Canadians Befuddled about when They Need Passports to Travel to the U.S.

The confusion about passports could also hurt the U.S. tourism industry, which is reaping the benefits of the high Canadian dollar.

Many Canadians are confused about when a passport is required to enter the United States, even though a majority believes they are aware of current regulations, a new survey suggests.

That could spell trouble at the border if Canadians don’t become better informed, in the form of delayed trips and lost business opportunities, said Harris/Decima president Bruce Anderson.

“What these numbers are telling us is that not only do Canadians not all really know what the future rules will be, but most of them feel confident that they do know,” he said Sunday in an interview from Ottawa. “So I think there’s some work ahead, obviously, for those who have a need to make sure that Canadians are well informed.”

According to the Harris/Decima survey released Sunday, 51 percent of 1,000 Canadian adults polled said they thought they needed a valid passport to enter the U.S. by sea and 39 percent believed it was required to cross the border on land.

Still, 66 percent of the Canadians surveyed said they felt they were aware of current passport regulations for travel to the U.S.

Currently, Canadians only need a passport to enter the U.S. by air. But that’s expected to change in the summer of 2008 when passports will also be required at U.S. land and sea entry points.

The new rules are part of the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative passed by U.S. Congress in 2004 in a bid to plug security holes after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

They were supposed to go into effect in January, but last June, U.S. officials issued a reprieve on passports for people entering at land and sea points until at least the following summer.