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Somewhat true for lots of people, but why not visit on a weekend?
Because for most Americans, Canada is not weekend-distance away! Sure, if you live a couple of hours from the border (and there's something you want to see within an hour or two on the other side of your border crossing) but a weekend doesn't make for a very long trip. Add in time to get through the border crossing and you've eaten up more of your limited weekend time. And while lots more Americans live within short airplane distance from Canadian destinations, who these days is going to pay that kind of money just for a long weekend? I'm sure there are LOTs of people out there who would love to visit Canada. Heck, if you pay my airfare and hotel I'd be happy to visit. But reality is, a lot of Americans don't have a lot of disposable income for travel right now, and except for the people living literally right by the border, it's really not all that convenient or cheap.
Because for most Americans, Canada is not weekend-distance away! Sure, if you live a couple of hours from the border (and there's something you want to see within an hour or two on the other side of your border crossing) but a weekend doesn't make for a very long trip. Add in time to get through the border crossing and you've eaten up more of your limited weekend time. And while lots more Americans live within short airplane distance from Canadian destinations, who these days is going to pay that kind of money just for a long weekend? I'm sure there are LOTs of people out there who would love to visit Canada. Heck, if you pay my airfare and hotel I'd be happy to visit. But reality is, a lot of Americans don't have a lot of disposable income for travel right now, and except for the people living literally right by the border, it's really not all that convenient or cheap.
That's true too, traveling to Canada is a northeast (Montreal), great lakes (Toronto), upper midwest (er, I dunno ), or pacific northwest (Vancouver) thing.
When I lived in Los Angeles and San Diego, it was weekend trips to Mexico not Canada.
It was YOUR Government that put in place the legal REQUIREMENT to have a valid US Passort, to GET BACK INTO THE USA, from Canada. That went into effect on July the first of 2009.
Canada had NOTHING to do with that idea, IT is US law.
Second point. Canada has EVERY right to KNOW who is entering OUR country, just as the USA has EVERY right to know who is entering YOUR country. Being asked questions and perhaps having your car searched is THE PRICE that we all pay, to be safe.
Canadians are world travellers. More than 75 percent of us have a valid Passport, compared to only about 30 percent of Americans ( stats from US State Department website, and Stats Canada ).
You would be hard pressed indeed to find an adult Canadian who has NOT been to the USA, BUT there are MILLIONs of Americans who have never been out of their OWN state.
But there is hope, as the number of US citizens that are applying to move to Canada, as Immigrants, has gone up more than 40 percent in the past two years. About 25,000 Americans move to Canada, each year, to live and work. About 50,000 US students attend University, in Canada, each year. Last year's graduating class at the University of Toronto, was 15 percent Americans.
In the last US Presidential election, about 900,000 Americans, who live in Canada full time , or who are dual citizens, VOTED . Bet you didn't know THAT ?
Second point. Canada has EVERY right to KNOW who is entering OUR country, just as the USA has EVERY right to know who is entering YOUR country. Being asked questions and perhaps having your car searched is THE PRICE that we all pay, to be safe.
You guys go overboard on this. Almost everytime I went into Canada (from Detroit) I got searched. I got arrested once for calling the girl working there a dirty name (she deserved it). She took this as me as being violent and I spent the night being interrogated. If you don't treat them like they're the smartest people on the planet, you put yourself in a world of hassle.
In contrast, I crossed over into Mexico and back more times than I can remember and was searched once. Mexico-USA was my first experience with a commonly crossed border and I was shocked how strict the US-Canada one is at Detroit (and mostly on the Canadian side).
Last edited by JMT; 09-02-2012 at 02:31 PM..
Reason: Removed inappropriate language
Second travel is expensive, not only airfare but also gas + tolls + hotel.
Airfare is much more expensive to Canada than within States, especially inbound (return). No one likes to spend $100+ a night for hotel unless they're rich. 1 star or 2 star motels for <$70 are too noisy and dirty for me and still too expensive.
