Ocean FCL, LCL and air freight from Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen and Qingdao to Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal and Toronto. Origin consolidation, CARM-ready customs clearance, drayage and final-mile delivery — one file, one point of contact, one landed-cost quote.
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner. The freight is routine — but the hand-offs are where imports go wrong.
Importing from China to Canada looks simple on a quote and complicated in practice. A single shipment touches five separate legs — origin pickup and consolidation, Chinese export clearance, the trans-Pacific ocean or air leg, Canadian customs and CARM, and final-mile delivery — and a different party usually owns each one. The freight itself is routine. The hand-offs between those legs are where shipments stall: a missing document holds a container at the border, an un-booked drayage appointment racks up demurrage, an unregistered importer can’t release goods under CARM.
Qeep runs the whole lane as one file with one point of contact. We pick up at your supplier’s door in Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen or Qingdao, consolidate and clear for export, book the FCL, LCL or air leg to Vancouver, Prince Rupert or Montreal, file the CARM-ready Canadian entry, pull the container off the dock, and deliver to your door anywhere in Canada. You get a single landed-cost quote and one team accountable end-to-end — not a relay where each carrier blames the last.
West Coast routings via Vancouver and Prince Rupert are the fastest ocean option into Canada; East Coast via Montreal suits Quebec and the eastern provinces.
FCL, LCL or air — choosing the mode
The mode follows the volume and the clock. FCLis the lowest per-unit cost once you can fill a 20' or 40' container (roughly 10+ pallets) and want the fastest, most secure ocean option. LCLshares a container for smaller volumes — economical for 1–9 pallets, at the cost of consolidation and deconsolidation time. Airis the premium tier for urgent, seasonal or high-value cargo, cutting door-to-door time to about 8–12 days. The estimator below shows transit and cost basis for your specific lane.
CARM, duties and landed cost
The single most common reason a China–Canada import gets stuck is customs paperwork. Under CARM, the importer of record must be registered in the CBSA portal and post financial security before goods can be released. On top of that, every shipment owes duty based on its HS tariff classification plus 5% GST on the duty-paid value. We handle CARM onboarding, classify your goods, estimate the landed cost before the cargo sails, and file the entry — so your container clears on arrival instead of accruing storage while documents catch up.
Interactive · Transit estimator
Pick your lane. See the timeline.
Choose the mode, the Chinese origin port and the Canadian destination — we’ll model door-to-door transit, the cost basis, and the customs notes for that route. A planning estimate; your quote firms it up.
Mode
Best when you fill a 20′/40′ container (≈ 10+ pallets).
Door-to-door planning estimate from cargo-ready to delivered. Actual transit depends on sailing schedules, customs exam selection, port congestion and final-mile distance.
Estimated door-to-door
23days
Shanghai → Vancouver, BC
Origin handling3 days
Port-to-port16 days
Clearance + final mile4 days
Cost basisLowest per-unit — flat rate per container
CARM-registered importer + commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading. Duty & GST calculated on landed value.
A dedicated 20′ or 40′ container for your cargo alone. The most economical mode once you fill roughly 10+ pallets, and the fastest of the ocean options with no consolidation delay.
20′ / 40′ / 40′HC · ~10+ pallets
Share a container
Ocean LCL
Your pallets share a container with other shippers, priced per cubic metre (W/M). Ideal for 1–9 pallets where a full container would ship half-empty — adds consolidation time at both ends.
1–9 pallets · priced per W/M
Time-critical
Air Freight
Direct and consolidated air from major Chinese airports to Canadian gateways. About 8–12 days door-to-door, priced per chargeable kilogram — for urgent, seasonal or high-value cargo.
~8–12 days · per chargeable kg
What it actually costs
The freight rate is about half of it.
Importers compare ocean rates and then get surprised by the invoice. Here is the whole shape of a landed cost, using one 40'HC of general merchandise bought FOB Shenzhen and delivered to a Toronto dock.
