Shipping to Canada for many decades, we have the expertise to offer you an end-to-end experience when your shipments arrive in Canada.
Canada regulates what is imported into the country, and the rules vary depending on if the shipments are for personal use or commercial purposes. Checking on these regulations is a crucial first step before anything ships. We recommend hiring a licensed exporter in the Country of Origin, and have them contact us directly for the information they will need to document for your export into Canada.
You can check on the restrictions and limitations on import (into Canada) of personal shipments using the links below, which will help you avoid delays or holds from Canada Customs upon arrival.
When you land at the airport you need to indicate on the Customs Declaration form (provided by Customs) that you have shipped unaccompanied personal effects that are arriving at a later date. Go through the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to fill out the proper documents to avoid taxes and duties, where applicable, depending on your status in Canada. They will require you to submit your packing list declaring exactly what items you are bringing into the country.
As an importer of commercial shipments in Canada, you will need to have a business and an import license. Depending on the nature of your shipments further licenses may be required.
For example, food imports require a Food Import license from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Consult the Canadian Government Import Guide to determine the license you might need for your imported commodities, as this license and invoices will be needed in order to proceed with your custom clearance.
Once the goods arrive at the Canadian port, we will arrange for them to be transported by rail to the closest terminal to the end destination. If the entire container is for one customer (FCL) the shipment will remain at this terminal until cleared by customs, but if it has multiple customers (LCL) it will be transported to a bonded warehouse awaiting its clearance. The custom’s clearance is essentially the approval from Canada Customs that the shipment complies with Canada’s import regulations. There are several steps to having a shipment cleared, and this is very critical:
A custom’s officer will need to review specific paperwork for your shipment. The required paperwork is dependent on the nature of the goods, but some common things are a packing list (outlining what is being imported), bill of lading (BOL), certificate of origin, purchase order or commercial invoice (for commercial imports) etc.
Based on the quantity and type of goods being imported, there may be taxes and duties that must be paid in order for the shipment to be released. There are options to prepay before the goods arrive.
This is a rather complex process, and we recommend working with a licensed customs broker to streamline it and ensure there are no delays. One of the services we offer to our clients is that we work directly with an expert broker to handle all of these matters.
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