Government surveillance. One of the many unfortunate consequences of rapid technological progress. And not just with one government but with many governments.

The Entry and Exit Initiative is a major initiative between Canada and the United States. Information about citizens is shared between the two countries to create data on citizen movements. Entry into the United States will create an exit record in Canada. Entry into Canada will create an exit record in the United States.

What information is recorded?

On entry and exit your first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, nationality, gender, document type, document number and name of country that issued the travel document. Also collected will be the date and time of entry or exit and the port of entry or exit.

The information will be transmitted to both governments.

This is how the Canadian government explains the benefits of the Entry and Exit Initiative:

The Entry/Exit Initiative aligns Canada with its international partners who have or are in the process of implementing entry-exit systems. The initiative will benefit Canadians by strengthening the efficiency and security of the Canada-U.S. shared border.

• It will enable the CBSA and its federal government partners to:Respond to the outbound movement of known high-risk travellers and their goods prior to their actual departure from Canada by air (i.e., fugitives of justice, registered sex offenders, human/drug smugglers, exporters of illicit goods, etc.);
• Address time sensitive situations more effectively, such as responding to Amber Alerts and helping find abducted children or runaways;
• Identify individuals who do not leave Canada at the end of their authorized period of stay (i.e., visa overstays) and provide decision-makers with an accurate picture of an individual’s complete travel history;
• Focus immigration enforcement activities on persons still in Canada by eliminating wasted time and resources spent on issuing immigration warrants and conducting investigations on individuals who have already left the country;
• Verify whether applicants for permanent residency or citizenship have complied with residency requirements;
• Verify travel dates to determine applicable duty and tax exemptions and continued entitlement to social benefit programs;
• Help prevent the illegal export of controlled, regulated or prohibited goods from Canada.

Canadians are still limited to six months less a day within any 12 month period when travelling to the United States. That does not change. Canadian Snowbirds must be mindful of the substantial presence test to determine whether an 8840, Closer Connections form, should be submitted to the IRS. If a Canadian spends more than four months a year annually in the United States, then the 8840 form needs to be submitted by June 15 to avoid being taxed by the IRS.

Since the Canadian government appears keenly interested in the movements of its citizens to ensure, in part, that we have continued entitlement to social benefit programs (aka health care), I suspect that there will be far more scrutiny in terms of our travel back and forth to the United States.

We are very careful of our days in the United States. Looks like we have little choice now but to be extra careful.

It feels like going back in time, doesn’t it? When you return to a place that you considered your home? For many of us, there is more than one place that was a home.

When you are living in a motor coach, home is where you park it.

“I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance.” ― Beryl Markham, West with the Night

During our married lives, we lived in four houses. Two of them in London, Ontario. One near Toronto, Ontario and our last house in Kingston, Ontario.

This was our first house as a married couple. In London, Ontario. We started our family here and we quickly outgrew the place. It was tiny. I think we had maybe 600 square feet of living space on the top two floors plus a little room in the basement.  We lived there for a few years. Not long.

We then made a really big decision. We built our next house. Also in London. For whatever reason, I thought we would be in London for life. I had graduated from Western University in London, I had a successful career in Information Technology at one of Canada’s largest insurers, London Life, in London and we loved the city.

Whisperwood Avenue. Our forever house. Forever being 10 years.

London Life was acquired by Great West Life and we made the difficult decision to leave the city after spending almost 20 years there. At that time, I would have considered London our home.

I joined one of Canada’s largest banks, the Bank of Montreal, in Toronto. We left London. We bought a MacMansion north of the city. This one.

We lived there for 10 years. I never bonded with the place. It never felt like home. I missed London deeply during those 10 years.

Being in the Toronto area, that house is valued at far more money than anyone should ever pay for a house. But we sold it when I decided to become a Chief Information Officer for another Canadian insurance company, Empire Life.

And we moved the family to a beautiful country property on seven acres just north of Kingston, Ontario.

I loved it here. So much nicer than Toronto. Quiet. Peaceful. It always felt like coming back to a vacation retreat. London was no longer missed. In fact, I can hardly remember the years in London now.

Our kids started to leave home to make their own lives as adults during our time in Kingston. Retirement started coming up quickly. Suddenly entire areas of the house emptied. Too big a place for just the two of us. It began to feel like it was holding us captive.

We sold it and moved into our current house. This one.

We went from 7,000 square feet to 450 square feet. Talk about downsizing huh?

We are back in Kingston for the week to catch up with our oldest son and his wife.

Home again?

No.

I never confused a house with a home. Home is where my family is gathered. And home continues to be where my family gathers. It could be with my daughter and her family in their house. It could be with my youngest son in his apartment. Or with my oldest son and his wife in their house. Most of the time it is with my wonderful wife and my golden retriever in our coach.

I wondered whether I would miss Kingston the way that I had missed London back in the day. I don’t. Good to be back but our lives are in a new pattern now.

“Never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour.” The hour that you and I have right now, especially with our loved ones, is the best hour ever.

A house is just a house.

Or a coach.