Illustrative landed cost breakdown for one 40 foot high cube container from Shenzhen to Toronto
Cost line
Charged on
Example
What to know
Goods, FOB Shenzhen
Supplier invoice
$28,000
The price you actually paid
Ocean freight, 1 x 40'HC
Per container
$3,400
Not in the value for duty
Marine insurance
% of value
$120
Not in the value for duty
Destination THC and port fees
Per container
$850
Payable at the terminal
Customs duty
MFN rate on $28,000
$1,820
Example at 6.5% — yours depends on the HS code
GST
5% of $29,820
$1,491
Charged on goods plus duty. Recoverable
Customs brokerage
Per entry
$180
Clearance and CAD filing
Drayage, port to your dock
Per container
$780
Plus any per-diem if you hold the box
Canada charges duty on the FOB price, not the CIF price
This one is worth real money and importers who cut their teeth in the UK or the EU get it wrong constantly. Canada's value for duty is built on the price paid at the place of direct shipment — the Chinese port of loading on a normal FOB purchase. Ocean freight and marine insurance from China to Canada come out of the dutiable value. In the table above, duty is calculated on $28,000, not on $31,520.
The catch: if you buy CIF or DDP, the freight portion has to be separately identified on the invoice or it cannot be deducted, and you pay duty on your own freight. Source: CBSA Memorandum D13-3-1.
GST is cash flow. Duty and surtax are cost.
The 5% GST at the border is charged on the goods plus the duty, so it is always slightly more than 5% of your invoice. If you are GST-registered and you are the importer, you claim it back as an input tax credit — it is a timing cost, not a real one.
Duty and surtax are never recoverable. They are the numbers that decide whether a product works. Sources: CRA and Policy Statement P-125.
There is no “China duty rate.” There is your HS code.
Every number on your entry follows from one ten-digit classification. Get it wrong and you are either overpaying quietly or under-paying loudly.
China is on MFN
Canada has no free trade agreement with China, and China was withdrawn from the General Preferential Tariff with effect from 1 January 2015. Chinese goods enter under the Most-Favoured-Nation tariff. MFN rates run from 0% on a great many manufactured goods up to roughly 18% on others, so a lot of what people import from China is duty-free before you add anything else.
A 25% surtax on the value for duty has applied to listed Chinese steel and aluminum goods since 22 October 2024. Since 31 July 2025 a second order catches goods containing steel melted and poured in China or aluminum smelted and cast in China — whatever country ships them to Canada. Routing through Vietnam or Malaysia does not escape it.
Consignments under $5,000 cumulative value per accounting declaration are excluded. Remission exists for goods in genuine short supply and currently runs to 31 December 2026. CN 24-36
Electric vehicles: the rules changed in March 2026
The 100% surtax on Chinese-origin EVs was repealed on 1 March 2026 and replaced with an annual quota of 49,000 units at the 6.1% MFN rate. From the same date, Chinese-origin EVs sit on the Import Control List and need a shipment-specific import permit from Global Affairs Canada.
If you are importing EVs, talk to us before you book — quota administration is the part that catches people. CN 26-05
Other surtaxes that catch Chinese goods without naming China
Global safeguard measures apply to everyone outside a short exemption list, and China is not on those lists. Wood cabinets, vanities and subassemblies carry a 25% surtax from 31 July 2026. Canned vegetable goods carry 10% from 19 June 2026 for up to 200 days. Steel derivative goods carry 25% from 26 December 2025, with a non-stacking rule so they are not charged twice.
This is exactly why classification is not paperwork. Our in-house customs brokerage classifies before you order, not after the box lands — because the time to find out a product carries 25% is while you can still change the spec.
Surtax and remission rules on China have moved several times since 2024. Every figure on this page was checked against CBSA notices in August 2026. Confirm the current position before you commit to a purchase order.
CARM
Your broker cannot register you. You have to do it.
This is the single most common reason a first container sits on the dock. CBSA is explicit: customs brokers cannot register a client's business on their behalf. If you have not set up the portal yourself, nothing your broker does can release the goods.
CARM has been CBSA's system of record since 21 October 2024. Every transition arrangement has now closed.
A BN9 alone is not enough. You need the RM import-export program account attached to it.
2. Register in the CARM Client Portal yourself
The first person in becomes the Business Account Manager. Set up two of them — if your only BAM leaves the company, recovering the account is painful.
3. Delegate authority to your broker inside the portal
Until you do this, we cannot file a Commercial Accounting Declaration for you. The CAD replaced the old B3 and B2 forms.
4. Post your own financial security
Since 20 May 2025 you cannot import on your broker's bond. To get Release Prior to Payment you post either a surety bond at 50% of CBSA's calculated amount — minimum $5,000 per RM account — or a cash deposit at 100%.
5. Know your billing dates
CBSA issues the Statement of Account on the 25th of each month. Payment is due 10 weekdays after the 17th of the following calendar month.
