What Items One Needs To Declare While Entering Canada?
When seeking entry to Canada, one must be aware of what items they need to declare, which items are illegal to bring into the country, and which items they will have to pay taxes or duty on. Failing to declare these items can have consequences, including being denied entry. This blog covers the list of items one needs to declare while entering Canada. So, without further ado, let us begin!
What Items Need To Be Declared?
When seeking admission at a Canadian port of entry, one must declare any of the following to border officials:
- Alcohol
- Tobacco
- Firearms and Weapons
- Animals
- Food, Plant, and Animal Products
- Currency or Financial Instruments In Excess Of 10,000 CAD
Alcohol
CBSA defines alcoholic beverages as products exceeding 0.5% alcohol content by volume. The minimum age to bring alcohol into Canada varies by province. It is currently 18 for Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec and 19 for other provinces.
Tobacco
One must declare all tobacco products, including:
- Cigarettes
- Cigars
- Tobacco Sticks
- Manufactured Tobacco
Firearms and Weapons
To bring a firearm or weapon into Canada, one must be 18 years or older. Any firearm or weapon should be declared at the border.
Section 2 of the Criminal Code of Conduct defines a firearm as follows:
‘A barreled weapon from which a shot, bullet, or another projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing a serious bodily injury/ death to a person, and includes any frame/ receiver of such a barreled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm.’
Canada classifies firearms within one of three categories:
- Non-restricted, i.e., most hunting and sporting rifles
- Restricted, i.e., some sporting handguns
- Prohibited, i.e., automatic weapons, most handguns
Before attempting to enter Canada with a firearm, you should determine how Canadian authorities classify it. How your firearm is classified will determine whether it is legal for you to bring into Canada and what conditions you must adhere to.
If you are a visitor, you must fill out a Non-Resident Firearms Declaration form. You will be charged a registration fee of 25 CAD.
Moreover, to possess a firearm as a temporary or permanent resident, you will have to apply for a PAL, i.e., Possession and Acquisition License.
You require an ATT, i.e., Authorization to Transport, to bring a restricted firearm into the country.
Food, Plant, and Animal Products
You are legally required to declare all food, plant, and animal products you bring to Canada. For instance:
- Live animals and animal products include cooked/ raw meats, fat, hides, skins, trophies, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, fish, and seafood.
- Plant products, like fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, trees, houseplants, wood, firewood, roots, vines, herbs, etc.
Failure to declare or provide the relevant permits or certificates can lead to:
- Detention of your products
- A penalty of up to 1300 CAD
- Prosecution
Gifts
According to CBSA, one must declare all gifts. When planning to bring in gifts, keep in mind the following:
- You can bring in gifts worth 60 CAD or less each duty-free and tax-free
- You might have to pay duties and taxes on any gift having a value in excess of 60 CAD
- You might not import tobacco or alcohol as gifts
Animals
You must declare any animal you are traveling with. Some instances of animals you must declare include, but are not limited to:
- Dogs
- Domestic Cats
- Lizards
- Parrots
- Turtles
- Snakes
- Small Wild Cats
Declaring an animal does not guarantee that it will be allowed in the country.
You are responsible for ensuring that you adhere to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
If you fail to declare an animal, officers might detain your animal and/ or deny you entry.
Currency/ Financial Instruments In Excess Of 10,000 CAD
This is also one of the items one needs to declare while entering Canada. Although you might legally bring any amount of money or monetary instruments, such as stocks, cheques, bank drafts, or bonds valued at a total of 10,000 CAD at the border before being allowed to enter Canada.
You can declare your funds in one of the following ways:
- An airport kiosk
- On your CBSA declaration card
- As part of your verbal declaration to a border services officer
- Through your advance declaration
CBSA can seize all currency as well as monetary instruments if you fail to report their entire value.
Failing to declare these items can have consequences and result in you being unable to enter Canada.
What Items Are Illegal To Bring In Canada?
In addition to the list of items one needs to declare while entering Canada, here are the things that are illegal to bring.
- Cannabis or Cannabis-Contained Products
- Illegal Drugs
- Prohibited Firearms or Other Prohibited Weapons
- Sick Animals
- Endangered Species or Parts From Endangered Species
- Any Package Whose Contents Are Uncertain To You
Cannabis and Cannabis Containing Products
Despite being legal to purchase and consume in Canada, it is illegal to bring any form of Cannabis into the country.
This includes products derived from Cannabis, such as CBD oil, or foods containing THC.
If you are traveling with a market-approved prescription drug containing Cannabis, you are permitted to do so under a travel class exemption.
Also, if you are using other cannabis products for medical purposes, you can only bring those into Canada if you obtain an individual exemption issued by Health Canada.
Illegal Drugs
Under no circumstances should you attempt to bring illegal drugs into Canada.
Traveling with drugs across borders can result in a sentence ranging from one year to life imprisonment.
Prohibited Firearms/ Weapons
Weapons are often prohibited due to them being easy to conceal, i.e., switchblades, or capable of harming many people at once, such as automatic firearms.
Irrespective of what license you hold or the weapon’s status in your home country, you cannot bring a prohibited firearm or weapon into Canada.
