What if one person doesn't live in Canada?

[TigerlilyAJ]

Yes, we used our passports for everyone.

Well, I hope they accept OHIP cards, which actually prove residency, rather than citizenship. My kids are dual citizens and don't have Canadian passports.

 

[youngdeb12]

Well, I hope they accept OHIP cards, which actually prove residency, rather than citizenship. My kids are dual citizens and don't have Canadian passports.

Disneyland let us use our BCDLs so I would hope that their OHIP cards would be sufficient. Passports are a horrible proof of residency.

 

[StarSeven7]

Well, I hope they accept OHIP cards, which actually prove residency, rather than citizenship. My kids are dual citizens and don't have Canadian passports.

How are you planning to cross the border? Are you driving across with birth certificates?

 

[StarSeven7]

Passports are a horrible proof of residency.

They are but most people don't get the difference! For instance, I'm American and only hold a U.S. passport but I'm a Canadian resident. My SIL is Canadian but lives in the US and only holds a Canadian passport. So neither of us has a passport that matches our residency! In my case, I'm assuming my PR card would work ok to prove residency (I would probably have to explain it) but I didn't end up needing it since I got an AP for myself and my DH and kids are Canadian so they just used passports to prove residency (even though, as you pointed out, it actually only proves citizenship and not residency!)

 

[SirDuff]

How are you planning to cross the border? Are you driving across with birth certificates?

If they‘re dual citizens, I’m assuming that they are using passports - just not Canadian ones. Or birth certificates, but if they weren’t born in Canada, that doesn’t help.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

If they‘re dual citizens, I’m assuming that they are using passports - just not Canadian ones. Or birth certificates, but if they weren’t born in Canada, that doesn’t help.

Your first guess is correct. They have US passports...which note their place of birth as Canada.

 

[StarSeven7]

Your first guess is correct. They have US passports...which note their place of birth as Canada.

Ok so they were born in Canada but you only got them US passports? Then their birth certificate and an OHIP card would be the only proof of citizenship. I’m curious why you chose to only get US passports if you live in Canada?

edited to add: what do you use to prove citizenship when you cross back into Canada? Or do you only use their Canadian birth certificates when you cross back?

 

[isabellea]

I thought by law you had to use US passport when entering the USA and Canadian passport when entering Canada when a dual citizen?!? My friend has both citizenship and always carry both passports when traveling to the USA because of that requirement.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I thought by law you had to use US passport when entering the USA and Canadian passport when entering Canada when a dual citizen?!? My friend has both citizenship and always carry both passports when traveling to the USA because of that requirement.

You're required to declare the relevant citizenship when you cross and they ask you, "Citizenship?" (There's a poster about it on the wall of the Citizenship Services floor at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.) So, I say, "American" when entering the U.S. and "Canadian" when returning to Canada (and make the same declaration on behalf of the children). I have a U.S. passport (a travel document) and a Canadian citizenship card (proof of citizenship). I hand over both to Canadian border agents when returning.
As for the children, they have their U.S. passports that say they were born in Canada. About 10% of the time, the agent will either:
-ask why they don't have Canadian passports, OR
-state that, "Oh, you don't have Canadian passports because they don't last as long and you'd have to renew more often" (a situation that I think might no longer be true, at least for adults, but yes, that's exactly how we got here), OR
-say that, as a technical matter, the passport line about being born in Canada is not actually proof of citizenship.
Any and all of these situations are then followed by waving us on through. Always. Just like the 90% of the time that nobody says nothin'. And we cross a lot as my extended family lives in a state that borders our province.
After all, even if the agents were unconvinced that the kids were Canadian citizens, the passports prove they're Americans, who are allowed to visit without visas for six months.
But really, my guess is that it's the agents realistically and reasonably concluding that Mr. X, born in Canada, and Ms. X, who both have documents establishing their Canadian citizenship (and who cross regularly, I'm sure their computer screen shows), are the parents of kids 1X, 2X, 3X, and 4X, thus almost certainly conferring Canadian citizenship on the children, even if the U.S. passports' assertions of their place of birth were somehow dubious. But I doubt they doubt that, either, because I'm betting they have confidence in, and familiarity with, U.S. passports. Border guards are allowed to use their brains and make judgements.
This is a special situation created by the relatively easygoing relationship between the U.S. and Canada with regard to the flow of each other's (native-born) citizens into and out of the country. If you have friends who are dual citizens of, say, Canada and Russia, they might expect a different result and probably should cough up the hundreds and hundreds of dollars to maintain two sets of passports.

Reminder: Citizenship /= Residency
Canadian citizens are residents of countries all around the world, and people from around the world are Canadian residents. And the offer from Disney is clearly named for "Canadian residents." It's only CM ignorance, whether on the phone or in person, that equates a passport with residency (or lack of a Canadian passport as meaning one cannot be a resident).

The idea of showing their birth certificates as proof of *residency* makes my brain explode. Especially since I have no other reason to carry those important documents on our trip, since I'll already have their passports for crossing the border. I will have their OHIP cards on me as usual. Maybe we'll see if Guest Services accepts them as a form of identification like Elections Canada does (as I know from working for them at this month's Advanced polls).
@StarSeven7 OHIP cards are not proof of citizenship. I had an OHIP card while I was a Permanent Resident. Citizens and permanent residents only get OHIP cards by proving they reside in Ontario. So, like the driver's license, health-insurance cards are actually much better proof of Canadian residency than a passport. ;-)

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Double post. Sorry!

 

[isabellea]

Thanks for explaining how it works! A Nexus card is also accepted by Disney and very useful when crossing the border regularly.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Thanks for explaining how it works! A Nexus card is also accepted by Disney and very useful when crossing the border regularly.

Considering what they cost, I'm glad to hear Nexus cards have multiple uses.