6. Understand who carries the liability
Since 1 January 2026 the importer of record named at accounting is liable for what is owed, including reassessments after the fact. That matters enormously for the DDP question below.
Without RPP your goods cannot be released before payment — someone has to attend a CBSA office and pay on the spot. Source: CBSA — posting financial security.
Incoterms
When your supplier offers DDP, read this first.
A delivered-duty-paid price from a Chinese factory looks like someone else taking the risk. Usually it is you taking a different one.
Incoterms 2020 rules commonly used on China to Canada shipments
Rule
Risk passes to you
Who pays freight
Who clears into Canada
EXW
At the factory gate, before loading
You, all of it
You
FOB
Once on board at the Chinese port
Seller to the ship, you after
You
CIF
On board at origin — even though the seller pays freight
Seller to destination port
You
DAP
At your named destination, before unloading
Seller
You
DDP
At your named destination, before unloading
Seller
Seller
The seller usually cannot legally do it
DDP obliges the seller to clear the goods for import. In Canada that means being the importer of record — which needs a business number with an RM account, CARM portal registration and its own financial security. Almost no Chinese factory has any of that.
So somebody else gets named — often you
In practice their forwarder uses an agent as importer of record, enters the goods under your business number without asking, or undervalues the entry to protect the all-in price they quoted. Under the Customs Act the importer of record is jointly liable with the owner for duties — including reassessments found years later, after the supplier has moved on.
And the GST stops being recoverable
You can only claim the input tax credit if you imported the goods and hold the import documentation. When the entry is in someone else's name you have neither. A non-registered foreign supplier cannot claim it either. On a $200,000 shipment that is $10,000 of tax that simply disappears into the price you paid.
Buy FOB or DAP, be your own importer of record, hold your own entry, claim your own GST.
Incoterms® 2020 is the current edition — the ICC has published nothing since, whatever “Incoterms 2026” articles claim. Sources: ICC · CBSA D17-2-5 · CRA P-125
Paperwork
What has to be right before the vessel loads.
The document set
Commercial invoice carrying every field CBSA requires — vendor, purchaser, direct shipment date, country of origin, terms, currency, detailed description, quantities, unit and total price, weights, freight and insurance charges, discounts. Chinese factory invoices routinely miss several, which is why a Canada Customs Invoice (CI1) often gets attached. A CI1 is not required if the commercial invoice is genuinely complete.
Bill of lading or air waybill, and the electronic cargo data behind it.
Packing list — not a prescribed form, but it is what an examining officer works from.
Certificate of origin: usually not needed. There is no Canada–China trade agreement, so there is no preferential rate to claim. The invoice showing country of origin is the proof of origin for MFN.
Permits or OGD certificates where the commodity needs them.
Keep everything for six years after import. Sources: D1-4-1 · D11-4-2
eManifest: the 24-hour rule decides whether you sail
For containerised ocean cargo, the carrier files cargo data 24 hours before the box is loaded at the Chinese port, and the forwarder files house bills to the same deadline. Miss it and the container is not loaded — it waits for the next sailing. Air is 4 hours before arrival, or at departure on short flights.
Penalties escalate: $2,000, then $4,000, then $8,000 for failing to submit, and $250 / $375 / $750 for filing late or in the wrong form.
You do not file this yourself — but you carry the delay when it is wrong, which is the argument for one party holding the whole file. CBSA eManifest requirements
Wood packaging: the mistake that sends the whole container home
Every pallet, crate, case and piece of dunnage from China must be treated and marked to ISPM 15 — the IPPC wheat symbol, the country code CN, the producer code and the treatment code (HT, DH, MB or SF), stamped on at least two opposite sides. Stapled tags do not count.
Here is the part importers do not expect. If compliant and non-compliant wood are mixed in one shipment, the entire shipment is deemed non-compliant and refused entry. You cannot repack it in Canada and you cannot cure it by treating it here. It leaves the country, and every cost — handling, treatment, removal, re-export — is yours.
Exempt: wood 6 mm or thinner, and processed board — plywood, OSB, particleboard, veneer. A plywood crate is outside the rule entirely, which is often the simplest instruction to give a supplier.
For a Toronto importer this is the decision with the biggest spread in it — and the sailing time is rarely the deciding factor. Terminal dwell is.
