(The following story by Kimberley Noble appeared on the Globe and Mail website on March 22.)
TORONTO — New passport rules for Canadians travelling to the U.S. seem to have kicked in early at Amtrak. The rail service now requires passengers to provide passport numbers and expiry dates before buying tickets.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative — legislation setting out rules for U.S. entry — officially takes effect at the end of this year for sea and air travel, and on Dec. 31, 2007 for border crossings on land.
But according to Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black, the application of existing rules has nonetheless been tightened up, so that the future laws are for all intents and purposes already in place.
“We do what U.S. Customs and Border Protection tell us to,” Black said from his office in Washington, D.C. “They make the rules.” Right now, U.S. law requires that Canadians provide both proof of citizenship and proof of identity, “and the best way to provide those things is with a valid passport,” Black said.
Today, Canadian travellers without passports are required to produce two pieces of identification at the U.S. border: A certified birth certificate or certificate of citizenship; and a valid piece of government-issued photographic identification.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, a valid driver’s license is an acceptable example of the latter, as is a provincial health insurance card. But anybody requesting a government health card aside from a health care professional can be subjected to a hefty fine. In no cases, said an official from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, should Canadians allow their health card number to be scanned or recorded, even by U.S. Customs officers.
Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has urged Amtrak to start requesting passports, Black said. And Amtrak is taking this request seriously, to the point that Canadian travellers crossing into the States from Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto — Amtrak’s three Canadian hubs — are required to provide passport information before being permitted to purchase train tickets.
Black warns that border protection officers have been known to delay and even deny entry to travellers whose documents do not conform to what they understand as the current requirements, which means any traveller crossing the border without a passport could be turned away if the official at the gate doesn’t like the look of their I.D.
The bottom line? “If you wish to avoid significant delay at the border and potential denial of entry, bring a passport,” Black says.
Foreign Affairs Canada agrees. Its website (www.voyage.gc.ca/main/before/travel_us-en.asp) “strongly advises” Canadian citizens to obtain and use a Canadian passport for all international travel.