Thanks dand99. Yes, absolutely this was a theoretical question. As the OP I can certainly state that we've never travelled with $10,000 or equivalent in total (wishful thinking ). I think the most at any one time was about $8,000 equivalent in Japanese Yen on our last trip there where we stayed 27 days. As many people likely know, Japan is intrinsically a cash society. For example, paying a $2,200 equivalent hotel bill in cash is quite common. If planning a trip we buy Yen at different times to take advantage of best exchange rates.

What intrigued was the reluctance of AC to give us each a customs declaration form. Sure we know that up to four people living at the same address can be included - but we would rather have separate forms and claim our exemptions separately.

Regarding FINTRAC, if separate declarations are used and each individual is carrying less than $10,000 Cdn the funds do not have to be declared, whereas if it's two people on a single form jointly carrying more than $10k but less than $10k individually the funds "seem to" have to be declared.

We see it a lot on "that TV show" where couples carrying over $10k but far less than $20k combined get trapped in this and always seem to end up being forced to pay a $250 fine to be allowed to keep their own money.

Worst of all, there seems to be absolutely nothing in writing available to the public with clear concise guidelines!
It's almost like the authorities don't want people to be able to know what their righs really are!