Prince Rupert
The closest North American port to Asia and a dedicated CN corridor east with no urban congestion. CN publishes 4.5 days rail to Toronto. Fewer services call than Vancouver, so it depends on your carrier.
The most services, the most sailings, the most flexibility — and the most congestion. Rail to Toronto runs roughly 5 to 8 days port to ramp when things are normal. Dwell in early 2026 ran well above baseline, which can wipe out any sailing-time advantage.
Approximate industry ranges
Montreal
There is no direct Asia to Montreal container service. Asian cargo arrives via Mediterranean or Panama transshipment, or by landbridge from the West Coast. It suits East Coast distribution, but treat any transit quote as a wide range — Red Sea routing is still only partly restored in 2026.
Whichever gateway you use, the last fifty miles is where importers lose money. Our container drayage desk works the vessel ETA rather than the gate, and for GTA-bound boxes the detail is on our Toronto drayage page. If you would rather not take 40' of freight into your own building, we can transload it or hold it in bonded warehousing.
Peak season
Chinese New Year is 6 February 2027.
The statutory holiday is about nine days. The disruption is four to six weeks. Plan against the disruption.
Why it is longer than the holiday
Production winds down one to two weeks early as migrant workers travel home, and full output does not return for two to four weeks afterwards depending on how many come back. Two things then compound: everyone pulls delivery dates forward to ship before the shutdown, and carriers blank sailings afterwards because demand collapses.
Working backwards from 6 February
Have cargo ready at origin by mid-January 2027, and book space four to six weeks ahead — so late December 2026. Anything booked in the last fortnight is at real risk of rolling into the post-holiday trough and losing three to five weeks. These are practitioner lead times, not published rules.
The other slow window
China's National Day Golden Week runs 1–7 October 2026, and Mid-Autumn Festival falls 25–27 September, so late September into early October is effectively one long slow period. China publishes the following year's statutory dates around November — the 2027 schedule is not out yet.
If a deadline is genuinely immovable, air freight is the honest answer, and part-shipping the critical SKUs by air while the rest sails is usually cheaper than air-freighting the lot.
Failure modes
The eight ways this lane actually goes wrong.
None of these are exotic. We see all of them, and every one is cheaper to prevent than to fix.
Not registered in CARM
The container arrives and cannot be released, because your broker legally cannot register you. Do this before you place the order.
No financial security posted
Without RPP, nothing is released before payment. This surprises importers who used to ride on a broker's bond.
An HS code nobody checked
Classification decides duty and whether a 25% surtax applies. Find out before the purchase order, not after the vessel sails.
A DDP price that hid the GST
The entry goes in somebody else's name, so nobody can claim the input tax credit, and the 5% quietly becomes a real cost.
Untreated wooden pallets
Mixed compliant and non-compliant wood makes the whole shipment non-compliant, and it goes back to China at your cost.
An incomplete commercial invoice
Missing origin, terms or a proper description delays release and can trigger examination.
LCL that sat at the CFS
Consolidated cargo waits for the slowest shipper in the container, then accrues deconsolidation and storage. Compare it honestly against a part-filled FCL.
Per-diem on a box you kept too long
Free time is short and the clock does not care that your dock is full. Transload or return the empty.
Regulatory content on this page was last reviewed in August 2026 against CBSA, CRA, CFIA and ICC sources. Rules on Chinese-origin goods have changed repeatedly since 2024 — confirm the current position with our customs desk before you commit to a purchase order. This is general information, not customs or legal advice for your specific goods.
Cleared, drayed, delivered
The forwarder, the broker, the trucker. One Qeep file.
No stitching together three vendors and hoping the hand-offs line up. One landed-cost quote, one point of contact, and one team accountable from the factory floor to your dock.
The import lifecycle
From factory floor to your dock, in five tracked legs.
01
Origin pickup & consolidation
We collect cargo from your supplier in China, consolidate where needed, and prepare export documentation and the commercial invoice.
02
Export clearance & sailing
Chinese export clearance is filed and the cargo is booked on the next sailing or flight from Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen or Qingdao.
03
Ocean / air transit
The main leg crosses the Pacific to a Canadian gateway, with milestone tracking and proactive updates on any schedule change.
04
Canadian customs & CARM
We file the CARM-ready entry, classify the goods, calculate duty and GST, and release the cargo through CBSA without a paperwork hold.
