Canadians rush to get passports for flying to U.S.

Visits to Canada by U.S. travelers have dropped 28 percent in five years.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
TORONTO -- Canadians are scrambling to get passports before new U.S. rules go into effect Tuesday requiring all air travelers coming into the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean to carry one. But tourism officials here worry that the restriction will deter Americans from coming north.
The new travel security restrictions, designed to keep closer track of the millions of people who cross U.S. borders, were recommended by the Sept. 11 commission and mandated by Congress in 2004. Although the new rules initially were supposed to take effect on Jan. 1, the U.S. later postponed implementation until Jan. 23 to avoid disrupting holiday travel.
Travelers coming into the U.S. by land or sea will not need a passport until January 2008, and still may enter using a birth certificate, driver's license or border crossing card that shows citizenship. But beginning Tuesday all airline passengers coming into the U.S. must produce a passport. More applications
In December, there was a 31 percent increase in passport applications compared with the previous year, said Francine Charbonneau, a spokeswoman for Passport Canada. The department has added an extra shift at print centers to get passports out quickly.
So far this year, 96 percent of travelers from Canada have used passports, according to U.S. Customs and Immigration. The majority were traveling on business.
Sept. 11 paranoia
"Anything that gets me through customs faster, I'll do," said Brett Nelson, a Canadian engineering and sales manager who travels twice a month to the U.S. He has been using his passport for about a year, since a border official said the U.S. preferred it. But Nelson said that he doesn't agree with the restriction.
"It's remnant paranoia from 9/11," he said. "They're still afraid of people hijacking an airplane. But you can still drive across the border with a truck bomb as long as you have a driver's license."
Canadian tourism officials worry that the new restrictions will only give Americans another reason to go someplace else. The 50 billion tourism industry has seen visits by U.S. travelers drop 28 percent over the past five years, especially as the Canadian dollar grows stronger.
Only 40 percent of Americans have passports, said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; a new one costs 97 for adults and takes about six weeks to receive, or two weeks for an extra 60. That means at least 358 in fees for a family of four.