I’m a Canadian from Toronto who is thinking of travelling to the U.S. for a pet sit (Boston Area). I intend on staying for about 12 days. Things have changed at the border and I’m a little nervous about going. Wondering if any Canadians who have travelled to the U.S. recently have any insight and/or advice about going. Thank you!
1 Like
Its a hard no. Housesitting in the states is considered a service, paid or unpaid. You have to have a hotel booked to show the customs officer if asked. You would have to be not honest if asked the question of where you are staying. If the neighbours are not so nice and you tell them you are canadian and housesitting. There is a payment for telling on you that you are in the country “working” on a tourist visa. Now canadians cross the border all the time now. There are reports of odd questions or denied entry through land or air. The administration is currently not the US you have grown up beside at the moment. The risk is too high if you want to housesit in other countries. But people are still crossing with no problem but you still do not here all of the stories out there.
2 Likes
Can happen to anyone, any time.
3 Likes
What kind of dystopia are we living in??
As to the original question by OP, you risk being detained, being denied entry for up to ten years, and your host would risk not getting a sitter. I would not risk it, as a host or a sitter. Even if you have in the past been successful, things can go south from the tiniest mistake. And even if you do succeed to get to the USA, and succeed to avoid ICE while there, you can be detained as you try to leave. They are not admitting it, but there seems to be a monetary bonus for “catching” “wrong doers” (see the article above for an example), so even when you are leaving, meaning they would be rid of you even if you are trouble, you might end up in the detaining center instead of getting home. Can your life take it if you are detained for a month? Can you head take it? I think the risk is definetly not worth it - not even if you pay for hotel and aren’t doing anything illegal (which house sitting is unless you have a work permit in the USA).
3 Likes
Not a Canadian here. I’m a US-based host. I get applications from Canadians all the time, but I’ve heard several horror stories in this forum and other social media about Canadians getting stopped and questioned at both airports and land crossings. Usually, Canadians admit they are going housesitting because it isn’t paid and they’ve been doing this for years problem free. The US border guards beg to differ.
As a host, I will not accept a sitter who will be crossing a border to get to my sit unless that sitter has a US passport, a green card, an other than tourist visa that won’t get challenged. If a Canadian was say wintering in the US and wanted to sit for me while they were already here, no problem.
BTW, this isn’t just a “sitting” issue. International tourism is way down in the US. If I didn’t live here, I wouldn’t be here. It’s nuts.
14 Likes
I think you are wise. It’s incredibly sad for us Americans, but if I were a host I wouldn’t risk having a foreign sitter right now. I just wish I didn’t live here.
Edited in line with the Community Rules)
10 Likes
I am learning from this forum and don’t have anything to add in answer to your question, but if I may diverge, what about the reverse - Americans wanting to do sits in Canada? I heard of some Americans being detained coming back into the U.S. after vacationing in Canada. The rumors I heard were that border patrol in some instances demanded to see travelers’ cell phones. I am about five hours from the Canadian border and used to spend a week in Quebec every summer as a kid. Before the pandemic, I had a wonderful vacation in Nova Scotia. I drool over many sits in Canada that I could easily drive to, but I worry that I might be detained trying to get back into the U.S. Can any American who has traveled to Canada recently share their experiences? And I do apologize for taking the OP topic in a different direction. I can start a new topic if that would be the proper thing to do.
(Edited to comply with the Community Rules)
3 Likes
@DaphneFaye I am a Canadian sitter who lives at the US border and will not currently cross into the US for ANY reason. You have already said you are nervous so that’s a gut instinct you should not ignore.
As for asking other travellers, I liken it to the example I always use: If some forms of birth control are >99% effective, it means nothing to the pregnant person who used birth control but was in the <1%. Now you have to decide whether you’re willing to risk being in the <1% group. 
7 Likes
@DaphneFaye, we would not consider completing a US housesit. Two winters ago - seems long time ago - we very much enjoyed 4-5 months in US. Met some lovely people & dodged numerous unsolicited questions. In early 2025, we self-assessed our related risk appetite and concluded that we’re done with US for forseeable future. Perhaps you have greater risk appetite. If so, good luck.
