Can I go to Canada without a passport if I drive?
If you are a citizen of US, Canada, or Mexico AND entering the US (which, by default means entering Canada if you plan on returning to the US):
- are traveling by air after 01 January 2007, a passport is the only acceptable documentation
- are traveling by land or sea before 31 December 2007, you must have proof of citizenship (which means passport, birth certificate, and/or naturalization papers) AND valid photo ID (which means passport, US or Canada driver's license, or military ID)
- are traveling by any measn after 01 January 2008, a passport is the only acceptable form of documentation.
If you are NOT a citizen of US, Canada, or Mexico and are entering the US (and therefore entering Canada, if returning via the US) ... you must have a valid passport regardless of how you travel.
If you are a permanent resident of US, Canada, or Mexico you MUST have your permanent residency documentation (typically, the "green card") with you. It is advisable to ALSO have a valid passport, regardless of your citizenship.
School and/or medical ID (with or without photographs) are NOT accepted as identification for the purposes of border crossing.
Since you can really ONLY drive from USA into Canada (our only bordering country), I will give you the short answer:
No, You presently do not need a passport if you are a US citizen and are arriving into Canada. You will need a valid photo ID and proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. To get back into the USA, again all you need is a photo ID and proof of citizenship if you are a US citizen.
The US Dept of Homeland Security have a webpage with this message:
"...US citizens do not need a passport, but need to be able to show a government-issued identification. U.S. citizens arriving by land and sea must be able to prove that they are U.S. citizens....This rule may change as early as January 2008...."
NOTE: The governments of Canada and USA have agreed to extend the deadline for passports for LAND travellers to June 2008, the last time I looked at the "latest news" updates. But travellers should not wait until the last minute!
