Hopefully he/she is in a good mood!

Does it seem fair that a Canadian citizen, with no arrests or criminal records, lifetime goal is in the hands of a boarder patrol officer?

A mortgage isn't required for proof of residency. Your phone bill, light bill, water bill, tax bill would constitute proof.

And they probably won't allow you to stay longer than a year at a stretch -- if they let you in.

"Does it seem fair that a Canadian citizen, with no arrests or criminal records, lifetime goal is in the hands of a [border] patrol officer?"

Of course it's fair! You are wanting to enter his country, and his job is to make sure you are legally allowed to. Who else should decide?

So, it's a little more than their mood that will decide that. I would be watching my own mood when crossing.

By the way, be prepared for them to say that this is foreign labour and deny you for that reason. After all, the jobs you describe could (should?) all be done by local paid or unpaid workers. If I work for IBM, "my work would only benefit this privately owned" company. I would still need a work permit.

I appreciate the reply and the information. It really is fair but I am just slightly frustrated because I have been running in circles trying to find adequate information.

The thing with this internship, it is not for everyone. It is tough manual labor, long days, dirty jobs and living a very basic life such as outhouses, no electricity etc etc.

It is a unique situation indeed, I wish exceptions could be made.

make sure u mention no Walmarts, you may get the POE officers sympathy! lol Good luck

ok i had to enter the US with a group of Fire Performers and yes i understand we were using pyro effects and all of our costumes had traces of explosives... so we calculated 6 hours for the stop-over but they kept us there all night... being super rude when we ask them how much longer it will take... and after a while we felt like criminals because we weren't allowed to leave to a hotel or anything...
i mean i understand homeland-security but i dont get why they treat you like criminals until they found that they have nothing to hold against you..... it should be the other way around!

Heinz