Importing to Canada, and what it actually costs.

Duty is charged on a different number than most people expect, and GST is charged on top of the duty. Work out the real landed cost below, then read what customs clearance needs before the goods move.

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Canada import duty calculator

Duty, GST and landed cost on a commercial import. The duty rate comes from your tariff classification, so you enter it rather than have it guessed for you.

Landed cost calculator

Work out duty, GST and the real landed cost

Enter the invoice value of the goods and the duty rate from your tariff classification. The rate is not guessed for you: duty depends on the HS code and the origin, and getting that wrong is what triggers a reassessment.

Enter a goods value to see the numbers.

Commercial imports. GST is charged on the duty-paid value, and a GST registrant normally recovers it as an input tax credit. The provincial portion of HST is generally not collected at the border on commercial goods. Excise duty, SIMA duty and other levies are not included. This is an estimate to plan with, not a customs entry: a licensed customs broker files the entry and confirms the classification. How we handle customs.

The arithmetic

What you actually pay, and in what order

Three numbers decide the bill and they are calculated in sequence, not in parallel. First the value for duty: normally what you paid for the goods, converted to Canadian dollars at the rate in force on the date of direct shipment. Then duty, a percentage of that value. Then GST, five per cent of the value for duty plus the duty.

The two mistakes that cost money are both in that order. Adding international freight into the duty base inflates the duty, because Canada values on an FOB basis rather than a CIF one. Charging GST on the invoice rather than on the duty-paid value understates the cash you need at the border.

Freight, brokerage and terminal charges are real costs and belong in your landed cost, which is why the calculator above carries them. They simply are not part of what duty and GST are calculated on.

Classification

Finding the duty rate, without guessing it

There is no single Canadian duty rate. There is a tariff classification, and a rate that hangs off it. The classification is an HS number that describes what the goods are, and the rate then depends on which tariff treatment the country of origin qualifies for. Goods from a free trade partner may enter free where the same goods from elsewhere carry six or seven per cent.

That is why this page does not print a rate for you. Any site that offers to guess your duty from a product name is guessing, and the reassessment lands on the importer of record, not on the website.

Look the number up in the Customs Tariff, ask your supplier what they declare on export, and have it confirmed before the first shipment rather than after it. Classification is the single most productive hour anyone spends on a new product line.

Liability

The importer of record carries it, not the forwarder

Freight can be arranged by anyone. The customs declaration cannot. The importer of record is the party on the hook for the accuracy of the entry, for the duty and tax, and for keeping the supporting records for six years. In a normal Canadian import that is the buyer.

This matters because the people around the transaction are not liable for it. A forwarder books the movement. A licensed customs broker prepares and files the entry on instructions. Neither becomes responsible for a misdeclared value or a wrong origin. If CBSA reassesses, the demand goes to the importer of record.

The practical version: whoever is named as importer needs to be able to answer, from their own records, what the goods were, what was paid, and where they were made. If nobody in your business can answer that today, fix it before volume arrives rather than during an audit.

Documents

The paperwork CBSA actually reads

A shipment clears on documents, and the document that does most of the work is the commercial invoice. It needs the buyer and seller, a description a stranger could identify the goods from, quantity, unit price, currency, country of origin, the Incoterm and place, and the total. A line reading goods or samples is not a description.

Origin is the field that gets entries held, because it decides the tariff treatment and therefore the money. If you intend to claim a preferential rate under a trade agreement, the certification has to exist and has to agree with the invoice. A claim on the entry that the paperwork does not support is the kind of thing that surfaces years later.

Everything else follows the mode: a bill of lading or air waybill, a packing list, and for some goods a permit from a department other than customs. Food, plants, health products and anything with wooden packaging answer to more than CBSA.

Clearance

What happens at the border, in order

Customs clearance is four steps and it starts before the goods arrive. The carrier reports the shipment. The entry is filed, normally by a licensed customs broker, against the importer of record account. CBSA either releases the goods or holds them for examination. Duty and taxes are accounted for on the importer account.

The only step anyone controls is the second one, and it is the one that decides the outcome. Documents in hand before arrival means release on arrival. Documents chased afterwards means the shipment sits, and storage runs from the moment it lands, not from the moment somebody notices.

Examinations happen and cannot be shortened. What can be avoided is paying for a truck and an appointment against a container that is not going anywhere, which is a coordination problem rather than a customs one.

Getting set up

Before the first shipment moves

An importer needs a business number with an import-export account, and a CARM account with CBSA, which is the system importers now use to see and pay what they owe and to post their own financial security. Setting both up takes days rather than minutes, and it cannot be done retroactively while a container sits at a terminal.

Then decide, in this order: who is the importer of record, what Incoterm the purchase is on, and who is filing the entry. Those three answers determine everything on this page. Suppliers will often volunteer an Incoterm that suits them, and accepting it without reading it is how importers end up paying for a leg they thought was included.

Importing to Canada, asked and answered.

How is import duty calculated in Canada?

Duty is a percentage of the value for duty, which is normally the price paid for the goods on an FOB place-of-direct-shipment basis. International freight and insurance are not in that base. The percentage comes from the HS classification of the goods and the tariff treatment for the country of origin, so the same product can carry different duty depending on where it was made.

Is GST charged on the duty as well?

Yes. GST at five per cent is calculated on the duty-paid value, meaning the value for duty plus the duty. It is a common and expensive surprise to budget GST on the invoice alone. A GST registrant normally recovers the amount as an input tax credit, so for most commercial importers it is a cash-flow item rather than a cost.

Do I pay provincial sales tax at the border?

On commercial goods the provincial portion of HST is generally not collected at the border. That is different from personal shipments, where provincial tax often is collected. If your accountant has told you something different for your situation, follow your accountant.

What is an importer of record?

The importer of record is the party legally responsible for the entry: for the accuracy of the declaration, for paying duty and taxes, and for keeping the records. In Canada that is normally the Canadian buyer. It is not the freight forwarder and it is not the customs broker, both of whom act on the importer of record instructions.

Can my overseas supplier be the importer of record instead?

A non-resident importer arrangement exists and some suppliers offer it, usually as a selling point on delivered pricing. It puts the customs liability on them and it changes how GST and pricing work. It can be the right answer, but it is a decision to take deliberately with your accountant rather than one to accept because it was quoted that way.

What has to be on a commercial invoice for Canada?

Buyer and seller, a clear description of the goods, quantity, unit price and currency, country of origin, the Incoterm and place, and the invoice total. Origin and a real description are the two that get entries held. Wooden packaging and any certificate of origin you intend to claim under a trade agreement need to line up with the invoice, not contradict it.

Do I need a customs broker?

You are not obliged to use one, and you are obliged to get the entry right. A licensed customs broker files the entry, and for anything beyond an occasional low-value shipment the cost of one is smaller than the cost of a reassessment. We coordinate the customs step alongside the freight so there is one file rather than two.

How long does customs clearance take?

When the paperwork arrives before the goods do, release is often the same day and sometimes within the hour. When it does not, the shipment waits, and storage starts running. The delay is almost never the border itself. It is documents reaching the right desk late.

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