Canadians can’t enter Canada from the U.S. in a rental car. Reason? Unknown.

**Jimaz** · September-11-10, 11:49 AM

Canadians can’t enter Canada from the U.S. in a rental car. Reason? Unknown.

According to an Ottawa Citizen report, Magill’s European vacation last year hit quite the road bump in Canada because of a bizarre federal regulation that nobody can explain – including two members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet.

All Magill wants to know is this: why can’t a Canadian drive a U.S. rental car into Canada? [[Interestingly, the law doesn’t apply the other way around: an American is permitted to drive a Canadian rental car into the U.S.)

Incredibly, Magill has been making inquiries for the past year trying to get an explanation for the rule....

If anyone can solve this mystery, surely they must be a member of DetroitYES. So what's the rationale for this rule?

**smogboy** · September-11-10, 11:57 AM

If memory serves me a similar scenario also happened to me in San Diego. There were all sorts of restrictions on me driving the rental car into Mexico. I wonder if it has something to do with the rental car agency's insurance or lease agreement with the car manufacturer.

**FlyingJ** · September-11-10, 12:28 PM

I was doing a livery run & was snootily told by that Ontario Children's Choir they got manning the Windsor Border Crossing; "it's illegal for an American to drive a Canadian's car into Canada". I told 'em "Well, you're gonna have a very angry old gal in a Yorkville condo who will make life rather unpleasant". When I talked to the guy in the Toronto office about what they claimed he shook his head "that's pure horseshit, Jay"

**goggomobil** · September-11-10, 01:19 PM

From Hertz, for example:

Canadian Customs and Excise Regulations prohibit Canadian residents from driving U.S. rental vehicles in Canada and/or returning to the U.S. When a Canadian resident rents a U.S. car in the U.S. and drives into Canada, he/she must obtain a Traveler's Vehicle Permit from Canadian Customs, Form E50B. Then the renter must go directly to a Canadian Hertz location and exchange the U.S. car for a Canadian car within 24 hours. No one way rental fees are applied.

From what I've read, it appears that it's a matter of tax revenue.

**gazhekwe** · September-11-10, 01:36 PM

It seems to me it's only been in the last year or so. A relative works on classic cars and was accustomed to delivering his customers' cars across the border. Last summer, he was held up at the border, on the Canadian side for more than an hour. The customer had to come and get the car with proof of citizenship and ownership. The cited rule was that you can't drive someone else's car into Canada. I can't remember how they even thought to ask whose car it was. They didn't ask us if our car was our car just minutes earlier.

LodgeDodger · September-11-10, 01:44 PM

Oddly enough, my last time through the border crossing, I was asked if the car I was driving was my own. It was.

We live on the border of two countries. That's just the way it is, folks.

lilpup · September-11-10, 01:49 PM

This must be a recent development since I have driven a rental car into Canada a number of times.

checkraisej · September-11-10, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by lilpup

This must be a recent development since I have driven a rental car into Canada a number of times.

Are you Canadian? And was it a Canadian rental car?

lilpup · September-11-10, 02:38 PM

Nope and nope.

**Jimaz** · September-11-10, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by goggomobil

From Hertz, for example:

Canadian Customs and Excise Regulations prohibit Canadian residents from driving U.S. rental vehicles in Canada and/or returning to the U.S. When a Canadian resident rents a U.S. car in the U.S. and drives into Canada, he/she must obtain a Traveler's Vehicle Permit from Canadian Customs, Form E50B. Then the renter must go directly to a Canadian Hertz location and exchange the U.S. car for a Canadian car within 24 hours. No one way rental fees are applied.

From what I've read, it appears that it's a matter of tax revenue.

That sounds like a plausible theory. I knew DetroitYES would come up with some answer sooner than a whole year!

**iheartthed** · September-11-10, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by goggomobil

From Hertz, for example:

Canadian Customs and Excise Regulations prohibit Canadian residents from driving U.S. rental vehicles in Canada and/or returning to the U.S. When a Canadian resident rents a U.S. car in the U.S. and drives into Canada, he/she must obtain a Traveler's Vehicle Permit from Canadian Customs, Form E50B. Then the renter must go directly to a Canadian Hertz location and exchange the U.S. car for a Canadian car within 24 hours. No one way rental fees are applied.

