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Passport to drive to Canada?

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I am going to visit NY this summer and am going to visit Canada for the day. Last year when we went, I showed my i.d. and was given no problems. Do you need a passport to drive into Canada (right there at the border of Canada and Buffalo, NY) to spend a few hours? Will my i.d. and my childrens school i.d's and Birth Certificates or Shot Records suffice?

Travel Tips

you won't need a passport to drive to Canada just yet if you are an American citizen BUT if you are taking minor children across the border and both parents are not accompanying them you will need to have a NOTARIZED letter from the other parent stating you are allowed to take them across the border- this is needed even if you are married to the other parent.
If you are in a position of sole custody or the other parent is deceased you should bring proof of that with you.
Without these documents you are not likely going to be allowed to bring minors into the country.
Birth certificates will be sufficient- In 7 years I have never been asked for a shot record for my son. Source(s): personal experience of traveling with my son over the last few years- have always needed the notarized letter from his father since 2002
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Until 2009 you do not have to have a passport if you are driving across the border. If you're flying though, you will need a passport.
Yes. That is all you need when you drive. You only need a passport to fly. Eventually you will need a passport, but it was suppose to be next year, and they have started making a bunch of announcements to postpone those changes.
http://cbsa.gc.ca/agency/whti-ivho/touri...
Yes they will, but make sure you at least have their birth certificates. =) Have fun
this is kinda funny, one of my old bosses had a house in canada and one time as they were crossing the border they asked if he had ever been convicted of a crime. he said no, and he was telling the truth. but, apearantly 40 years earlier he was arrested for putting a scratch on a concrete building with a key during a protest, charges were dropped. (the damage was a whapping 5.00 in paint) he was banned from canada for almost a year. he had to get his record expunged proving that he had not lied. I don't know that I would want to go to canada after that.