Hello old posts,

I just wanted to add to this literature with a recent experience flying into Vancouver BC from US in Summer 2017.

I was very nervous after reading all this information online about visiting Canada with any sort of arrest record at all. I was convinced that my traveling companion would be denied entry due to driving/arrest/misdemeanor records within the past two years and had huge amounts of anxiety as our last minute trip approached. We decided to hop on our flights anyway and just see what happened at the border because we did not have time to apply for a TRP. We also flew without any proof that past fines had been paid, probation completed, etc.

Upon landing in Vancouver we approached our border agent as a pair because we were traveling together and we were asked four general questions about our visit: where were we traveling from, what was the purpose of our visit, how long was our visit going to be, and what our occupations were- all while our agent maintained thorough eye contact while clearly being on the lookout for any sort of suspicious behavior. We were welcomed politely to Vancouver and allowed on our way.

I imagine longer visits (we were there for only 4 days), high profile visits (we were attending a conference as students), and of course any sort of flags as a suspicious traveler would have led to more in depth questioning, but this was our experience.