Winterdiva

Hello everyone,

Our plan is to soft-land next month and move permanently later this summer or next spring. We decided to sell most of our furniture etc and arrive with bare minimum in Canada. However, we have a treasure of about 2-3 medium boxes full of books and a desktop computer (worth over £2000). Whats the best way to move these to Canada?

Also, is there any merit in bringing the below items into Canada? Will the voltage difference make them all useless?
1. Samsung 52 inch TV
2. Blueray player
3. Kitchen equipment (Panini press, nutribullt, pans and pots, spoons etc)

Former Lancastrian

You can buy a spanking brand new 55" 4k Smart TV starting at $500 from Costco or Im guessing Best Buy has them as well. If not a multi region blu ray then will only play UK blu rays not the new ones you might buy in Canada. Lots of second hand pots/pans etc etc for sale once you get here. Dependent on how you ship the stuff it might be just as cheap to buy over here but your choice in the end if wishing to faff about with converters etc etc. If in no rush check out what Royal Mail rates are like compared to the usual suspects. Avoid shipping Air Freight if you can as that is where it will cost more.

Hurlabrick

Check the back of the TV. If it says voltage 110 - 250V then good to use in Canada (many of them are like this these days). But as already said, 55" is now the 'cheap standard' and the cost of shipping the TV will probably be darn near as much as buying a new one.

As above, check voltage input on back of the unit. If it can take 120V then small enough to fit into a box, but of course will only play region 2 (UK and EU DVD's), although you may be able to get a DVD multi-region 'hack' to 'convert' it to play all regions (Google DVD player hacks). BUT very cheap to buy new in Canada

If it has an electric plug on it, almost certainly 240V only, so don't bring. If your pans and other stuff is good quality, then probably worth shipping, but if cheap, can buy cheap stuff here too, although it is surprising on how quickly it all adds up cot-wise.


Lots in wiki for you to consider:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Shipping-Canada

IF you are considering a 'bare minimum' type move for a few boxes, consider either air freight or shipping by a normal shipper.

Vulcanoid

Books, I don't have an answer yet; mine are crated with my parents. Computer is easy, we shipped two in pieces, mostly in hand baggage (monitors were in the hold surrounded by coats). Just left the cases in Europe & got new ones here - could have fit them in the suitcases too & filled them with clothing so as to not take up much space

Winterdiva

Danny B

Are these books actually needed or are they a nice to have? you could always pay for them to be scanned and keep a digital copy on your PC instead.

Hurlabrick

Technically, I suppose you should formally list these on your 'goods to follow / goods accompanying' list when you land as settler (you DO know about this don't you??). But of course you can only do those lists once. If you are planning on doing those lists on a later trip, then yes, I personally would tuck as much as I could within the weight and baggage limit and leave stuff at friends - unless they are valuable or antique book, I don't suppose CBSA will get too excited!

CanadaJimmy

My parents have had a lot of success using Parcel2Go to send me things via Hermes->Landmark->Canada Post very cheaply, so that might be an option. Only downside is there is no way to correct any duties added, Landmark just slap it on a Cost on Delivery on the Canada Post parcel with no way to contest it, so they have to declare the value as very low (£5-£10, basically lower than the $20 CAD tax minimum) and put "gift" in the description to avoid me paying any tax upon arrival. Even if you end up paying tax on it, the cost of that plus the shipping remains very reasonable. They don't care about a "goods to follow" list. So that's a cheap option for you you might want to look at, if you're ok jumping through a few hoops.

Siouxie

Air Transat cargo..


Do make sure to add all the items you are planning on bringing over to your goods to follow / goods accompanying lists - you don't have to bring everything at once, you can have it sent / bring it in dribs and drabs, provided it's on "the list" you won't pay duties / taxes on it.


I have around a 1000 books that I paid to ship over (double sided boxes, 2ft sq maximum due to weight) and I haven't opened the boxes in 14 years.. so do make sure that whatever you decide to bring is worth the expense!



You may find these wiki sections of help:
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Compa...f_Goods-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Depar..._(UK_to_Canada)
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Goods_To_Follow-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...gistics-Canada