[hermes]

I will restrain myself from turning this into a rant on individual liberty, financial freedom and civil rights.

To the meat of the issue...

1. Has anyone on this forum left Canada with over C$10,000?
2. If you did, did you fill out the FINTRAC form?
3. What happened?
4. Was proof of source such as bank withdrawals etc sufficient?

[hermes]

Aside from the practical issue I am curious if anyone knows the history of this legislation/law. I couldn't find anything by googling. By the out-of-date with current financial realities I presume 10K limit comes from the 1980s.

[Gunnair]

hermes hermes:

I like having my Canadian passport but I don't like living in Canada that much. So, I don't.

Yeah. The Canadians will be bending over backwards to offer you advice.

[Brenda]

I wasn't allowed to enter Canada with more than C$10k. They confiscate it. When you have it on you in cash. Why would you want to have $10k in cash on you while there are ATM's everywhere?

[Brenda]

hermes hermes:

By the out-of-date with current financial realities I presume 10K limit comes from the 1980s.

I'm sure. They should limit it to $500 or something. Everybody uses plastic anyway.

[ShepherdsDog]

what the hell do you need that much money for, unless it's to buy a baby outside of official channels?

[PublicAnimalNo9]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

what the hell do you need that much money for, unless it's to buy a baby outside of official channels?

Or drugs.

[xerxes]

I imagine it comes more from the RICO laws in the US that apply to organised crime and such. Also, don't try to bring $9900 dollars, the US border cops may be a bunch of humourless thugs, but they're not idiots.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

hermes hermes:

Aside from the practical issue I am curious if anyone knows the history of this legislation/law. I couldn't find anything by googling. By the out-of-date with current financial realities I presume 10K limit comes from the 1980s.

What current financial realities could possibly require the transport of $10K in cash across an international border?

[BartSimpson]

xerxes xerxes:

I imagine it comes more from the RICO laws in the US that apply to organised crime and such. Also, don't try to bring $9900 dollars, the US border cops may be a bunch of humourless thugs, but they're not idiots.

I disagree. In addition to being humorless thugs the US Border Patrol have a high propensity for idiocy. Especially at the White Rock/Blaine crossing.

That's why I tend to cross at either the truck crossing or Abbottsford.

[BartSimpson]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

What current financial realities could possibly require the transport of $10K in cash across an international border?

Because I want to should be a sufficient explanation in a free world. If I earned the money lawfully then it's none of the government's business how much of it I choose to carry.

[Dragon-Dancer]

I'm pretty sure the law came about as a result of cracking down on organized crime. Since a lot of criminals tend to use purely cash for their enterprises I remember there being a problem with criminals crossing borders to deposit the money in offshore banks or some such. Basically anywhere where the regulations were loose and people in law enforcement would have trouble finding it.

[BartSimpson]

Dragon-Dancer Dragon-Dancer:

I'm pretty sure the law came about as a result of cracking down on organized crime. Since a lot of criminals tend to use purely cash for their enterprises I remember there being a problem with criminals crossing borders to deposit the money in offshore banks or some such. Basically anywhere where the regulations were loose and people in law enforcement would have trouble finding it.

Fine, then deal with the criminals and leave the rest of us alone.

Seems like the statist answer to every problem is to restrict the liberties of law abiding people (because criminals, by definition, ignore laws).

[Dragon-Dancer]

The problem is how do you tell who is a criminal and who isn't when it comes to those carrying large sums of money out of the country? most law abiding citizens wouldn't need to carry cash in such large sums these days, electronic wire transfers make that unnecessary.

[BartSimpson]

Dragon-Dancer Dragon-Dancer:

The problem is how do you tell who is a criminal and who isn't when it comes to those carrying large sums of money out of the country? most law abiding citizens wouldn't need to carry cash in such large sums these days, electronic wire transfers make that unnecessary.

So the answer is to treat everyone like a criminal?

My answer to this is that unless law enforcement has probable cause to consider someone a criminal then it's none of their damn business how much money is in their wallet.