Originally Posted by
WR Cage
If the doc check is at pre-clearance terminal during boarding, the airline is complying with transport canada regulation that all passengers present id to the gate agent. However, at the gate, any govt issued id is sufficient, so you can give the agent your Hawaii or Arizona drivers license and it is acceptable as passport.
The Canadian gate agent doc check is equivalent to the TSA doc check in the USA.
Most of the AC gate agents will insist on a passport - I've had too many run-ins over the years when I show my US drivers license and now I'm running into this nonsense about filling in a contact card (no US carrier requires this, and the only US DOT regulation requests the OPTIONAL collection of next-of-kin information for international flights) with info that is none of anyone's business when I show my US passport.
I've found some middle ground with my Nexus card as photo ID, but the whole thing is just silly.