Is a passport needed to travel into Canada from the U.S.A.?

Not if you are a U.S. citizen. But it wouldn't be a bad idea, given the current security level. Definitely have a couple of forms of legal identification.

Its not required until Jan of '07, its was supposed to take effect last Jan but they put it off until 2007.

I just did this last week, and they were asking for a passport, or birth certificate and photo id. FYI, when I did the auto check in at the airport, they would only let me check in that way if I could provide a passport number.

YUP. They want it as your ID, although they could see any other id, but yes they ask for Passport.

No. If you are a Canadian or US citizen you do not need a passport, but you do need to surrender your birth certificate and photo ID to customs officers.