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Navigating Canada

Discussion in 'Prime Audio, Electronics, and Infotainment' started by Old Bear, Jun 16, 2018.

  1. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Mrs. Bear and I are planning a trip to Montreal and wondered if the Prius Prime's navigation system will work in Canada and if it has a reasonable map database.

    If not, what would be a good navigation tool to run on Mrs. Bear's galaxy smart phone or on my laptop. (I have used Delorme's Street Atlas USA on the laptop in the past, but only within the US.)

    Also, is there anything else that we should be aware of when driving the Prime into Canada?
     
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    My Gen3 Nav has always worked in Canada, and also indicates it should work in Mexico. It would be a nasty regression for Gen4 to not do the same.
    Google Maps should work too. And if she lacks Canadian cell service, then have it download the desired area ahead of time for off-line use.

    Before moving to a smartphone, I used MapFactor GPS Navigation Maps on an Android wifi tablet, pre-loaded with relevant countries around the world. But after joining the smartphone world (even without foreign cell service), I've mostly stuck with Google Maps for the phone, and OpenStreetMaps on a handheld Garmin GPS built for hiking and other outdoor recreation, not driving. The later came with a U.S. topographic map but still works with searchable OSM street maps, including turn-by-turn directions. It just isn't as nice for driving as is a dedicated automotive GPS.
     
    #2 fuzzy1, Jun 17, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2018
  3. Flaming

    Flaming Active Member

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    Your maps will work just fine as you have all the north America maps, stuff that will not work is probably the traffic and weather infos because up here in Canada this feature is removed ... with don't have Entune at all ... well .. all the Apps are removed.

    So if you are driving Montreal .. no big surprise except the Turcot interchange ..this is zone is a major reconstruction and will probably not show up correctly on your map.

    check out this Link :

    Turcot Interchange

     
  4. Dennis_MA

    Dennis_MA Active Member

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    We were there last year. We used Waze to supplement the Prius Nav system. Consider using a small town border crossing as opposed the the major route. Going up we had two cars in front of us. Took about 10 minutes. Coming back one car ahead of us took about 5 minutes. Customs people were very friendly. You will enjoy the trip.
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You mean apart from driving on the other side of the road? Kidding... ;)
     
  6. Sddunn

    Sddunn New Member

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    Yes it will work fine but if you are still unsure type in an address in Montreal and see if it navigates to it.
     
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  7. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Very helpful information. Many thanks.
     
  8. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    I've also been warned that the U.S. government has started making note of anyone who visits Canada and putting them on some kind of national security watch list.
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    They've been keeping track of all border crossers for decades, more so since 9/11.

    Have you heard of anything extra in the past year or two?
     
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Rather than randomly choose, hoping for short waits, look up the current actual wait times:

    Washington State / British Columbia crossings:
    WSDOT - Canadian Border Area Traffic
    Government of British Columbia - Border Crossing Advanced Traveller
    Information System

    National pages:
    Canada: Border Wait Times
    US: Border Wait Times
    Mobile app: [sorry, PriusChat host blows up on URL. Search for "CBP Border Wait Time App a One-Stop Shop for Cross Border Travel"]

    This varies by location and personnel. We have had repeat problems at a certain low volume crossing back into the U.S. Very low traffic creates boredom, giving them time to be extra inquisitive, causing a bit of mess or even damage as they paw through everything. One agent even demanded two forms of ID, actual U.S. passports (back before they were required) were insufficient.
     
    #10 fuzzy1, Jun 17, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2018
  11. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    My remark was a facetious attempt at humor. It was a indirect reference to the recent kerfuffle at the G7 summit in Quebec and the determination that Canadian steel mills are a threat to US security.

    :unsure:
     
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Just a reminder that there is no right turn on red within the island of Montréal. You'll see signs when you enter but it's easy to miss if you're paying attention to the traffic and which lane to be in, rather than all the road signs affixed to the bridge.

    Also, change the "Search" location to Canada within the nav before searching for a destination.
     
  13. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I thought the real threat was the possibility that they might copy their British ancestors and burn the White House again. :)

    Various Canadian border rumors and conspiracy theories have been floating around years. For more than a quarter century that I've been aware of, and probably well before that. Black helicopters. Blue-helmeted UN troops across the border preparing for an invasion. Mass detention centers being built just inside our side of the line. And more that I can't remember now.

    The blue-helmet rumors faded away when 1990s UN interventions in the Baltics (Yugoslav Wars) appeared ineffective (I.e so what if they tried to invade?). Black helicopter fears faded after a bunch of them were found within the Shomonish County Sheriff's Office, doing good work for the community, including mountain rescues.

    Mass detention center rumors never amounted to much. Until very recently, that is, when we learned that a somewhat different form of them really do exist, and are being filled with brown-skinned people with Spanish-sounding names or accents.

    Some of our border crossing experiences suggested some real tracking efforts. E.g. when my partner occasionally bought small quantities of fexofenadine across the border for her own use, an extremely inquisitive customs agent was highly persistent after she made a credit card purchase of it in Canada. Cash purchases never produced such official curiosity. Fexofenadine was finally legalized over-the-counter in the U.S. in 2011, ending her Canadian purchases.

    With that background, it isn't always clear which comments are just humor, and which are new rumors.
     
    #13 fuzzy1, Jun 17, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2018
  14. Flaming

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  15. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    Or just come to MN...International falls and Grand Portage have very little wait time. (y)
     
  16. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Also see page 273 of your NAV manual. Select Home, Options, Map Data, Map Coverage. This will show you actual maps on your screen of the locations that have "detailed" coverage. This has been around for all Toyota NAV's since 2014. It's also where you check your map version.
     
  17. EyePrime

    EyePrime Active Member

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    Hello I live in Ottawa the neighbouring city to Montreal kinda... anyways it works perfectly here
     
  18. Gaëtan Lafrance

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    Hi No problems in North América.

    I travel a lot from Montréal to Florida; no problems.

    If you travel in Montréal, don't forget, :nous parlons français :)

    No problems to speak one hundred and mor language here:) include english.
     
  19. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    Thanks! We made it to Montreal and look forward to the next few days at the Jazz Festival. The only serious hang-up was getting from Route 15 North onto the east end of the Champlain Bridge at about 6:30PM. It took about 40 minutes to get through the interchange but once on the bridge, it was an easy trip downtown. (Wow -- the new Champlain bridge is one impressive structural project Seeing it under construction as viewed from the old bridge almost made the time stuck in traffic worthwhile.)

    The Prime's nav system worked flawlessly. And, while I understand that Entune is not supposed to work, our hotel has a L2 charger and the Prime dutifully sent out its email message saying that the charging process successfully completed.
     
  20. Flaming

    Flaming Active Member

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    Old Bear im happy that all went well .. yeah our Primes have no cellular communication capabilities. Nice to know that your entune worked and hoping that the roaming charges is low ... in fact i have no idea how exactly it work in details lol ... To get Entune 3.0 in Canada you need a new Camry 2018 .. Also , i think the new 2019 Corolla will get it too .. unsure about the 2019 Prime *sigh*