seed smuggglers (as in wheat, barley, etc.). Grain seed is subject to rigid tariffs and import/export limits; it is easily adulterated (with noxious weeds and foreign insects) if not carefully inspected, which is a pain in the ass and often leads to loads being rejected; and it is subject to pretty stiff tax. The tempation is therefore high to try to smuggle crops across the border (in either direction) depending on where the price is higher and the regulation less intrusive.
When my dad was teaching near the North Dakota-Saskatchewan border during the early 50’s he and his friends would go down to North Dakota and buy American beer. At the time Saskatchewan had blue laws in place and buying beer wasn’t as convenient as it is now. In several places there would be gravel roads paralleling the border on either side. They would stop out of sight of the checkpoint and they would throw the cans of beer across the border, go through customs and reclaim their booty. Their are some roads that cross the border that aren’t barracaded. They operate on the honour system. If you cross there you are supposed to go to the nearest checkpoint and let them know you are here.
Keith
Interesting. It sounds like border security is largely left up to the individual guards. Anyone know where to find the official policies as to what you can and can not be stopped for? Sheesh. No grammar prizes there.
Wasn’t there a 20/20 piece a while back about senior citizens travelling to Canada because presciption drugs are cheaper there? I’m not talking drugs that are prescription in the US and OTC in Canada. They were prescription both places. Would that be considered “taking advantage of the Canadian health care system?”
As a San Diegan, let me tell you patrols at the Mexico border must be pretty tight with some pretty sophisticated equipment. A few years back I was horseback riding in a remote area outside San Ysidro (about 1/2 mile North of Mexico), got off the horse to walk into some bushes to take a piss, and before I was done, had two border patrol agents standing behind me asking “What the hell are you doing in there?”. And this was in the middle of NO WHERE. I have no idea where they came from.
At the same time though, I can certainly vouch for the fact that they don’t catch everyone. I also had the pleasure of dining at a restaurant in Imperial Beach (about five miles North of Mexico). During the course of our meal, we must have seen at least 10 illegal aliens scurry across the beach in the dark.