Is it possible to travel to the U.S by car as a Canadian citezen from Canada without a passport?

Question

I heard the enhanced drivers licenses work. Does Alberta use the enhanced drivers license? And how long before passports at border crossings must be shown from now. Your feed back would be great! thanks.

Answer 1

Passport needed (since June 1, 2009)!



Alberta will not follow BC, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec in the development of an enhanced drivers license to allow easier surface travel to the United States.



An enhanced driver's license contains the same information as your current license along with citizenship information, a machine-readable zone just like a passport that can be scanned at the customs inspection booth and a radio frequency ID chip.



Service Alberta's Cam Traynor says unlike BC, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec our province doesn't have a huge population living close to the American border. He says when Albertans go to the states they fly and use passports..



http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/whti-ivho/edl-pcp-eng.html ..

Answer 2

To cross the border into the US you will require one of the approved Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative identifications. Currently these include, for a Canadian Citizen, the following:



A Valid Passport - valid for travel by land, sea, or air.



An Enhanced Drivers License or Enhanced Provincial ID which are currently issued by British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. As the previous answers have stated, Alberta does not issue this form of ID and does not have any plans to start issuing it. They are valid for travel to the US by land or sea.



A Nexus Card - valid for travel by land, sea or by air to and from certain airports, this requires you to be interviewed and pre-cleared by both Canadian and US authorities. Although you can get one without a passport it takes longer than either of the prior forms of ID. It was designed for frequent travellers.



A youth, 15 years of age and younger, can travel by land or sea using an official birth certificate.



So it is possible to travel by car without a passport if you have one of the other approved forms of ID or are 15 and younger. However for an adult living in Alberta your most viable option is to get a Canadian Passport.

Answer 3

I do not believe Alberta has Enhanced Dr. Li. You MUST have a passport to enter the u.S. by any means...UNLESS you are 15 or younger. In that case you may cross the border by LAND with just your birth certificate. Been almost 3 years since this law went into effect.

Answer 4

Alberta doesn't issue EDL's..the logic being that there were to few land crossings to /from the U.S to make it worth the cost to implement the program.You'll need a passport to enter the U.S-it's been that way almost 2 years now.

Answer 5

You have to have an enhanced licence or a passport. You need it now.

Answer 6

We traveled many times to Canada with just a drivers license but the governments have changed things with the running of drugs. Call your local service and ask the same question.