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Vehicle Importations

Our Services

Importing or exporting a vehicle becomes simple and seamless with the use of our vehicle clearance services and shipping services.

If you are importing from the USA, we offer a complete customs clearance package and freight forwarding service to meet your specific needs. Once you’ve purchased your vehicle, we can handle the entire process from picking up the vehicle at your seller’s location, transporting to the border, customs clearance, and final delivery to your door.

If you decide to pick up the vehicle and drive it yourself, we can assist you with the customs clearance at the border.

If you are importing a vehicle from overseas, let us work with the port of arrival, shipping lines, Canada customs, container destuffing warehouses and inland carriers to get the vehicle to your door.

From the USA to Canada

Import Requirements

  • Your vehicle must be admissible for import to Canada.
  • All land based self propelled vehicles require 72 hour notice submitted to US Customs prior to export. US Customs offices have different operating hours and procedures.
  • Once your vehicle is in Canada, you are required to have a provincial and sometimes a federal inspection done within 45 days. You will need your original form 1, and if your vehicle is newer than 15 years old and requires a federal inspection, your form 2 as well, when you take your vehicle for the inspections. You must have any required modifications completed prior to the inspections.

Related Charges

  • 5% GST
  • Duty free if manufactured in North America and all motorbikes
  • 6.1% duty for other passenger cars, trucks, SUVs and ATV’s manufactured outside of North America
  • $100.00 excise tax for in dash air conditioning
  • $1000.00 – $4000.00 green levy tax for some 2007 and newer model vehicles based on that model’s fuel consumption and in service date.
  • $295.00 + GST to the Registrar of Imported Vehicles
  • Provincial sales tax may be payable at the time of vehicle registration in Canada depending on your province requirements

Documents Required

  • Bill of Sale
  • Original certificate of title or manufacturer’s certificate of origin (front and back)
  • Recall clearance letter

From Overseas to Canada

Import Requirements

  • Your vehicle must be 15 years old or older by month and year of manufacturer to be admissible for import. You must be able to provide proof of admissibility either by first registration date or by a letter from the manufacturing company.
  • Your vehicles must be thoroughly washed prior to leaving the foreign country as a soil inspection will be performed by Canada Border Services Agency at the time of arrival. Additional charges will result if your vehicle is found dirty and is required to me moved to a specialized cleaning facility.

Related Charges

  • 5% GST
  • 6.1% Duty
  • $100.00 excise tax for in dash air conditioning
  • $43.00 soil inspection fee (covers up to three vehicles on a single bill of lading)
  • For vehicles arriving by ro/ro vessel port and handling charges will apply
  • For vehicles arriving by container you will be subject to agent fees, destuffing/drayage fees as well as container usage charges
  • All vehicles may be subject to port storage
  • Provincial sales tax may be payable at the time of vehicle registration in Canada depending on your province requirements.
  • All vehicles imported from overseas will need to go through a provincial (OOP) inspection before registration can take place

Documents Required

  • Bill of sale or invoice
  • Foreign registration or deregistration certificate
  • English translation of the foreign registration or deregistration certificate
  • Bill of lading

From Canada To The USA

Import Requirements

  • Vehicles that do not conform to DOT will require the assistance of a registered importer.
  • Engines that do not conform to EPA must be put into bond through an independent commercial importer
  • All imported vehicles must be checked for outstanding recalls

Related Charges

  • Duty free if manufactured in Canada or Mexico with appropriate Nafta certificate and motorcycles with engines less than 700ccs
  • Duty is 2.5% for passenger vehicles, 25% for trucks, and 2.4% for motorcycles with engines greater than 700ccs

Documents Required

  • Commercial invoice or bill of sale
  • Registration papers
  • EPA form 3520-1
  • DOT form HS-7
  • Nafta (if applicable)
  • Letter of recall conformity from manufacturer (if applicable)

Check our useful links for more information on vehicle shipping

Please contact our specialist for your vehicle importing/exporting:

TEL: 1.800.663.4270

Email: vehicles@www.aacb.com

NOTE: All details pertaining to CARM R2 processes are based on the current information available at the time of writing. As this is subject to change, it’s recommended you periodically check in with the CBSA or your customs broker.