ArekDeBoss

Question for those already living in Canada.
prices of electronics in Canada vs UK? And I know about different voltage but I'm asking more in line of mobile phones, accessories, tablets etc. All those are powered now by usbs so I'm sure chargers are freely available in Canada. But what I wanted to know is if maybe would it be cheaper to buy some of those just before moving or would it be cheaper to buy those whilst already in Canada , to buy from Canada or even US?
Thank you
And stay safe
A

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

Be aware that if you are moving here on a TWP or as a Permanent Resident you can only bring in items free of duty if you have owned them for 6 months or more - so if you purchase new, be prepared to pay duty on them (you are required to list all items with value.. electronic items must have their serial numbers written down) https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Goods_To_Follow-Canada .

Electronics tend to be cheaper in Canada - it's the cell phone plans that are expensive - https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Cell_Phones-Canada .
check the compatability: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Compa....2FCell_Phones
What brands/ models are you considering getting / bringing? If you give an idea we can show you some places to look to get price comparisoms..

ArekDeBoss

Siouxie

Yes, as I understand it, you would still pay duty.. it wouldn't matter to Canada if they were on a contract in the UK - it's the value of them in Canadian Dollars, on arrival, unless you have owned if for more than 6 months (or it's a wedding gift / inherited item). I wouldn't recommend getting a UK contract phone if you are moving permanently to Canada, regardless
Which models are you considering - and which Province do you hope to move to? (taxes vary from Province to Province)

ArekDeBoss

We are moving to Ontario. Just don't know where exactly yet- have few different places in mind due to few job offers.
Maybe Peterborough, Sudbury, London 🤔
​​​​
in regards to phones since we are going to be more rural and I heard cellular coverage is not always great there is no point of getting 5G phone so maybe Samsung S20 - I'm not really an iPhone fan. Couple of Samsung Tab tablets. Etc
​​

Stumpylegs

To give some comparison - an iPad pro 11" is circa £200 cheaper in Canada (760 vs 560ish) MacBook air is £300 cheaper (both price checked in the last couple of weeks)

Bare in mind when looking at the S20 - the S20 has 2 different versions, the snapdragon and the exynos - snapdragon is seen as far superior and I believe US/Canada/Japan all get the snapdragon, Europe gets the exynos. performance/speed is the main difference but supposedly it impacts battery life/camera performance. So seeing a UK phone slightly cheaper, may mean an inferior product - as stated above the fact you have to own it for 6 months first likely means unless you have a need for it now, it would almost certainly be cheaper 6 months from now.

Reference contracts -when you move, you will have to pay the remainder of your contract generally, however most UK phone plans have a 60/90 day limit for roaming, you may get more than this before they cut your inclusive roaming off. but don't bank on being able to use it for the remaining 18 months on your contract. In a similar vein - when looking at Canadian cell phone plans, if you are used to data allowances like we have in the UK, having similar over there, the sim only price is often similar to the price with a bundled handset (when I looked the other month, a 20gb plan would run me $80 a month, but could get that same deal with an s20 5g chucked in for circa $95 - meaning your looking at around $360/£200 for the phone!)

ArekDeBoss

So if I need to own it for 6 months prior , and it's cheaper in Canada or similar price then no brainer.
Thanks for your help 👍

PMM

Hi

1. Compare on line the prices from Best Buy, Staples. London Drugs etc. to what you would pay in the UK to see if it is cheaper to buy in Canada.

BristolUK

Remembering to increase the Canadian price for the purchase tax.

Siouxie

Freedom Mobile have some deals on at the moment https://www.freedommobile.ca/en-CA/special-offers

ArekDeBoss

Thank you 👍

Bow21

I came over with a lot of brand new stuff a lot of expensive stuff I’m into hunting so bought a Schmidt and bender £3k 5x25x56PM2 Msr2 reticle and £2k Leica geovid HD-b 3000 binoculars range finding I’m into hunting and they don’t sell them over here in Canada there more European so thought I’d take the opportunity and buy them before we moved. A few new things for the kids my parents gave it for Xmas like AirPods and Nintendo switch and iPod touch. You hardly get strip searched at the airport. I did buy the new iPhone 12 256 gb here though and it was a few hundred pounds cheaper. Just be prepared if they do ask questions you could end up paying out. Roll the dice chance ya take.

Siouxie

I presume you declared them on your goods accompanying / goods to follow lists?

Bow21

I did declare them on my goods accompanying and the officer said he wasn’t bothered what we had with us he was more interested in the tools on the goods to follow list and if any import duty was to be put on them when they arrived due to their commercial value/nature.