I live in Chicago. So driving distance wise, its far to get anywhere to Canada and it requires taking whole day one way. I been to NYC, Massachusetts, Niagara Falls/Toronto, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison). Later this fall I am going to San Diego. Next year to Los Angeles + San Diego again and to London, UK visit someone from my family and see London. I have so much more iterinaries on my list but I can afford to travel airfare maybe only 2-3 a year max. I drive more often, but as I said from Chicago its far to anywhere in Canada.
Im 25 year old, just last year got out of college. Im paying student loans and live with my parents to avoid paying rent to pay them off. Once in a while I'll go to a vacation to relax but I try to avoid doing it too much since I have financial priorities. Calculate how much it adds up going out with friends every week or so. For some reason my friends never spend most of time at home, and it takes a while to drive so it burns cash on gas. It takes a lot of gas to burn to get to work. Everything in America is spread out and knowing the today's gas prices, you can imagine how it affects many Americans.
Unfortunately, due to more lax drinking laws in Canada, there are probably lots of young Americans who go to Canada to drink legally.
I'm not sure why that would be unfortunate...
I went to college in Buffalo and while that was the truth, it didn't happen that often. Let's be serious, when you're in college, it's not that hard to get alcohol, even when you're under age. You don't need to go to a different country just to drink, so it wasn't an every weekend thing. People hardly do this anymore, now that you need a passport, which most people don't have.
Last edited by luckynumber4; 08-30-2012 at 07:56 AM..
I cannot give the reason most US citizens don't travel more to Canada, but can give the reasons I don't travel to Canada anymore.
A little background first: Growing up as a kid in Michigan the family always went to Canada, it was close, and it was cheap compared to the US. As a High Schooler I lived within sight of Canada and had many friends right across the border and was across almost every day for several years, some days involved multiple trips across the border. As a young adult I moved to Northern Maine and was within 5-10 miles of the Canadian border. Again there was many. many trips across the border. I would hate to guess how many times I have made the trip into Canada and back to the US; thousands and thousands of times I have answered the questions: "Where are you from?" "Where are you headed?" "How long do you plan on staying?" "Are you carrying any weapons of any kind?" Deported from Canada once when I was 17, when as a smart-assed High School kid I asked the Customs Officer if she was always such a "B"... subsequent crossings generally asked if I was ever asked to leave the Country for any reason; followed by a snicker and a "Have a good time" when told the reason for the deportation on my record. (For the record: I would LOVE to see what is written on the official record because it has never caused a problem, but they all get a chuckle out of it.) Yes I was deported, that is what the top of the paper I was given read when they booted me out and called the US customs on the other side to pull me over and fill out all their paperwork. Customs officer on the US side was also my US History teacher in school and he was laughing when I walked in the office, told me I was about the 5th person that shift she had booted out so far.
I stopped going over to Canada when the US side got so pissy about crossings. The questions and stupidity made it feel like my own Country thought I was a criminal and almost too suspicious to let back in. I have never been arrested, or even in trouble of any kind, the only marks against me are a couple speeding tickets. Yet all of a sudden the Border Patrol officers are the guardians of the Universe they think, and they treat everyone as guilty until proven beyond a shadow of a doubt innocent. Couple that with an exchange rate that sucks and costs that are now higher in Canada and there really is no reason to cross anymore. My Canadian friends from school times now all live in the States and those friends I made as an adult are either in the UK or in the US, so there are no personal reasons to make the crossing and deal with the morons the US Border Patrol seems to want to have at the border crossings now. It is sad when I can get into a different Country by answering 2-4 questions usually, and a friendly wave from their security; but, to get back into my own Country I have to have a passport and answer 15-20 questions, have my honesty and integrity questioned, and made to feel like it's an honor to be allowed entry into my own Country again. Nutshell reasons: US border policies toward its own citizens, and costs in Canada.
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), or pacific northwest (Vancouver) thing.
