Travel to Canada

The other day, one of my friends remarked that a colleague recently had a difficult time being allowed into Canada on a business trip. As a young man he had been convicted of destroying property when he and some buddies were inebriated. Unfortunately, Canada's restrictions against entry of anyone convicted of a crime resulted in a long interrogation at the port of entry. Ultimately, the Canadians decided to let him enter "this time", but warned that he would probably be barred from future visits.

The word is that this is a frequent situation. It isn't that the rules have tightened up, but that communications between authorities in the US and Canada have improved. Now, in addition to needing a passport to get back into the US for almost any destination, you need to be aware that regulations are being enforced. If you have found yourself crossways of the law at some point in your past, the advice is to notify the Canadians well before you travel and provide them with information. In this case, fifteen years had elapsed since his boyish pranks, but it remains on his record. He was totally surprised about his treatment as an undesirable. Today he is an professional business person. When I mentioned the incident to our travel agents they all told me that they advise travelers about things like this. It was news to me.