Canadians Expected to Flow to U.S. Border in Search of ‘Black Friday’ Bargains

(Canadian Press)

The lure of Black Friday, America's epic once-a-year buffet of deep discounts and doorcrasher sales, is expected to attract a swarm of Canadian bargain hunters to border crossings this weekend, hungry to spend their pumped-up loonies.

They'll rush to the pivotal U.S. Thanksgiving weekend holiday sales despite countless warnings that the journey could be more of a hassle than an adventure.

But with some careful preparation, inexperienced cross-border shoppers can dodge an otherwise disastrous trip and emerge with a few good deals, according to shopping veterans and border security representatives.

Solid estimates on the number of Canadians expected to visit the U.S. on the weekend aren't available but cross-border trips have been surging in recent months.

A report from Statistics Canada showed that same-day car trips by Canadians to the United States in the month of September rose to their highest level in six years, surpassing two million, or about 70,000 per day.

Cross-border trips have increased this year by 15 per cent, said Wendy Evans, head of retail consultancy Evans and Co. Consultants Inc., and U.S. stores could see 20 to 25 per cent more Black Friday visitors from Canada this year than last.

"It's going to be pretty incredible," said Evans.

The pandemonium generally starts on Black Friday, the day widely regarded as an unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season. It's an ironic take on Black Tuesday - the wildly hectic start of the 1929 stock market crash, when panicked stock markets spiralled into the red.

Unlike the crash that started the Great Depression, Black Friday's pandemonium is a boon to company earnings, helping retailers boost profit and get "in the black."

Several stores are scheduled to open at midnight on Friday morning while nearly all major retail outlets will open before sunrise.

With the loonie perched above parity for the first time since 1976, border points are likely to be chaotic, particularly in populous Ontario, threatening to turn jolly jaunt to the mall into wretched holiday disaster.

"Border service is trying to supplement some of the shortfalls by calling in staff on overtime but how much of that is going to have an actual effect all hinges on volume," said Rob Moran, president of the Canadian Customs Excise Union.

"The volumes have become impossible to predict and the staffing levels were already what could be defined as bare bones before the dollar started doing what it was doing."

The cheapest ways to travel stateside for a weekend of shopping are by car or chartered bus. Some avid shoppers prefer the latter to avoid the sometimes stressful driving experience.

Many Canadian bus operators will make scheduled stops at popular malls and outlets hand picked by the passengers in advance. Whichever method travellers choose, they run the risk of getting stuck in inevitable holdups at the border.

In recent weeks, stories have emerged about massive slowdowns that have left chartered buses and even emergency vehicles waiting while customs officers flip through documents and receipts.

"We've had two consecutive weekends with bad situations all on the Niagara part of the border," said Lorna Hundt, managing director of Great Canadian Holidays & Coaches, which offers both bus rentals and guided shopping trips.

But "we've had coaches going over Gananoque, Ont., Sarnia, Ont., and Detroit (border crossings) that have been absolutely fine, no delays at all."

Hundt said that two recent trips left buses idling at the Niagara border for up to five and a half hours as customs agents kept the passengers waiting.

Some delays appear intentional, perhaps to deter Canadians from shopping in the United States, said Hundt.

"We believe there was some kind of a statement, if you will, with them causing extraordinarily long delays, which were very unnecessary," she said.

Moran insists customs officers are simply trying to do their jobs.

"There have been some very considerable seizures that have been conducted on those buses," he said.

"We're talking about important quantities of drugs and handguns. I guess some people are figuring that this is a good time to take advantage of the fact that there's a lot of volume and it's a good way to enter the country inconspicuously."

So far, border slowdowns haven't softened demand.

This weekend, Great Canadian Holidays has 23 buses scheduled to pull into key shopping hubs located in various U.S. states south of Ontario. Numerous other Canadian charter bus companies are sending out portions of their fleets as well.

One bus driver at a competing charter company said that he has noticed a surge in groups of middle-aged women who organize trips to the United States for shopping sprees and are willing to gamble on slow border processing.

Reports of the slowdowns concern Cynthia Legaspi, a resident of Scarborough, Ont. who crosses the border every few weeks to visit relatives and squeeze in a little shopping.

This weekend she will make an overnight trip to Pennsylvania with her family, solely to scour retail outlets. The state is one of the most popular destinations for Canadian shoppers because it doesn't charge tax on clothing.

"We pass by the prime outlets just along the freeway," Legaspi said. "Most of the goods that you buy there are not sold here. Even if the brands are the same, some of the items are not."

Canadian border regulations say that shoppers on an overnight trip are only exempt from taxes on total purchases below $50. But Legaspi said she usually hasn't had to pay any extra tax, though she's shown border guards receipts that are clearly over the limit.

"We're showing them the receipts because they ask us what we do there," she said. "But they don't look at it because the line is so long already."

With an unusually large number of Canadians expected to be returning laden with big purchases and having spent over the limit, customs officials are likely to be paying closer attention.

For a day trip of less than 24 hours Canadians are technically not exempt from any amount of goods. It's only after a day that the $50 limit kicks in. Then, limits increase to $200 for a 48-hour stay and $750 for a week.

Ontario border crossings tend to be the busiest, with a few in Quebec coming close, said Moran.

"During peak periods, like this upcoming weekend, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Windsor and (Saint Bernard de) Lacolle would be certainly on the list of ports you should expect to have longer delays than the rest of the country," he said.

"The way the geography's laid out in Ontario, with the Great Lakes and everything, it's not like there's a lot of options."

Moran also suggested that shoppers prepare their receipts before reaching the border to help speed up the administrative process. He also suggests avoiding a return to Canada around the end of the afternoon, because wait times are always longer when everyone rushes home at the same time.

Self-proclaimed shopaholic Monique Creary scours Internet message boards for the latest news on cross-border shopping and monitors websites that log the latest deals. But for the first time, the Toronto-area resident will brave Black Friday's massive lineups in hopes of cashing in on the best bargains.

Here are some tips Creary says Canadian shoppers should remember when visiting the United States:

-Scan the Sales: Several websites have prepared a database of deals ahead of Black Friday. Creary uses www.blackfriday.info because it offers a detailed list of items, right down to specific DVD titles at specific stores.

-Create a Plan: The most successful shoppers treat the adventure like a well-mapped out mission. Jot down the approximate cost of items at home then compare them to the same items in the U.S.

-Respect the Border: While the border might've been lax 10 years ago, the climate has changed since post-Sept. 11 security was beefed up and the higher loonie sent Canadians rushing to the border.

"Be as honest as possible. Custom officers aren't stupid. If you say that you spent $50 on a day trip, but really spent $300, have several shopping bags with you and are wearing brand new clothes and shoes, chances are that they're going to see right through you."

-Recognize the Penalties: It you choose to lie about your declarations, be aware you could be slapped with fines and have your name flagged in the system, which could mean harder questioning at the border in the future.

"It's not worth the hassle of being blacklisted - records of infractions are kept for six years - or stopped on future visits just because you wanted to avoid paying the $42 tax on $300 worth of U.S. goods."