From what I've read, it appears that it's a matter of tax revenue.

Interesting. I had no idea. I drove a Hertz rental car through Canada last summer that I rented in the US.

As for Mexico, it makes sense that US rental companies don't allow you to drive their cars into Mexico since many insurance policies for personal cars don't cover theft or damage that occurs in Mexico.

**Claude G.** · September-11-10, 07:03 PM

You can take a U-haul truck from the Us to Canada and back without a problem

**fryar** · September-13-10, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

That sounds like a plausible theory. I knew DetroitYES would come up with some answer sooner than a whole year!

Yes, that does sound like a plausible theory. They may have had issues with Canadians flying into US border cities and renting cars there for their otherwise Canadian vacation. Perhaps the Canadian excise taxes have an effect on the total price of the vehicle rental that is non-negligible for longer rentals. In which case, the lobbyists come calling, I suppose.

**EastsideAl** · September-14-10, 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by LodgeDodger

Oddly enough, my last time through the border crossing, I was asked if the car I was driving was my own. It was.

I was asked the same thing when I crossed over a couple of weeks ago. I've been across that border thousands of times in my life and never heard that question before so I was a little surprised and laughed before I answered yes. I couldn't figure out why they'd ask me that question and couldn't help thinking that if I was going to drive someone else's car across the border I might choose something a little nicer than a decade old faded-red loud-idling Escort.

So, it sounds like what's really happening here is Canada protecting its rental car tax revenue against their own citizens acting slick and renting less taxed, and therefore cheaper, US cars. But then why ask US citizens this question? Does this rule only affect rental cars, or are they really stopping anyone from driving over in a car that isn't registered to them? So, would this prevent me from driving my elderly mom's car over there to her [[she spends most of the summer in Canada), as I have several times in the past? And what about tourists from overseas or far-away parts of our countries, who often rent a car to travel around and would have no other means of getting across the border?

**5speedz34** · September-14-10, 07:26 AM

Either the border patrol doesn't care or logistically and economically it's foolish to do so but what about all the Americans that go to Canada between 19 and 20? I want to say my buddy or I got asked before and our parents own our cars.

**Lowell** · September-14-10, 07:37 AM

Can we please negotiate a European Union style treaty and end this ridiculous and, for our border cities in particular, economically damaging border restrictions. If former enemies in Europe who murdered millions of each others citizens in the last century can move freely across their borders, certainly we, allies in war today and at peace for almost two centuries can figure out a way to open ours.

Mr. Obama, Mr. Harper. Tear down that wall.

**5speedz34** · September-14-10, 07:49 AM

I agree totally and I think public sentiment would change if the dollar was worth significantly more than the Canadian dollar. As it sits the only people that cross in significant numbers are truckers and 19-20 year olds.

LodgeDodger · September-14-10, 08:33 AM

Canada is a foreign country. Period. The end.

I love our Canadian brothers and sisters, but I'm happy to know there is security at the border.

**bailey** · September-14-10, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Can we please negotiate a European Union style treaty and end this ridiculous and, for our border cities in particular, economically damaging border restrictions. If former enemies in Europe who murdered millions of each others citizens in the last century can move freely across their borders, certainly we, allies in war today and at peace for almost two centuries can figure out a way to open ours.

Mr. Obama, Mr. Harper. Tear down that wall.

Yes, and in order to do that, we'd need national ID card [[and many of the EU requires one to carry at all times) and allow the police to ask to see ""our papers" at any time....as they do in europe.

The bible humping teabaggers wont allow a national ID card because its the mark of the beast signaling the end of days, or its a 10th amendment thing, or Obama is a socalist and/or keynan. also muslin.

The handwringing liberals wont allow it because to dare to ask one, whom you suspect may not be from here, to show some sort of ID on the matter when stopped by police is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

So, it's really not up to harper and obama because if tomorrow they begun efforts to "tear down that wall" [[seriously, melodramic much?) the howling from the left and the right would be deafening and nothing would change.