Should I mention a few hours trip to US?

[enjoy2020]

I went on a thousand islands ferry and visited an island on the US side for a couple of hours. Should I mention that trip to the US in my physical presence calculator?

 

[Mexontario]

S

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

I went on a thousand islands ferry and visited an island on the US side for a couple of hours. Should I mention that trip to the US in my physical presence calculator?

Yup.

 

[enjoy2020]

Yup.

Thanks for your response.

 

[dpenabill]

I went on a thousand islands ferry and visited an island on the US side for a couple of hours. Should I mention that trip to the US in my physical presence calculator?

As noted, the answer is simple: YES.

[As edited] If this was the ferry from Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent, that is simply a trip to the U.S. Just like any other day trip.

If this was one of the 1000 island tours, the scenario offers some informative illustrations:

When the tour boat arrives at the U.S. island, passengers have the choice of getting off the boat to visit Boldt Castle, or to remain on the boat. Some are forced to remain on the boat if they do not have status to enter the U.S.

Those who stay on the boat were just as much into U.S. territory as those who get off the boat. That is, outside the territorial boundaries of Canada.

But only those who get off the boat actually exited Canada for immigration purposes. So those who got off the boat need to report the exit and then entry for both PR RO compliance purposes and for presence calculation in a citizenship application. And, actually, this is true for a passenger who is not allowed to proceed, in effect turned back by the U.S. authorities.

But those who stay on the boat never really exited Canada, never made a re-entry into Canada. No need to report the fact they crossed the territorial boundary.

This illustrates why, for example, if a PR goes past the border control station and immediately turns around to stay in Canada without reaching the territorial boundary of the U.S. (not many places this is allowed, but some border crossings have travel lanes for doing this, such as at the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie, Ontario to Buffalo, N.Y.), that too is an "exit" and "entry" into Canada and should be reported. Even though the individual never actually left the territorial boundaries of Canada.

This is further illustrated by how date of arrival is established: does not matter if the plane arrives in Canada before midnight, it is the date when the PR actually goes through border control that determines the date of arrival in Canada. In contrast, for the date of exit, it is the date that the plane is scheduled to leave Canada (with some exceptions) that is the date the PR exits Canada, even if the plane is sitting on the tarmac past midnight, and no matter what date the PR arrives abroad (which for Trans-Pacific flights can be two days after the date of exit).

 

[enjoy2020]

As noted, the answer is simple: YES.

[As edited] If this was the ferry from Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent, that is simply a trip to the U.S. Just like any other day trip.

If this was one of the 1000 island tours, the scenario offers some informative illustrations:

When the tour boat arrives at the U.S. island, passengers have the choice of getting off the boat to visit Boldt Castle, or to remain on the boat. Some are forced to remain on the boat if they do not have status to enter the U.S.

Those who stay on the boat were just as much into U.S. territory as those who get off the boat. That is, outside the territorial boundaries of Canada.

But only those who get off the boat actually exited Canada for immigration purposes. So those who got off the boat need to report the exit and then entry for both PR RO compliance purposes and for presence calculation in a citizenship application. And, actually, this is true for a passenger who is not allowed to proceed, in effect turned back by the U.S. authorities.

But those who stay on the boat never really exited Canada, never made a re-entry into Canada. No need to report the fact they crossed the territorial boundary.

This illustrates why, for example, if a PR goes past the border control station and immediately turns around to stay in Canada without reaching the territorial boundary of the U.S. (not many places this is allowed, but some border crossings have travel lanes for doing this, such as at the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie, Ontario to Buffalo, N.Y.), that too is an "exit" and "entry" into Canada and should be reported. Even though the individual never actually left the territorial boundaries of Canada.

This is further illustrated by how date of arrival is established: does not matter if the plane arrives in Canada before midnight, it is the date when the PR actually goes through border control that determines the date of arrival in Canada. In contrast, for the date of exit, it is the date that the plane is scheduled to leave Canada (with some exceptions) that is the date the PR exits Canada, even if the plane is sitting on the tarmac past midnight, and no matter what date the PR arrives abroad (which for Trans-Pacific flights can be two days after the date of exit).

Wow! Thanks for your detailed resonse @dpenabill. I went to the Boldt Castle, however I don't think that they entered my information as entered US and the Canadian border officer also just checked that I have valid PR card and let me in without inputting my information or swiping my PR card anywhere.