Cross-border guides
Four guides to the parts of importing that cost people money, each one attached to a tool that does the work. Written from the government sources, with the citation on every figure.
What you actually pay to import into Canada
Duty, surtax, GST and the provincial part, in the order CBSA charges them, and why each one is calculated on the total of the ones before. With a worked example where the country of manufacture changes the bill by $2,625 on an identical shipment.
Every Canadian surtax order in force
All nine, with the rate, who each reaches and a link to the order. There is no single government page that lists them. Ours is built from the consolidated regulations and rechecked every night.
HS codes explained
What the digits mean, how far they are the same in every country, why your supplier's eight-digit code is not Canada's, and how to search so the answer is worth having.
Documents you need to import into Canada
The four that apply to almost every commercial shipment, then the permits that catch particular goods, each with the body that requires it. Including the CARM change that means your broker can no longer post security for you.
What the tools will not do
Worth saying plainly, because it is unusual.
- They do not quote a United States landed cost. Section 232, 301, 338 and IEEPA are imposed through Chapter 99, and the goods each covers sit in notes that are not published in any form a tool can read. We name the actions and leave the match to a broker.
- They do not price the three surtax orders that turn on facts a web page cannot see, such as where the metal was melted.
- They refuse rather than guess when duty depends on weight or quantity we do not have.
- They do not claim certainty about a vague description. If you type a category word, the result says so and tells you which word stopped us.
A wrong answer that looks confident costs more than an honest refusal.
Or just ask a person
We clear customs in-house and move the freight, so one team handles both.