Canada Updates Travel Warning for US Again

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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular the war started by Moscow. He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English, knows Russian and French. You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.****@******ek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.

Brendan Cole

Senior News Reporter

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Canadian citizens have been told to “expect scrutiny” when crossing into the United States, according to updated online travel advice by Ottawa.

On Friday, Canada’s government updated its online travel advice which said that U.S. Border Patrol officers had “significant” discretion in deciding who enters the country and travelers could expect stringent searches of their electronic devices.

Canada’s government had already updated its advice in March by asking its citizens staying in the U.S. for more than 30 days to register with U.S. authorities and warning that a failure to do so could result in fines or misdemeanor charges.

Several reports of people having their phones searched at the border , and a French researcher being denied entry reportedly due to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) finding messages on his phone criticizing President Donald Trump.

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Customs and Border protection for comment.

Why It Matters

Canadian media reported that the updated travel advice came as the nations’ friendly relationship is breaking down under the pressure of the Trump administration’s war on trade. Reminding Canadians of the strictness of U.S. border rules could be seen as Ottawa’s increasing wariness of Washington’s policy toward its neighbor.

What to Know

Agents with U.S. Border Patrol have long been able to ask to search travelers’ belongings, but the Canadian government updated its online guidance on Friday suggesting that the rules were being followed more stringently.

It said that the Canadian government “cannot intervene on your behalf” if travelers do not meet entry or exit requirements for the U.S. and that individual border agents had “significant discretion” in making those determinations.

The advice included an extra warning that U.S. officers can search phones and laptops and, if denied entry, travelers could be detained while awaiting deportation.

U.S. Border Patrol officers do not need a search warrant to look through someone’s electronic devices. They can make their decision on entry after looking through a traveler’s phone, social media comments and laptops.

Immigration lawyers Heather Segal and Ravi Jain told CBC News that Canadians should consider traveling with a burner phone and even leaving their regular phone at home.

The story of a Canadian woman, Jasmine Mooney, went viral after she told of how was taken into U.S. custody at the Mexican border on March 3.

She had tried to get her work visa renewed, entering at an immigration office at the Mexico-San Diego border, against a U.S. lawyer’s advice and told Canadian media about her 11 days in custody in cement cells.

Canada warned their citizens visiting the United States for periods longer than 30 days to be registered with the United States government in a significant change in cross-border travel norms.

Germany, the U.K., Denmark and Finland issued similar warnings, referring to increased scrutiny, visa restrictions and new federal guidelines that are said to impact transgender and nonbinary travelers.

What People Are Saying

Government of Canada’s traveler advice: “U.S. authorities strictly enforce entry requirements. Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices…if you are denied entry, you could be detained while awaiting deportation.”

What Happens Next

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called snap elections for April 28 and relations between the countries are likely to be a hot topic on the campaign trail especially after Ottawa announced retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.