How Does Customs Work
In Canada?

ShipCanada Explains Importing

Welcome to ShipCanada™

The customs process for importing to Canada to Canada is very straight forward if the following steps are followed.

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#1. It starts with your purchase

  O.K. You have just made a purchase in the United States and want to import it into Canada.   Normally, if the shipment was small and travelling by Courier the customs would be cleared by the courier's internal customs brokerage, however, in this case the purchase travels by commercial truck.....What do you do?

#2. Open an Account with a Canadian Customs Broker

 If your shipment is travelling by commercial truck you will need a Canadian Customs Broker.   This customs broker will eseentially represent you and and your freight to The Canada Border Servoces Agency and declare the details of shipment prior to its arrival to the border.

#3. Get a Commercial Invoice

You will need a commercial invoice from the Seller "shipper". This document is all that Canada customs cares about (unless you are shipping a product that required additional regulatory approval - like food).   The commercial invoice should include (at a minimum) The sellers information, the buyer's information, a shipment description along with the # of units and the cost per unit, the date purchased and currency type used.

#4 The Carrier will pickup the Freight

When the Carrier arrives at the Shipper in the U.S. and receives the freight from the shipper he should also receive a copy of the commerical invoice.   When the carrier receives this document he will immediately place a bar-coded sticker on the commercial invoice (referred to as a PARS sticker) and fax it to the Canadian customms broker.

#5 Documents will be sent to your customs broker by the carrier

When the customs broker receives this document, the customer broker will immediately know which client it is for (listed as the importer/buyer) and will also have the shipment details and associated cost to report to customs.   Additionally, the customs broker will also notify customer which carrier will be arriving at the border with the shipment (which was the purpose of the PARS Sticker).

#6 The Carrier will approach the Border

When the Carrier arrives at the border with the shipment he will present the commercial invoice to the Border patrol agent.   The Customs official will scan the bar code on the PARS sticker and will immediatley recognize the shipment in his system (the details were entered by the customs broker).

#7 Shipment will clear customs

The truck will proceed through for delivery.

Canada & USA We cover all points

Our network offers daily Service To and From most North American Cities.

Canada Freight Quotations
Daily Pickup Points

Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Nova Scotia Newfoundland Ontario Quebec Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan.

USA Freight Quotations
Daily Pickup Points

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming.

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You can also feel free to visit our online Shipping School for help with terminology and definitions. Our agents are equipped to assist you with all aspects of the shipping process. Once your shipment is is in transit you can also track the customs clearance status by visiting our customs portal and locating the appropriate customs broker.

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ShipCanada Inc.
16715 Yonge Street Suite 348
Newmarket, Ontario L3X1X4
Canada

1-888-308-4872
sales@shipcanada.ca