Ordering from the US to Canada for yourself? The CBSA thresholds that decide duty and tax: $20 by mail, $40 and $150 by courier from the US, plus the traveller exemptions when you bring goods back yourself.
Applies in: across Canada
For personal goods from the USA, three numbers decide almost everything: $20, $40, and $150 — and which one applies depends on how the goods travel. By mail, the line is $20: at or under it, no duty and no tax; over it, both can apply. By courier from the USA, the CUSMA bands apply: $40 or less is duty- and tax-free, $40 to $150 is duty-free but still taxable, and over $150 both duty and tax apply. Carry the goods back yourself and a different set of rules — the traveller personal exemptions — applies instead. You need no business number and no CARM account for any of this; those belong to commercial imports.
Start by naming your route, because the same $50 parcel gets three different answers. Sent by post from the USA, it is over the $20 mail threshold, so duty and tax can apply, plus Canada Post's $9.95 handling fee. Sent by courier from the USA, it sits in the $40-to-$150 band: no duty, but GST or HST still applies. Carried back by you after a weekend trip, it sits inside the $800 traveller exemption and nothing is owed. The route is not a detail; it is the rule.
Two traps sit inside the thresholds. First, the value is the whole shipment's value for duty in Canadian dollars, not each item's price — two $15 items in one parcel are a $30 shipment. Second, splitting one order into smaller parcels to stay under a threshold does not work: the CBSA does not treat a split transaction as separate low-value shipments. And the exceptions matter: alcohol, cannabis products, cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco do not get the low-value relief at all, so a bottle of spirits in a $30 parcel is assessed regardless of the band.
Duty is set by the tariff classification of the goods, their country of origin, and any tariff treatment that applies. Tax is separate: most imports are subject to GST at 5%, or HST instead of GST if you live in a participating province, and the CBSA collects provincial tax for some provinces on top. That is why a shipment can be duty-free and still taxable — the courier $40-to-$150 band is exactly that case — and why the landed cost is product price plus freight plus duty plus tax plus the carrier's handling fee, never just the seller's price.
Origin deserves its own warning, because it is the mistake people make most. Buying something in a US store does not make it US-made. Under CUSMA, goods made in Canada, the USA, or Mexico can enter duty-free for personal use; goods made elsewhere pay the regular tariff rate for that product once you are above the duty-free band. A jacket sewn overseas and bought in Buffalo is an overseas-made import for duty purposes, whatever the store's address was. If the duty treatment matters to your decision, check where the goods were made before you order, not after they arrive.
One more moving part: counter-tariffs. Canada has imposed surtaxes on certain US-origin goods at various points since 2025, and the list of affected products has changed more than once. A surtax, where it applies, sits on top of duty and tax. Before ordering a high-value item from the USA, check the CBSA's current list of US products subject to counter tariffs — this guide deliberately states no surtax rate, because a rate copied from an old article is worse than no rate.
If you cross the border with the goods, forget the parcel bands and use this table instead:
Gifts you send home while travelling do not count against your exemption, but they have their own $60 gift rule (see the FAQ), and gifts you carry back with you do count against the exemption. Keep your receipts: the border officer works from what you declare and what you can show.
A genuine gift from a friend or relative abroad, sent by mail and worth $60 or less, enters duty- and tax-free — provided it carries a card or notice identifying it as a gift. Above $60, duty and tax apply on the amount over $60: a $200 gift is assessed on $140. Tobacco, alcoholic beverages, advertising material, and anything sent by a business are excluded, and a purchase is not a gift because the sender wrote "gift" on the form. The $60 gift exemption and the $20 mail exemption cannot be combined on the same goods.
The shipping quote is not the landed cost. When a US seller ships by USPS, the parcel transfers to Canada Post, which charges a flat $9.95 handling fee per dutiable or taxable mail item — and nothing at all when the item clears duty- and tax-free. When a seller ships by private courier, the courier charges its own brokerage fee for clearing the parcel, and that fee varies by courier and shipment; on a low-value parcel it can be larger than the tax itself. Ask what the brokerage fee will be before you order, and note that some couriers let you clear the parcel yourself at a CBSA office instead of paying their fee — but only if you ask before the parcel clears.
