I thought I'd share some of my experiences for other people planning to fly to Canada in club planes.
I originally wrote this document in the early 1990s, but the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 changed everything. Since I've returned to flying and gotten my instrument rating, I decided to update it and turn it into a web page with links.
One thing to note about the VFR charts (VNC and VTA) is that they don't expire at a set time, they only become obsolete when a new one is issued. And in my experience, they don't reissue them very often - the boundaries of the airspace around Ottawa changed three times in the course of a couple of years, and they still didn't issue a new VNC depicting the new boundaries. You have to check the NavCanada web site to see if your VNC and VTA is still valid and if it's forecast to be revised in the next three months.
Oh, by the way, Pearson (Toronto) International Airport is a big and scary place with a slot reservation system, and it's way out of Toronto without good public transport. I'd recommend going to Toronto City Center or Buttonville instead.
Canadian aviation regs are pretty much the same as US regs with a couple of important differences. Canadian "Class C" requires a clearance to enter. And Canadian VFR pilots can't go fly above the clouds without being able to see the ground or at night without a special add-on to their license, but since US private pilots get night and hood training in their private license, those restrictions don't apply to them.
Flight Service is on 126.7, rather than the US frequencies 122.0 and 122.2. Also, they call the approach/departure control "Terminal" for some reason.
When you're not talking to ATC, en-route you are supposed to make position reports on 126.7. For cross border flights you're supposed to be on a flight plan. You are also required to be talking to ATC as you cross the border - so it's just a lot easier all round if you get flight following the whole way or operate IFR. Canada has a lot more class G airspace than you'll find around here, so it's good to know your uncontrolled airspace and non-radar procedures.
Canada also requires flight plans or "flight itineraries" for internal flights of more than 25 miles as well as cross border flights. The format of the flight plan is different. The phone number for the appropriate flight service center is in the CFS but it looks like Canada is going to the same system we use, with a free phone number for the whole country - in their case it's (866)-WX-BRIEF. You can get a weather briefing and file a flight plan with them. If you say you don't know what a Canadian flight plan looks like, they'll usually talk you through it. The flight plan format is also explained in the CFS. The equipment codes are different; our planes are "Standard" to designate that you have mode C and VOR/ILS/ADF), and your ELT is "AF" (Automatic/Fixed). Canadian ATC will also open and close your VFR flight plan for you at towered fields. At non-towered fields, FSS will open your flight plan regardless, so if you're late or don't make the trip, be sure and call and ammend or cancel your flight plan.
Canadian procedures for non-towered fields are different - you are expected to make a "cross the field" midfield down wind pattern entry. You are also not supposed to start your descent until final, even at towered fields.
Canadian regulations do get a bit weird if you are flying outside of the more densely populated southern part of the country into "designated remote areas". If you're going there, you have to worry about different altimeter setting procedures, requirements for survival equipment, etc.
Canada has privatized its air traffic control system. There is a user fee, but it's not horrible - it's only $15 (Canadian) for each quarter of a year. NavCanada bills the club, and the club pays the fee. Canadian airports often charge a pretty hefty landing fee. The landing fees are almost always billed to the airplane owner, with no option to pay them at the field. The club will get the bill, and then try and find out who made the flight and charge you.
There are essentially two VFR routes between here and Toronto. When the ceilings are low, or in the winter, I go around the lake, staying a mile or less off shore, making sure I can glide to shore if the engine quits. This trip takes about 1.75 to 2 hours.
The other alternative is for summer days with high ceilings and warm water. Climb as high as possible (9,000 feet or so), and cut across on a straight line from Niagara Falls International or St. Catherines, direct to the Island Airport. You're never more than 15 nm from an airport. This is not strictly within gliding distance of shore, but it's an acceptable risk to me given the reliability of club planes and the fact that there are boats out there in the water. If I had to ditch, I'd pick a boat and try and land beside it. The topics of ditching on water and single engine operations across the water are controversial, but I've heard all the arguments on both sides already and made my decisions. How you make your decisions are your business.
Another quirk: I never figured out how to get flight following from Ottawa. I'd call up clearance, and they acted like they didn't want to talk to VFR departures. They wouldn't even give me a squawk code. Tower would hand me over to departure almost as soon as I got off the ground, and departure would give me a code and an altitude restriction until I was well clear of their airspace, and then lift the altitude restriction and cut me loose with no hand-off to anybody. So I used to just squawk 1200 until I got close enough to the border to contact Wheeler-Sack. That was in the good old days pre-9/11. Now I just file IFR, so I'm in the system the whole time. I've asked Canadian pilots about this, and one suggestion was to try filing a CVFR flight plan. I have no idea if that would work.
Canada Customs is a cinch - I call 1-888-CAN-PASS before filing the flight plan and tell the FSS that in the remarks section of the flight plan. Then I call them again when I land, and they used to never request that I wait for a customs officer. Now it appears that they are sending out customs officers more often. This service doesn't cost anything. If you go to Canada often, you can pre-register with Canpass, which has a small fee. This gives you the option of not having to call Customs after you arrive, and also you may be able to land at some airports that aren't designated airports of entry. You can read a bit more about Canpass here
Theoretically, you'll need the aircraft registration, which isn't a big deal, and also proof of insurance and a radio operators permit. I've never been asked for any of them. There is actually some debate on-line if you really need the radio operators permit, or if that regulation only applies to people flying Canadian aircraft.
US Customs is a little stickier. I've heard stories of people who've gotten huge fines because they left the plane to go to the bathroom before the customs officer got there, and other people who got huge fines because they relied on "ADCUS" to notify customs, but customs never got the notification.
Before you leave, get all the phone numbers for customs here on the field, especially the off-hours one. You can find them on the Web at the Buffalo Automated Flight Service Center web page. The official numbers are (585)-263-6294 for 0800-1700 local M-F, and (716)-551-4316 for off hours.
You'll need to call US Customs yourself before you return to the US, especially if you're coming back on a weekend. If you're coming back on a weekend, you have to call the off-hours number, which will connect you to the Peace Bridge customs station, and they'll get a customs officer out to the brown customs shack to meet you. They need a few hours notice to do that, however. Make sure you get your ETA right. In the old days, that was just an inconvenience, but now there are (optional) hefty fines for arriving even a minute early, or more than 30 minutes later than your ETA. There are also hefty fines for leaving the plane before the customs officer says you can. Don't even step down onto the ground, and don't let anybody approach your plane.
In general, I've found US Customs goes a lot easier if have your US Customs Form CF-178 filled out ahead of time, and you have your form, your pilot's license, your passport, and the plane's registration and air-worthiness certificate all out and ready when the customs officer approaches the plane.
You can get CF-178 by AOPA Fax-back or there's one in the back of AOPA's Airport Guide, or you can download it from the Customs web site. Don't sweat it if you can't get one on time - just remember that while you fill it out the customs officer is going to be bored and start poking through the baggage compartment of your plane. Be sure you don't have loose papers or anything that can go flying about if the customs officer opens your bags on a windy ramp.
If the plane currently doesn't have a current customs sticker, you'll have to pay US Customs $25 (cash only). You can claim that on your next club bill. The club usually buys stickers for all the planes, so you shouldn't have to do this. There used to be an additional $25 fee if you arrived outside of regular business hours, but they've waived that. They also attempted to move customs up to the north end of the field, but stopped that after a few days because somebody taxied across 28 while a commuter was landing. Customs is now in a non-descript brown building in between US Airports and P-H East. Old timers will recognize it as the former home of Tom Maxwell's flight school, before it moved out to Ledgedale.