Canada Travel Guide
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Guide
Here is the detail most guides skip: Canada's Electronic Travel Authorization only applies if you are flying in. Land and sea arrivals from a visa exempt country do not need one at all, only a valid passport. That split between air and land is the single most useful thing to know before you plan a Canada trip, since most sites just say "you need an eTA" without the qualifier.
ArriveCAN, the app that was mandatory for a while, is not required for entry anymore as of 2025. It still exists as an optional way to submit an advance customs declaration at a handful of airports, Montreal-Trudeau among them, but skipping it will not stop you at the border. If you read an older post insisting you need it, that post is out of date.
Border crossings
- The big four road crossings
Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor carries the most freight and passenger traffic of any Canada-US crossing. Peace Arch, between Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia, is the main Pacific route. Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls and the Thousand Islands Bridge further east cover the middle of the border. All four are staffed, paved, and busy enough that a long weekend or a holiday can mean a real wait.
- NEXUS cuts the line, literally
If you cross often, NEXUS membership (roughly $30 for five years, run jointly by CBSA and CBP) gets you a dedicated lane at land crossings, a separate line at marine reporting sites, and access to airport preclearance kiosks. It is one of the few travel programs that genuinely pays for itself after a handful of trips.
- ID rules are looser than people assume
A passport is not strictly required at every land crossing. A passport card, a NEXUS card, or an Enhanced Driver's License from an eligible state or province can work instead. That flexibility exists for land and sea only, flying still means a passport, no substitute accepted.
Transit routes
- Amtrak's Maple Leaf and Adirondack
The Maple Leaf runs Toronto to New York via Niagara Falls, and the Adirondack covers Montreal to New York down the Hudson Valley. Both cross a real border partway through the trip, with customs and immigration handled on board or at a stop, not a separate airport style process.
- Flying between coasts still makes the most sense
Vancouver to Halifax is roughly the width of Europe. For anything beyond a single region, a domestic flight beats a multi day drive, and once you are already admitted to Canada, a domestic flight involves no further immigration step.
- Driving in is genuinely normal, not a stunt
Plenty of visitors simply drive across from Washington, Michigan, New York, or Maine. The only real planning task is picking a crossing that is not also everyone else's first choice on the same weekend.
Entry point notes
- eTA is an air only requirement
This is worth repeating on its own: a visa exempt traveler entering by land or sea needs nothing beyond a passport. The eTA exists specifically for the air arrival case, applying it to every entry method is a common and understandable mistake.
- Americans do not need an eTA at all
US citizens are not part of the eTA system for Canada regardless of how they arrive, a passport (or one of the accepted alternate IDs at land crossings) is enough on its own.
- ArriveCAN's mandatory era is over
Treat any instruction that says the app is required as outdated. It is optional now, useful only if you want to submit a customs declaration in advance at one of the airports that still supports it.