Resale quantities are commercial imports, not personal ones: if you are importing to sell, the commercial guide's business-number, CARM, and broker steps apply. Vehicles have their own separate import process and are not covered here. Restricted goods — firearms, certain foods, plants, and animals — may need permits or certificates from another department before they move, whatever their value; check the product-specific rules for your exact goods before ordering. And this guide states process, not tax advice: for unusual valuation, related-party pricing, or a shipment large enough that a wrong classification would be expensive, a customs broker's landed-cost estimate is cheaper than a reassessment.
The recurring ones: assuming a US store purchase is US-made for duty purposes; assuming the $40/$150 courier bands apply to mail; splitting an order to duck under a threshold; ignoring the courier's brokerage fee until delivery day; claiming the $200 traveller exemption on a $201 total and losing all of it; and treating a business shipment labelled "gift" as a gift. Each is avoidable by naming the route, checking the value in Canadian dollars, and reading the carrier's fee before the goods move.
Work out your own shipment with the landed cost calculator, which applies the $20, $40, and $150 thresholds to the numbers you enter.
Related guides: How to Import and Export Goods in Canada, How to Pay GST/HST to the CRA in Canada, How to Charge GST/HST in Canada
| By mail, $20 or less | No duty, no tax, no handling fee |
|---|---|
| By mail, over $20 | Duty and tax apply, plus Canada Post $9.95 handling fee |
| By courier from the USA, $40 or less | No duty, no tax |
| By courier from the USA, over $40 up to $150 | No duty; GST/HST still applies |
| By courier from the USA, over $150 | Duty and tax both apply |
| Gift from a friend or relative abroad, $60 or less | No duty, no tax (mail only; tobacco, alcohol and advertising excluded) |
No. Business numbers and CARM accounts are for commercial imports. Personal parcels and goods you carry back yourself are assessed under the casual-goods rules, and the carrier or Canada Post handles the customs paperwork. If you start importing to resell, that is a commercial import, and the commercial guide covers the accounts you need.
The channel decides. By mail, the threshold is $20 from any country, including the USA: at $20 or less there is no duty or tax, above $20 both can apply. By courier from the USA or Mexico, the CUSMA bands apply instead: $40 or less is duty- and tax-free, $40 to $150 is duty-free but taxable, and above $150 both duty and tax apply. Mail from the USA does not get the courier bands — a $30 parcel sent by post is over the $20 mail threshold even though it is under the $40 courier threshold.
No. Two different questions decide duty: where the shipment comes from, and where the goods were made. The courier bands turn on the shipment coming from the USA or Mexico. CUSMA duty-free treatment turns on the goods being made in Canada, the USA or Mexico. A shirt made overseas and bought in a US store can still attract the regular tariff rate above the duty-free band, even though you bought it in America. Check where the goods were made, not just where you bought them.
It depends on how long you were away. Under 24 hours: no personal exemption at all — duty and tax apply to everything. 24 to 48 hours: up to $200 duty- and tax-free, but the goods must be with you when you arrive, alcohol and tobacco cannot be claimed, and if your total exceeds $200 you lose the whole exemption and pay on everything. 48 hours or more: up to $800, with duty and tax only on the amount above $800, and alcohol and tobacco allowed within their limits. After 7 days, goods may also arrive by mail or courier within the same $800 exemption.
Within the 48-hour-plus $800 exemption: up to 1.5 litres of wine, or 1.14 litres of spirits, or 8.5 litres of beer; and up to 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, 200 grams of manufactured tobacco, and 200 tobacco sticks. These limits sit inside the $800 value, not on top of it, and they cannot be claimed under the 24-hour $200 exemption at all.
If it is genuinely a gift — sent personally by a friend or relative, with a card or notice saying it is a gift — and worth $60 or less, there is no duty or tax on it by mail. Above $60, duty and tax apply on the amount over $60. Tobacco, alcoholic beverages, advertising material, and anything sent by a business do not qualify, and you cannot combine the $60 gift exemption with the $20 mail exemption on the same goods.
Because the courier's clearance service is separate from the government's charges. Duty and tax go to the CBSA; the brokerage fee is what the courier charges for filing the customs entry, and it varies by courier and shipment. Canada Post is the exception with a flat fee: $9.95 per dutiable or taxable mail item, and nothing when the item clears duty- and tax-free. Before you order, ask the seller or courier what the brokerage fee will be — on a low-value parcel it can exceed the tax. Some couriers also let you clear the parcel yourself at a CBSA office instead of paying their fee; ask before the parcel clears, not after.