Some friends of mine and I are thinking about a fishing trip to Canada this summer, and I recently discovered that those folks with a DWI on their record aren’t allowed to enter Canada unless they’ve been “rehabilitated.”
Basically, the rehabilitation consists of filling out a form, in advance, explaining how you’ve been a good person since the DWI-- and paying $200. Also, the offense needs to be at least five years old.
I was just wondering how vigilant the Canadian Customs Agents are in enforcing this law.
Have you, or anyone you know, been busted at the border for not paying the $200 and completing their "rehabilitation in advance?
Well, getting “busted” should only mean being turned away. Also, where are you thinking of crossing? At the border in an automobile, or via airplane somewhere in the interior? My general experience when entering Canada from five different locations in Michigan is, “Citizenship?”; “Where are you going?”; and “How long are you going to be in Canada?” Sometimes they ask for identification, which can be just a license, but really should be proof of citizenship. Even so, the border guard usually just looks at it, and never runs it through a computer. Even so, how is he going to know that of the 10,000 John Smiths, you’re one of the 200 with the DWI on their record? Sometimes, though, they’re on strike, but since they’re forbidden to walk out, they do work slowdowns and ask all kinds of asinine questions. You’ll know if they’re doing this well before you get to Canada, so don’t go when they’re on strike.
Are you breaking the law? No, and that’s not condoned here. That means don’t lie if specifically asked if anyone in the vehicle has a DWI/DUI. But I’ve never been asked.
There’s also something called “deemed rehabilitation”, which the customs officer can allow if you show up at the border and admit to an offense which occurred more than ten years ago. (The maximum penalty in Canada for the offense must no more than ten years in prison, but I think that DWI falls under than category.) You can read more than you ever wanted to know about it in this PDF.
Of course, even if you did succeed in obtaining deemed rehabilitation at the border, it would take some time while everything got sorted out. So you shouldn’t expect to stick to a tight schedule if you decide to go this route.
I’ve done it, and to this day I’m convinced I just bit on a border guard’s fishing expedition. The first time I was traveling to Canada (to meet my future bride-she was a mail order wife, I answered one of those adds touting lonely Nordic women desperate to escape the 3 foot snowfalls and the drudgery of skinning beaver for food and clothing month after month), I got stopped by a border patrol officer who told me there was an “irregularity” on my record but they were having computer issues and couldn’t tell exactly what it was. I was honestly and completely puzzled. He kept questioning me, and after a few minutes I said “Wait, is this cuz I got a DWI 15 years ago?” (A little light went off over a sign in his office that said “BINGO! The fish took the bait!”. That should have clued me in.) I told him I had someone waiting, he hemmed and hawed and told me I would have to fill out papers applying for an “early parole”(I think that’s what they called it) but let me in. I got out of customs about an hour late, and passing through the double doors into the Calgary Airport I saw the most ravishing, most stunningly beautiful and sexy woman I have ever laid eyes on. She was sitting right next to Ginger.
I did proceed to get the forms for early parole, and to run down all the stuff that they wanted documentation wise (and it was a lot of stuff), but I never turned it in. Since then I have crossed the border a dozen times without incident. I am convinced now that the Canadian Border Patrol officer (Are they Mounties? I forget) was just fishing for someone who would cop to something, not really going on anything in the system, but that’s just my opinion, not a factual statement.
We’d drive through, probably via International Falls/Fort Frances at the Minnesota/Ontario border. I’ve been through there several times, and it’s been pretty simple (except for that one time on a Sunday following the 4th of July. I got to enjoy two hours on the bridge while breathing the lovely fumes emanating from that paper mill). But it’s one of the other guys with the DWI. He has a rather unique name, too.
Me? Break the law? Heaven forbid. I have prescriptions for all of those.
Alcoholics Anonymous just had their International Convention in Canada, and were warning folks that Canada seems to be cracking down of people with criminal records as well as offences of moral turpitude (like DUI). Obviously, this was a concern for many AAs, especially the newbies!
Figure it this way- they may not ask or check. But it would suck to be turned around at the border.
The CC types tend to be more vigilant about Canadian Citizens coming back across the border , than American visitors coming in. The last time I crossed a land border , we got more than a cursory search from American Border crossings people when we were heading back into Canada than , from the Canadian folks.
Don’t volunteer anything, the gaurds will probably thank you for it.
I have crossed the border dozens of times, by car, train, bus, air and never been asked much of anything. For the record, I have US passport, Canadian residence. Once I actually wanted to declare that I had more than the duty-free allowance. At that time the duty-free was $500 and I had a whole load of used stuff (from my step-father-in-law who had died and this was not stuff left in a will, but stuff his daughter wanted to get rid). The customs agent asked I could cut it to $500 and I said sure and she waved me through. I guess it could have been a sting, but I don’t think they could have made any charge stick.
Only problem I ever had was on a train a couple years ago right after the US passed some law restricting buy of prescriptions in Canada. I heard an over-zealous agent tell the guy in the seat in front of me that it was illegal to import any drugs into the US. When he came to me, he looked at my passport and the conversation went:
CA: Where do you live?
HS: Montreal.
CA: How long have you been in Canada?
HS: About 35 years.
CA: Oh. Do you have any drugs?
HS (like a trooper): No.
CA: Any OTC drugs?
HS: Some nose spray.
CA: Oh
exit CA
