I came back from a business trip on Friday and it was frustrating as heck to wait half an hour in the lineup with my unused Nexus card in my pocket while the Nexus line was basically empty. I'd be surprised if the majority of Nexus users travelling via air weren't on business. Why would they care about you bringing your own LCD PJ or multimeter vs. using one at the jobsite?

Wrong as wrong can be. Canada requires that you declare worldwide income and pay tax on it. Allowances are made for taxes paid to foreign governments that have tax treaties with Canada, under the conditions and up to the limits set forth in the respective treaties.

The big difference is that the US taxes its citizens worldwide regardless of residency status. Canada only taxes its residents. However, once you are deemed a resident of Canada, it is your worldwide income earned during your residency period that is taxed.

Now for fun, next time I go through (a couple weeks from now on a land crossing), I'm going to ask the same question, and see if we get the same answer. Since at least one agent says it is commercial goods, then we need to assume it is, since any agent can make the admissibility decision on the spot, one has to err on the side of caution, but it's another example of where common sense does not prevail.

I don't carry a projector, so they can secondary away if they like.

Now here's an even more complicated one - one time I was transiting the US on my way to Australia and had commercial goods (real commercial goods - samples) with me, and I passed into the US and then back into Canada on the same day (long story). I declared and asked a US and Canadian agent (it wasn't busy), and got told to use Nexus, which I did, and they both cleared me on both ends. So the confusion continues EVEN though I said I had commercial goods.

interesting topic regarding the commercial goods. i got stopped while crossing into the USA on land near Kingston and had to go into the office. they had to turn me around back to Canada because i carried too many prototype devices that exceeded the $10,000 mark. fine...

a few months pass and i had to go to Dallas for a business trip. i carried my laptop and a couple BlackBerrys in my bag and did not mark #14 that i was carrying commercial goods because i use them for work, not to sell or leave in the USA. i got pulled into secondary screening and the lady came out strong! she told me i'm supposed to mark Yes that i am carrying commercial goods because they're not of "personal effect" to me! anyhow, she said she's gonna indicate on the system that the agent "had to force me to change the declaration form" blah blah. :(

later in the year i went on a trip to Tokyo with parents for vacation and i got pulled into secondary screening again in YOW. this time i marked that i had commercial goods with me because i did bring my laptop and BlackBerrys in case i had some urgent work over my vacation. anyhow, i was just asked why i was going to Washington and told him i'm transiting, blah blah and was let go. :(

on the way back from Tokyo, i marked bringing in commercial goods again and the agent asked me what am i bringing back? i told him i just had my work laptop and BlackBerrys with me. he sent me off to secondary screening and the guy spoke to me asking what the hell am i doing here. he said i shouldn't have marked that i have commercial goods. sigh...

subsequent trips to the USA, i always had to go through secondary screening. sigh, it was such a drag thanks to the YOW CBA lady! :( but as of late, i seem be getting away with it. w00t.

so with the above said, do you think me being on their system will have any impact on getting a NEXUS card?

Last Thursday I used my Nexus at a land crossing at Blaine, WA for a personal trip and asked about the LCD projector. The agent told me that it wouldn't be considered a commercial good and would be considered similar to a laptop, computer mouse or a cell phone. So apparently there is not consensus among all CBP agents. Of course, YMMV.

It may be that the land crossing agents are somewhat more lenient towards irregularities than the airport agents. A couple of years ago I received a new Nexus card in the mail but forgot to activate it before I used it at the border crossing. The agent told me that was grounds for confiscating my card but he (thankfully) let me through and didn't take my card.

Nexus gets you priority security screening and priority immigration into the US and Canada, but what it does not do is give you any priority to exit the baggage area and past the Canada Customs agents at a busy time in YYZ. It was an absolute zoo early evening when I came through last week. The usual 2 agents, at a time when AC has all its Asian arrivals plus Ethiad and miscellaneous other arrivals.

Pushing and shoving was the order of the day, with families and their luggage inevitably getting separated. So what does Canada Customs do - the agents yell at the crowd to stay together with their group, and form one line. Absolutely impossible and useless "advice". I am not sure if it's GTAA or Canada Customs that should be sorting this out, but it is a real mess.

And the AC agent exhorting a tour leader to get her group through (presumably for a connection) did not help as she yelled at her pax to hurry, so they pushed and shoved even more, and due to a language barrier, also tried to ignore the customs agent, who then shut down one line to sort it out.

Fair enough. However, I was referring to the tax obligations of a deemed non resident.

Is this new? I thought it offered simplified security screening to members traveling only within Canada...not US departures and no special security lanes for Nexus members after pre-clearance.

It spread to more airports earlier this year
http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/page.as..._Nexus&lang=en

Nexus/Global Entry Current Status for processing
 

I applied for Nexus on May 9, conditionally approved as of May 30.

Checked appointment availability; sit down first.

Toronto-Pearson: September 1 :mad:
Montreal: August 15
Buffalo: June 8
Niagra Falls: June 1

I may fly in to Buffalo for the processing and then drive or take a bus to Toronto for business meetings.

Keep trying several times a day as people change existing bookings.

For example at 11:16 AM you can book a June 2nd appointment at both Buffalo or Niagara. Two days ago I was looking at an August appointment in Montreal and then was able to book for mid-June.

Thanks!!! You give hope.:rolleyes:

I concur. My SO got her approval notice last Tuesday, and living in CVG, where the closest office is in Detroit (a 4 hour drive), was desperately hoping for a cancellation on Saturday, as we were in YYZ for the weekend. Logged into GOES about a dozen times each on Tuesday, Wed. and Thursday, hoping. Usually found around August 25, but occasionally, a June or July. Then on Thursday evening, logged in to find a Friday appointment, but was too early, then it went back to August. Right before going to bed, I checked once more, and got a Saturday morning. Phew!

Her card is on the way now. Interestingly enough, there was a Canadian officer, when we walked in, scolding someone who was trying to update his DL info, and being told he didn't have to. Since I was there, I did ask the laptop question, and though the agent was kind of brushing me off, told me it wasn't a commercial good, and to just tell anyone who asked about it that it was for work and personal use.

nexus
 

I used nexus for the first time at an airport going to the US and was surprised I still needed to fill out a customs card. I thought answering the same questions on the kiosk replaces filling out the card, as it does for Global Entry. I was going out of YHZ. Is this the case at all the airports? Does the card need to be filled out when going to Canada as well?

Yes, for Nexus the declaration form still needs to be completed for travel in both directions. For Global Entry however, you do not need to when entering the US.