Border crossing into Canada

Last winter it made the newspapers here in Florida, that a Canadian couple that wintered here for six months each year, got an emergency call from back home in Canada. Turned out one of their elderly mothers was on her death bed and not expected to live much longer. The problem was that the Canadian couple entered the US on an enhanced drivers license which is only good for ground travel in a vehicle. You have to have a passport to fly internationally to or from the US. So the couple had to fly to an airport in the northern US, rent a car and then drive into Canada. They made it back home in time for the funeral. They also applied for a Canadian passport while they were back home.

With little more effort and cost to get a passport, I am not sure why anyone would want to get an enhanced drivers license unless you live close to the border and just plan to cross over for short stays and never get far from the border. No, Florida doesn't offer them as far as I know. One of my Bellingham nieces used to make numerous trips weekly, back and forth, into Canada to work. She had some sort of "bar code" sticker that went on her rear driver's side passenger window. They had a special traffic lane to use and if by herself, she didn't have to even stop, unless flagged down by a border agent. This was at the Blaine Crossing. Don't know if BC offers the enhanced licenses or not, but it could be handy for all the Canadians headed for the Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham to shop. LOL