Endangered Species/ Sick Animals
Animals that could spread diseases and threaten the natural Canadian ecosystems are prohibited from entering the country.
Canada has strict laws against trading in endangered species or parts from endangered species. For instance, attempting to transport even a part of one could leave you with a fine of up to 250,000 CAD.
Packages With Uncertain Contents
Do not under any circumstances attempt to bring a package into Canada without knowing what’s inside.
Even if a friend or relative asks you to carry something across the border, you will assume responsibility for it once you have it.
This implies that if the package contains something illegal, i.e., drugs, then you will face the relevant criminal charges even if you don’t know what is inside.
Keep in mind that some criminals will hide drugs or other illegal items in otherwise innocuous objects.
What Items Are Subject To Duty and Taxes?
You must also know about the items one needs to declare while entering Canada and the things that are subject to duty and taxes.
1. Sales Tax And Duty
When you bring items into Canada, those items might be subject to sales tax/ duty.
In general, when you import an item into Canada, you will have to pay the appropriate sales tax based on the item’s market value. There are some scenarios in which you won’t have to pay sales tax, namely:
- When you first move to Canada
- When the value of the items you are bringing in fails under your personal exemption
You need to pay duty or additional import taxes on some items, which can vary depending on the item and the country it came from. Some items are not subject to duty.
Although sales tax and duty are both assessed when going through Canadian customs, they are different forms of taxes—it is possible to owe sales tax but no duty or duty but no sales tax.
2. Alcohol And Tobacco
The tables below show the amounts of alcohol you can bring into Canada, free of duty and taxes, under certain circumstances.
Newcomers can bring one of the following amounts upon arriving in Canada duty and tax-free.
Returning visitors, temporary residents, permanent residents, and Canadian citizens can only benefit from this exemption if it has been more than 48 hours since they left Canada.
| Product | Metric | Imperial | Estimates |
| Wine | Up to 1.5 liters of wine | Up to 53 fluid ounces | Two 750ml bottles of wine |
| Alcoholic beverages (liquor/ spirit) | Up to 1.14 liters | Up to 40 fluid ounces | One large standard bottle of liquor/ spirit |
| Beer or Ale | Up to 8.5 liters | Up to 287 fluid ounces | Approximately 24 can or bottles of beer, ale, or cider |
If the amount of alcohol you wish to import exceeds your personal exemption, you will have to pay the duty and taxes as well as any provincial/ territorial levies that apply.
3. Tobacco
In order to determine the amount of tobacco you can bring in legally and/ or duty-free, you must calculate the number of CBSA tobacco units.
The following table presents quantities of different types of tobacco, each of which counts as one tobacco unit.
| Product | Amount Per Unit |
| Cigarettes | 200 Cigarettes |
| Cigars | 50 Cigars |
| Tobacco | 200 grams of manufactured tobacco |
| Tobacco Sticks | 200 tobacco sticks |
As part of your personal exemption, you can bring up to five units of tobacco into Canada without having to pay taxes and duties.
To import these amounts of tobacco under your personal exemption, it must be stamped ‘duty paid Canada droit acquitte’. Unstamped tobacco will be subject to a special duty rate.
You can bring more than five units of stamped tobacco, but you will have to pay regular duties and taxes, as well as any provincial or territorial levies that apply to the excess amount.
You can only bring up to five units if the tobacco is unstamped or unpackaged.
4. Additional Personal Exemptions
Apart from the items one needs to declare while entering Canada, one must also know about some personal exemptions. Both temporary and permanent residents and citizens of Canada can claim personal exemptions to bring back goods duty—and tax-free.
| Time Spent Outside Canada Before Returning | Personal Exemptions | Additional Conditions |
| Returning after 24-48 hours | You can claim goods of up to 200 CAN without paying any duty and taxes. | You must have the goods with you when you enter Canada. Tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are not included in this exemption. If the goods you bring in are worth more than 200 CAN in total, you cannot claim this exemption. You have to pay full duties on all goods you bring in. |
| Returning after 48 hours or more | You can claim goods worth up to 800 CAN without paying any duty and taxes. | You must have the goods with you when you enter Canada. |
| Returning after 7 days or more | You can claim goods worth up to 800 CAN without paying any duty and taxes. | You must have any tobacco products and alcoholic beverages with you when you enter Canada, but the rest of the goods can arrive later, as goods to follow. |
| Part of the year outside Canada | You can claim goods worth up to CAN 800 without paying any duty and taxes.Some tobacco products and alcoholic beverages may be included in your personal exemption. | When you import foreign goods or vehicles for your personal use in Canada you must meet all import requirements and pay all applicable duty and taxes. |
If you have been outside Canada for less than 24 hours, you do not qualify for any personal exemptions and will owe full tax and duty on whatever you bring back.
Note: If you include cigarettes, tobacco sticks, or manufactured tobacco in your personal exemption, you might only obtain a partial exemption.
If you have been out of the country for 48 hours or more and bring in more than personal exemption, you will have to pay regular taxes and/or duty on the excess amount.
Failing to declare these items can have consequences and result in you being unable to enter Canada.
If you seek information on how to begin your Canada immigration application process, you can talk to our NavaImmigration experts at 1800-918-8490, or you can drop us an email at [email protected].
