vetal

Has anyone sent boxes from US to Canada? Can I ship them in US post office a day before I land? What option are available such as USPS, UPS, etc? Do we need to include goods to follow list cleared by Canadian officials with the goods? Do we need to provide US custom forms?

No question is silly and thats why I ask all these question.

Tiaribbon

Yes you can.

Yes you can - however I don't know how you would be able to stick on the stamped LofGF to your boxes? Unless you just put on a copy of the unstamped LofGF onto them.

Use whichever carrier you like.

Yes you need List of Goods to Follow to accompany you when you are landed. They need to be stamped by customs and are usually given to the carrier.

I needed US Customs forms for my pony that I shipped from England, but that may have been because she originated from another continent. I had her stamped on my LofGF and sent a stamped copy back to the shippers who were moving her for me. There was no problem bringing her across the border and I did not have to pay any tax on her or her shipping costs.

Judy in Calgary

No. When we've moved we've used professionalmoving companies who have packed and shipped our goods.

In theory I suppose you could. However, the few days before you leave are very busy. I strongly advise you to send your goods at least a few days before your leave.

Those are options, I suppose, but I would feel comfortable using them only if I had very few possessions and if they were unbreakable. Breakable items, such as dishes, glassware, etc., require a considerable amount of wrapping.

No, it's impossible to do this. Your Goods To Follow list is stamped by the Canadian customs official when you yourself cross the border. If you have sent your shipment prior to your departure (which you will have done even if you have delayed such shipment to the day before your departure), it will have been impossible to get the list stamped by Canada Customs in advance.

When we have relocated across international boundaries, we have prepared at least three copies of our list of possessions. We have given one copy to the moving company that has shipped our goods. They use the list for their own office records and for insurance purposes. If memory serves me correctly, they include a photocopy of this list with the weighbill that accompanies the goods. We carry one copy with us to present to customs officials when we land at the port of entry in the destination country. Finally, we keep a spare copy with us somewhere. Usually the spouse who is not carrying the primary copy carries the spare copy.

This is further complicated by the fact that our goods are divided into two or three categories. When we relocated from Canada to the USA, we had two categories of goods, those that were trucked by the moving company and those that accompanied us in our luggage when we flew to our American destination. When we relocated overseas, we had three categories of goods, a large shipment that was sent by sea, a much smaller shipment that went by air freight (it consisted of a computer and a few other items that we wanted to make use of fairly soon), and the luggage that actually accompanied us on the plane on which we flew. Our list was subdivided so as to reflect these categories.

It depends on whether or not you intend to return to the USA. I don't actually know how this works in the USA. I do know that, before we left Canada for our expat assignments in the USA and Australia, we lodged a list of our household goods with some Canadian government agency or other. I think it may have been Canada Customs. This list was used as a basis for comparison when we returned to Canada. That is, we used the original list to demonstrate that we were bringing back with us items that we had owned prior to leaving Canada. We did purchase some items during our four years out of the country. However, we had receipts to demonstrate that we had used the new items for at least a year prior to bringing them to Canada.

Here is a URL for a useful publication called "Settling in Canada," which is published by the Canada Border Services Agency

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/rc4151/rc4151-e.pdf

I think it is worth quoting page 16 of that publication:

Before coming to Canada

Before you arrive, you should prepare two copies of a list (preferably typewritten) of all the goods you intend to bring into Canada as settler’s effects, showing the value, make, model, and serial number (when applicable). Divide the list into two sections: the goods you are bringing with you, and the goods to follow.

You have to present this list to the customs officer on your arrival in Canada, even if you are not bringing in any goods at that time.

Since jewelry is difficult to describe accurately, it is best to use the wording from your insurance policy or jeweler’s appraisal and to include photographs. You should describe each item of jewelry on the list of goods you submit. This information makes it easier to identify your jewelry at customs when you first enter Canada, and later on if you take it with you on a trip abroad.

At the border, the customs officer will prepare Form B4, Personal Effects Accounting Document, on your behalf, based on the list of goods you provided. The officer will assign your B4 form a file number and give you a receipt. You will need to present your receipt to claim duty- and tax-free entry of your “goods to follow” when they arrive later.

You can make the process easier by completing a B4 form in advance and presenting it to the officer when you arrive. You can order this form from the CBSA Distribution Centre listed at the end of this pamphlet.

Once you've landed in Canada, and once you've been notified by the post office / UPS office / moving company's office that your shipment has arrived in Canada, you will need to go to a Canada Customs office where a customs official will reconcile the Form B4, Personal Effects Accounting Document that you received at your port of entry, your Goods To Follow list, and the weighbill that has accompanied your shipment. In Calgary that Canada Customs office is located in the NE industrial area, relatively close to the airport.

After the official at the Canada Customs office clears the shipment, the next step is for the Department of Food and Agriculture to clear it. If your shipment has only a few books and other odds and ends, they may not even look at it. If it is a larger container with extensive household effects (including gardening tools, etc.), they may inspect it to ensure that it does not contain plants and anything else that might be considered detrimental to the health and welfare of Canada.

Once the Department of Food and Agriculture has rubber stamped the paperwork, the shipping company will be permitted to deliver the goods to your residence. Alternatively, if it's only a small shipment, you could take delivery of it from the shipper's office or warehouse and take it home yourself.

Hope that helps.

Postscript. In previewing my post, I see that Tiaribbon already has answered your questions, and done so more economically than I have. However, there may be some information in my more long winded response that you find useful, so I'll leave it as it is.

vetal

Thanks a lot fot that informatin. So if I ship my boxes via UPS they will call me once the shipment arrives in Canada and then I need to go to customs? I thought that they will directly drop all those boxes at my home.

Judy in Calgary

You're welcome.

Yes, they will deliver the boxes to your home, but only after they have received clearance from Canada Customs and from Agri-Food Canada.

In order for Canada Customs and Agri-Food Canada to give UPS the green light to deliver the goods to your home, you first need to go to the Canada Customs office, so that they can reconcile UPS's weighbill / waybill / bill of lading and Form B4, Personal Effects Accounting Document, which a customs official will have issued to you at your port of entry, based on your list of Goods To Follow.

If you do not want to go to the Canada Customs office in person, you can appoint a customs broker to handle the matter on your behalf, but in that case the customs broker will charge you a fee. I think you said in another post that you were heading for Vancouver. Here, in case you want to use one, is a list of customs brokers in British Columbia:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/brokers/bc-e.html

I see from that list that UPS themselves are listed as customs brokers. In that case, I believe (but don't know from personal experience) that you would be able to appoint them as customs brokers to clear the shipment at the Canada Customs office on your behalf. I am guessing that UPS would charge an extra fee for their customs brokerage service. Since they in any case would be handling your shipment, it's possible that the extra fee might be modest although, as I said before, I have no personal experience of this. Also, you would need to give UPS the Form B4, Personal Effects Accounting Document that you received at your port of entry, as they in turn would need to submit it to Canada Customs.