pessek

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian currently living in London (UK) who will be moving back to Canada in October (October 12, to be precise).

I'm currently in the trying to figure out how to get my stuff (personal effects, no furniture, nothing controversial) back across the Atlantic stage of the process (and I can sense that some of you are going raise eyebrows at this timeline, the decision to move back was quite short notice for blah blah reasons not worth getting into). Lots of research (on this forum and elsewhere), lots of trying to find some space at work to call companies because this is England and no one is available past 17:30, lots of stress and confusion.

I have one question for you, one very specific question that I do not appear, for the life of me, to be able to find an answer to anywhere. (I'm a librarian, I find information for a living, but I can't seem to find this.)

I'm leaning towards air freight/cargo and have a quote from x removal company for this that is door-to-port and thus does not include any destination/terminal handling/customs clearing/whatever charges that are incurred in Toronto (Pearson airport). I cannot anywhere find any indication of what to expect for these charges. I've looked at some other companies as well who note the same regarding their air freight services (as opposed to courier door-to-door), but nowhere any indication of what one might expect of this. Without that information I cannot weigh costs and compare quotes and make a decision, and yet I can't find it anywhere. I've seen people here talk about using Air Canada/Air Transat/BA to ship things by air, I've seen people mention freight forwarders, and Transglobal Express and all these things, I've even seen mentions of the notion of asking removal companies about whether these costs are included in their quote, but I've not seen any discussion of what to actually expect, in dollar (or any kind of currency) numbers, of these kinds of charges.

Is anyone able to give me any information on this?

Many thanks in advance.

Siouxie

First and foremost - welcome to BE!

Not sure how much 'stuff' you have but it would likely be much simpler and easier to airfreight it on the same flight you will be on or a day or two later .. (Air transat cargo) if you are able to get transport to go to the cargo terminal / customs area for cargo after you arrive. My son shipped items via airtransat cargo and paid in the region of £180 for a long bed pick up truck amount of boxes (some large). That was about 10 years ago, so it has probably increased. We found that was the cheapest option and you can contact them directly for a quote. No insurance cover required though you can purchase it if you want to from a broker. You do have to get them to the airport yourself - but the savings could be significant.
https://www.leisurecargo.com/e-servi...oking-enquiry/

If you are going to pay someone to freight it for you, there will be charges and insurance to pay. No idea how much, sorry - but DigitalGhost may be able to offer some comparison prices as they are doing a similar move.

If it's not coming door-to-door anyway, I believe you will need to go to the Customs Office to clear it and then transport it regardless!

When you are arriving, have with you a 'goods accompanying' (if doing it yourself) or 'goods to follow' list if it's coming later or via an agent as a returning resident (presuming you have been out of the country for a year or so) - 2 copies - This will mean that you can bring what ever is on the duly stamped list without paying duty or taxes.. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicat...sf186-eng.html more info in the link below..

Once those are stamped by the CBSA officer, you can take them to the Cargo Customs Clearance at Toronto (which is NOT in the main terminal area - it's separate in the cargo area - you will need transport ). You'll also need your waybill from the airfreight company... you then get the documents stamped again and released.. there's a processing fee but I seem to recall it was less than $100. (forgive me for my vagueness, it was 10 years ago!)

Once you have your documents stamped, you go over to the cargo area, present the release documents to the CBSA / Customs Officer - they direct you to your goods and you load them and drive away.

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-v...c-drc-eng.html




Calling Digital Ghost!

pessek

Thank you so much!

This entire forum really has been a godsend in my research so far. Such a treasure trove of information (and recommendations! Concrete recommendations!)

Yes, the direct air cargo option is one I'm also considering and I've spoken to Air Canada about it. I'm basically getting quotes/general cost senses for all options and will decide from there based on various factors (like getting to and from the cargo section of the airport). The question really is what the costs in Toronto are that companies are referring to when they say those costs aren't included in their services. What are their ranges? How are they calculated? Are they applied universally, or is it one of those "it may or may not happen, depending on whether things go wrong/customs takes issue with your stuff/you arrive during certain times of the year/etc.?

If one service costs £600 and includes all charges and another service costs £400 and doesn't include those charges, I really can't decide if the latter is actually cheaper if I could end up with a $300 bill in Toronto.

Even leaving cost comparisons aside, I don't want to walk into those charges blind.

I do have one further question for you, though.

Could you clarify that one for me? My understanding is that you would always want insurance coverage of some kind for move of stuff like this (whether the coverage is taken out by you, the moving company, the shipping company, or whomever), and I'm pretty sure IATA rules don't let you claim much by way of damages. Do you just mean that middleman parties require that there is insurance for the move and air cargo companies don't, or something else? Personally, I've already spoken to Letton Percival about insurance and I'm happy to go with them. (Thanks again to this forum. Picking between random insurance brokers without any kind of guidance is not something I was at all looking forward to so having a solid recommendation from you lot has been such a help).

Thanks again! I really appreciate any information I can get on this one.

Aviator

Call these guys, we use them all the time and they are very helpful. They can do the clearances and advise on costs and charges. https://www.pcb.ca/brokerage-canada.cfm

pessek

Thank you very much! I'll definitely look into them!

Siouxie

Do bear in mind that provided you complete and get stamped your 'goods accompanying and goods to follow' lists when entering - there will be NO duties or taxes payable on goods you have owned for more than 6 months (provided you have been out of the country for a minimum of 12 months) as a returning resident... but you will need to ensure that the agent/shipper is aware of this and can still clear your shipment for you.

When I had mine shipped, I had to attend customs for clearance - even though I was using an agent for transportation - if I wanted to receive them without paying duties or taxes. My son shipped part of his by airfreight with airtransat on the same flight as he was on, and once he had his gtf stamped, we paid the processing fee and collected his goods at the cargo terminal the same day.

The 'processing fee' for clearance by CBSA is a standard fee and you could probably check with them what it is.


With regards to insurance. Shipping companies will require you to have insurance (usually theirs or a company they require you to use - which will be more expensive as they get their percentage). Going direct to the Airline / Air Cargo company (such as AIR TRANSAT - much cheaper generally overall than Air Canada, by the way) there is NO requirement to take out insurance though of course you can - particularly if there are any valuables in your air freight (though jewellery etc., should be carried by hand).

rawsalad

I'm also looking at air cargo my items and I'm looking for a company that can pack a few items for me (computer displays, guitar etc..) and get it to Pearson Toronto where I'll pick up. I'm going to be living with parents for a few months before my wife arrives with her shipment of items (by then I'll have a rented flat/house/basement)

Wonder if the OP could mention the company they are going to use? as I mentioned some packing will need to be done.

DigitalGhost

I'm afraid I haven't actually looked into this properly for a few months since we're not planning to move until next year and I have a lot of clearing out to do first before we start to assess how much we'll need to take in terms of volume etc from what is left over.

I'm meeting with someone at the end of the month to hopefully get a clearer idea of things. It's one of those immigration expo type of deals and since we're landed I'm unlikely to be prime pickings for them at this point however hopefully I might be able to milk some kind of free advice out of them.

Please do let me know how things go for you regarding time and cost though.