1 Like
I’m a US citizen and regularly (4-6 times per year) cross into BC Canada via car, for sits & tourism. I’ve had absolutely zero issues coming back in. However, I want to quantify that by noting I also have Global Entry & use the incoming fast-track lanes. (I’m also a staid-looking mature female, & border guards can’t seem to wait to get rid of me when I start detailing all my sewing-related purchases after they ask what I’m bringing back with me… 
)
For those with Global Entry or related Trusted Traveler status, I’ll add one caution: recent reports indicate the US government may be rescinding those privileges or refusing to renew them if you end up getting tagged while attending a protest or participating in an ICE/CBP watch. This could include their use of facial recognition & license-plate monitoring tools to add you to one of their new “counter-terrorism” databases.
2 Likes
OMG! Do you think this includes my “RESIST” bumper sticker? I was looking forward to a Victoria sit, but think maybe not. Global pass not gonna be a free pass anymore maybe? What times are these!
I expect they’re not drilling down to bumper stickers yet, but it’s hard not to be concerned about over-zealous agents, or someone just having a crabby day. One thing’s certain, they’ve certainly gotten the memo for “chilling” protest & dissent.
2 Likes
I live in NYC. I have had plenty of “foreign” sitters. I don’t ask them about their citizenship passports or immigration status. That’s none of my business. But they were all here already. In a couple of cases people with existing plans or other than tourist visas have been accepted. For instance, a couple where one had a US passport and the other was visiting with them. They were aware of sitting rules, and were also visiting family which is what they told immigration.
I think a lot of people in the US underestimate the number of foreign nationals without a US passport that live in the US. I can’t find a good stat on google, but 15.8% of the US population is foreign born which includes naturalized citizens, refugees, green card holders, and other legal residents.
So just to clarify, this isn’t about “foreign” sitters, it is very specifically about not wanting to put someone in danger because they can’t quite grasp the situation on the ground here, and not wanting to be left without a sitter when they find out at the last minute.
4 Likes
My original post was moderated in a way that it became incomprehensible, so I deleted it.
(Edited in line with the Community Rules)
2 Likes
Thanks for sharing.
We’re living in a dystopian world.
1 Like
What is the world coming to when all you have to do is meet up with your husband (who has been working illegally in the US on an expired work permit), travel around the country for a few more months, and then try sneak across the border into Canada. Only to get bounced by Canada and sent back to the US, where your hubby and months long travel companion’s expired visa and illegal work activities get you into trouble.
Could happen to anyone.
1 Like
Who said he was working illegally?
Bill had been working in the US with a valid work permit, but did not have a green card – fed up with the appeals process, he had decided to leave and retire back in the UK.
@Ray2 don’t think they were trying to “sneak” into Canada, apparently didn’t have the right paperwork for the car. 6 weeks in prison, I’m not prepared to risk that for sure. She had a perfectly valid visa. He did not, but both ended up incarcerated.
Like most of these stories the headlines and the new clips always seem to miss out inconvenient details. Like the innocent tattoo artist who was detained (but was trying to get into the US to work on a tourist visa). The poor Irishman with a family (who it turns out overstayed his 90 day tourist visa by about 15 years) who has been held for months (but it turns out he is refusing to return to Ireland).
Their car paperwork problem was because they were trying to take a rental car into Canada. They couldn’t have intended return it to the US since her husband didn’t have a visa, they couldn’t have intended to leave it in Canada and fly to the UK, as the rental company would have ensured they had valid Canadian insurance (that’s the paperwork snafu).
What makes this ironic is they only got into trouble because it was Canada who wouldn’t let them in , which meant they had to try and return to the US. The same happened for the Antipodean pet-sitter who kicked up such a fuss years ago and still tries to get media coverage for it. She was already in the US, got bounced by Canada for not having a visa for work for pet-sitting and then that alerted the US officials when she had to re-enter the US. But no-one complained about Canadian immigration on those occasions.
By all means take issue with them being detained for weeks but also be aware that the details aren’t always exactly what you get told in the press and by the people involved.
2 Likes