05
Drayage & final-mile
Container pulled off the dock, deconsolidated if LCL, and delivered to your door anywhere in Canada — one file, signed POD same-day.
Door-to-door, plan on roughly 20–28 days for ocean FCL to the West Coast (Vancouver / Prince Rupert), 30–40 days to East Coast ports (Montreal) or inland via rail to Toronto, and 26–38 days for LCL once consolidation is added. Air freight compresses that to about 8–12 days door-to-door. The estimator on this page models your specific origin, destination and mode.
What is the difference between FCL, LCL and air freight?
FCL (Full Container Load) books a whole 20' or 40' container for your cargo alone — cheapest per unit once you fill roughly 10+ pallets, and the fastest of the ocean options. LCL (Less than Container Load) shares a container with other shippers — ideal for 1–9 pallets, but adds consolidation and deconsolidation time. Air freight is the premium, time-critical option, priced per chargeable kilogram, for urgent or high-value cargo.
What is CARM and how does it affect importing into Canada?
CARM (CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management) is the Canada Border Services Agency’s system for managing duties and taxes on commercial imports. Importers must be registered in the CARM Client Portal and post their own financial security to release goods. We guide you through CARM registration, prepare the commercial invoice, packing list and tariff classification, and file the clearance so your cargo isn’t held at the border for paperwork.
Which Chinese ports and Canadian gateways do you cover?
Origin: the major Chinese gateways — Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen/Yantian and Qingdao — with origin consolidation and export documentation handled locally. Destination: Vancouver and Prince Rupert on the West Coast (with rail to Calgary, Toronto and beyond), and Montreal on the East Coast. From the port we arrange drayage and final-mile delivery anywhere in Canada.
What duties and taxes will I pay importing from China to Canada?
Most commercial imports are subject to duty (rate set by the goods’ HS tariff classification) plus 5% GST on the duty-paid value, and in some provinces additional sales tax on certain goods. Rates vary widely by commodity — some goods enter duty-free, others carry significant tariffs, and anti-dumping duties apply to specific categories. We classify your goods, estimate the landed cost up front, and file the entry — so there are no surprises at release.
Do you handle the whole move, or just the ocean leg?
The whole move. Qeep manages origin pickup and consolidation in China, export clearance, the ocean or air leg, Canadian customs clearance, port drayage, and final-mile delivery to your door — all under one file with one point of contact. You get a single landed-cost quote and one team accountable end-to-end, instead of stitching together a freight forwarder, a broker and a trucker yourself.
Do I have to register for CARM before my first shipment from China?
Yes, and you have to do it yourself. CARM has been CBSA’s system of record since 21 October 2024, and CBSA is explicit that a customs broker cannot register a client’s business on their behalf. You need a business number with an RM import account, a registered CARM Client Portal account, delegated authority to your broker, and your own financial security — since 20 May 2025 you can no longer import on a broker’s bond. Not being registered is the most common reason a first container sits on the dock.
Should I accept a DDP price from my Chinese supplier?
Usually not. DDP obliges the seller to clear the goods into Canada, which means being the importer of record — and almost no Chinese factory has a Canadian business number, CARM registration or financial security. In practice their agent gets named, or your business number is used without asking. The importer of record is jointly liable for duties including later reassessments, and because the entry is not in your name you cannot claim the GST back as an input tax credit. On a $200,000 shipment that is $10,000 of tax that disappears into the price. Buy FOB or DAP and be your own importer of record.
Is Canadian duty charged on the ocean freight as well as the goods?
No. Canada builds the value for duty on the price at the place of direct shipment — normally the Chinese port of loading on an FOB purchase — so international freight and marine insurance from China to Canada are deducted, not added. This catches out importers used to a CIF basis elsewhere. One caveat: if you buy CIF or DDP, the freight portion must be separately identified on the invoice or it cannot be deducted. GST is different — it is charged at 5% on the goods plus the duty.
Do wooden pallets and crates from China need to be treated?
Yes. All non-manufactured wood packaging — pallets, crates, cases, dunnage — must be treated and marked to ISPM 15, showing the IPPC symbol, the country code, the producer code and the treatment code. If compliant and non-compliant wood are mixed in one shipment, the entire shipment is deemed non-compliant and refused entry. It cannot be repacked or treated in Canada; it is removed from the country at your cost. Wood 6 mm or thinner and processed board such as plywood and OSB are exempt, so a plywood crate avoids the issue entirely.
Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within 10 minutes with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.
