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Old 07-20-2015, 02:17 AM   #1
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Border crossing.

I'm new to the Skoolie game and want to take my new bus/old bus up to British columbia canada really soon. Is there and special laws or regulations needed on a converted school bus in canada? Or is it a normal rv check at the border crossing?

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Old 07-20-2015, 02:51 AM   #2
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probably changed since, but i took my skoolie up to whistler from Washington one summer for the glacier (2007). they just checked my papers and gave it the once over on the inside.
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:55 AM   #3
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no rules or reg your welcome to come into Canada, just remember you mite be stereo typed for being in a bus, so you mite get looked at a bit harder.
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Old 07-20-2015, 01:28 PM   #4
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Don't forget your passport. Or has that changed?
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Old 07-20-2015, 01:54 PM   #5
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If you have air breaks you need an air endorsement, even for an RV.
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Old 07-20-2015, 05:10 PM   #6
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If you have air breaks you need an air endorsement, even for an RV.
That's interesting, because NJ doesn't require it for a "Class A with air," as I asked our (un)friendly DMV...
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:39 PM   #7
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It was elsewhere on this forum that somebody mentioned BC requires the air brake endorsement even for RVs because they have so many twisty steep mountain roads and people kept dumping RVs at the bottom of the canyons. I thought they said BC was the only province with this requirement, though..? Not sure.
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:51 PM   #8
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oh, this thread is about the "other border"


the friendly one and the one that doesn't get talked about as much
it sure looks like beautiful country up there!
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Old 07-20-2015, 08:04 PM   #9
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Air brake endorsement in Ontario as well.

Leave your fire arms at home as well, I know you US guys like your weapons.
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Old 07-20-2015, 08:11 PM   #10
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Air brake endorsement in Ontario as well.

Leave your fire arms at home as well, I know you US guys like your weapons.
Only firearms I've got are Nerf™
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Old 07-20-2015, 08:12 PM   #11
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In any case, I say: just go get a fully decked-out class A license. Contrary to popular belief, one doesn't actually need a tractor trailer rig to do a class A road test. Any class A vehicle will do... that is, any towing vehicle and trailer with a combined gross rating over 26k pounds and more than 10k of it in the trailer. A skoolie towing a bumper-pull dump trailer for example fits the bill nicely. A newer pickup truck with a heavy-rated gooseneck or 5th wheel trailer for concrete forms etc does too. Just be sure the trailer is long enough that you can back it easily.
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Old 07-20-2015, 09:02 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by family wagon View Post
It was elsewhere on this forum that somebody mentioned BC requires the air brake endorsement even for RVs because they have so many twisty steep mountain roads and people kept dumping RVs at the bottom of the canyons. I thought they said BC was the only province with this requirement, though..? Not sure.
That's what I was thinking of.
Here manitoba, you technically need an air endorsement for any vehicle with air breaks excluding farm trucks.

Although nothing clarifies anything for motor homes, you probably won't need one. Based on an email I receieved.
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Old 07-20-2015, 10:25 PM   #13
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Air brake endorsement in Ontario as well.

Leave your fire arms at home as well, I know you US guys like your weapons.
In Texas it's a REQUIERMENT, between the wildlife in the country that can eat you, and the wildlife in the city that can shoot you, it's a necessity....
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Old 07-21-2015, 01:05 AM   #14
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It's been 17 years since I actually crossed over, though I have spied Canada across the Saint Lawrence River a few times since.

At the time, I procured a Canadian proof of insurance card, as I was told before setting out that it was needed. It did not require a special policy, my US agent merely memorialized the existing coverage on a document acceptable to Canadian authorities.

I have "crossed back" a couple of times, though. The US Border Patrol sometimes stops traffic on the Interstate between Lake Placid and Albany to catch anyone suspected of sneaking in through the woods to bypass Ports of Entry.
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Old 07-21-2015, 06:35 AM   #15
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Leave your fire arms at home as well, I know you US guys like your weapons.
When I moved back from Alaska we drove through Canada with several rifles (no handguns though). It was pretty easy. I think there's some paperwork you have to do before you go. The kind people at the border crossing didn't even ask to see them. They just said not to point them at anybody.
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Old 07-21-2015, 08:13 PM   #16
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In Texas it's a REQUIERMENT, between the wildlife in the country that can eat you, and the wildlife in the city that can shoot you, it's a necessity....
Wasn't trying to be negative, things are a little different here as far as guns go.

Did an ATV ride in Putney KY and Oliver Springs Tenn [atv forum get together] and some of the local guys and Bamma boys had loaded pieces under the seat of the ATV's and pick ups. When they came up here to ride we sorta had to mention it to them.....they were going to bring them.

I'd like to get down to Texas for the "MUD NATS" before I'm to old.....no sleep at that event, lol.
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Old 07-26-2015, 05:29 PM   #17
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Air brake endorsement in Ontario as well.

Leave your fire arms at home as well, I know you US guys like your weapons.
But my firearms are the only people who understand me.
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Old 10-15-2015, 08:15 PM   #18
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If a country accepts your drivers license (and Canada accepts all US licenses) they accept whatever that license entitles you to drive, so long as the vehicle is not in some way illegal to drive in that province (eg: Transport truck with no limiter in Ontario, triple tow in most places, etc).

That means if you may drive something with air brakes where you got your license, you may continue to drive it as such in Canada up until the point where you would be required to get a local license (I believe that would be 12 continuous months after being considered a landed immigrant, but I'm not sure on that point).

Otherwise, my Ontario G license would entitle me to drive something with air brakes in states that are OK with that (it would not--I would require a Z endorsement). And those from states that don't have air brake endorsement would not be able to drive a transport truck through Canada.

I know of only one US state that, for a very short time, decided they would not accept licenses from outside of the US (Florida). They required an international license. That went away almost instantly when they wondered where the snowbirds went...
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Old 10-15-2015, 08:46 PM   #19
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Only firearms I've got are Nerf™

Living in NJ, did you need a background check to buy that Nerf gun? I think NJ is about as bad as CA when it comes to gun laws.
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Old 11-30-2015, 09:16 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Wasn't trying to be negative, things are a little different here as far as guns go.

Did an ATV ride in Putney KY and Oliver Springs Tenn [atv forum get together] and some of the local guys and Bamma boys had loaded pieces under the seat of the ATV's and pick ups. When they came up here to ride we sorta had to mention it to them.....they were going to bring them.

I'd like to get down to Texas for the "MUD NATS" before I'm to old.....no sleep at that event, lol.
It's been years, but we went from the States in to Canada, don't remember the Providence, but brought rifles and pistols and then caught a small plane that dropped us off in a remote area to hunt for 10 days. This was obviously before the passport requirements, but it wasn't an issue.
Has things changed that much? Don't they still hunt up there or just don't allow foreigners to do it? More of a fisherman myself, but would like to bring a few guns as after a couple months around Vancouver Island we plan to head to Alaska for several months.
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