How to find Canadian wholesalers, vet overseas suppliers, and work out landed cost — duties, GST, shipping and brokerage — before you place an order.
Applies in: across Canada
Start with the landed cost, not the catalogue price. A product that looks cheap overseas can end up expensive once shipping, duty, GST and brokerage are added, and a Canadian wholesaler who looks dearer per unit can work out cheaper once those border costs disappear. So the job is not really finding a supplier — it is finding a supplier whose full, delivered cost still leaves room for your selling price, returns and the odd dud batch.
That means doing the boring work first: writing down exactly what you want, getting comparable quotes, and running the duty and tax math before you commit. This guide walks through that sequence for Canada, using the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) own method for working out duty and GST.
Suppliers quote what you ask for, so a loose brief produces quotes you cannot compare. Before you contact anyone, write down the product, materials, dimensions, colours, packaging, labelling, safety markings and quantity you need. Note any Canadian requirements that apply to your product type, such as bilingual labelling or safety standards, and check whether the goods need a permit, certificate or inspection from another government department before the CBSA will release them.
This document is also your test: check a sample against it, not against the listing. If it fails on a detail a customer would notice, it is a failed sample, however friendly the supplier was.
Domestic sourcing is the simpler route, and it is worth pricing even if you expect to import in the end. Canadian wholesalers and distributors buy in volume and resell to retailers; some sell only to registered businesses, so have your business details ready when you ask for an account.
When you compare wholesalers, ask the same questions of each one: the wholesale price, the minimum order, the lead time, whether freight is included, the return policy for defective stock, and whether the price changes with volume. A wholesaler who answers plainly and ships quickly is worth more than a slightly lower price from one who cannot say when stock will arrive. Trade shows are another way to meet domestic suppliers face to face — you can handle the product, ask about lead times and minimums, and leave with a contact who has actually seen your specification.
Three official directories are live and free, and they are a practical starting point. BizPaL at bizpal.ca builds a customized list of the federal, provincial, and municipal permits and licences your product business may need, by location and activity. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's Company Directories page lists Canadian supplier directories by sector. Its all-sector entries include the Canadian Trade Index, FRASERS, Contact Canada, and Profile Canada, plus sector association member lists. Canada.ca's Directories of Canadian companies page points to Canada's business registries, the federal corporation search, and the Canadian importers list. Use the sector list to find suppliers in your category, then check each supplier's own site before ordering. A directory listing is a lead, not a vetting.
Overseas marketplaces, including Alibaba-type platforms, can surface suppliers you would never find on your own. They can also surface listings that overpromise. Treat the platform as a starting point, not a guarantee.
Shortlist several suppliers for the same specification and compare them on the same terms. Ask for samples, and pay for a sample the way a real customer would experience the product: open it, use it, check the packaging and labelling, and look for defects. Ask, in writing, who pays for freight and insurance, who handles customs clearance, and what happens if goods arrive damaged or short. The shipping terms matter here: a price that includes delivery to your door is a very different deal from a price that leaves the goods at a foreign port with you arranging — and paying for — everything after that.
Red flags are consistent: no sample, no written terms, pressure to pay in full by an untraceable method, or a price far below every other quote for the same specification. Any one of those is enough to move on.
Landed cost is the real price of getting the goods into your hands, ready to sell. Add together:
Duty itself is based on the tariff classification of the goods, their country of origin, and their value. There is no single duty rate for "imported products" — the rate follows the classification, and the country of origin can change it where a preferential tariff treatment applies. That is why two similar-looking products can carry very different duty bills.
The CBSA illustrates the arithmetic with a worked example. An invoice value of US$100, converted at an exchange rate of 1.37, gives CAN$137.00 as the value for duty. At the 4% duty rate used in that example, the duty is $5.48. Add the duty to the value for duty and you get $142.48 as the value for tax. GST at 5% on $142.48 is $7.12. Total duty and GST payable in the example is $12.60. Use the exchange rate from the date the goods began their direct and uninterrupted journey to Canada when you convert your own invoice value.
Two warnings belong with that example. First, the 4% rate is the CBSA's example rate, not your product's rate — look yours up in the Canadian Customs Tariff or ask the CBSA for an advance ruling, which assigns a 10-digit tariff classification number and is legally binding between the CBSA and the person who receives it. Second, the example leaves out shipping and brokerage entirely, so a landed-cost calculation that copies it without adding those lines will understate your cost.
Brokerage fees are the one line you cannot look up in a tariff table: the fee varies with the broker and the shipment. Get a written quote before you ship, and ask whether it covers the accounting declaration, disbursements and any storage or exam charges.
Commercial importing runs through the CBSA's Assessment and Revenue Management system, known as CARM. Register your business in the CARM Client Portal. You will need a 9-digit Canada Revenue Agency business number, and an import-export program account — the RM account, a 6-digit number such as RM0001 — which together form the 15-digit business number the CBSA uses to identify you as the importer of record.
If you use a customs broker, register first and then delegate authority to the broker in the CARM Client Portal; a broker cannot submit the accounting declaration on your behalf without that delegation. Your broker, or you directly through the portal, accounts for the goods with the classification, origin and value, and duties and taxes are payable when the CBSA processes the accounting documents. If you are unsure about classification, origin or value, an advance ruling or national customs ruling can settle the question before the goods ship — cheaper than a reassessment after they land.
Keep each shipment's paperwork together: invoice, shipping documents, classification and accounting declaration. That file answers later questions without guessing.
Your first order from a new supplier should be small enough that a bad batch stings without sinking you. Inspect it on arrival against your specification, test it the way a customer would, and check the packaging and labelling before anything goes on sale. Note what arrived late, damaged or different from the sample, and raise it with the supplier while the shipment is fresh.
Only then decide whether to scale. A supplier who fixed a problem quickly on a small order has earned a larger one; a supplier who went quiet has told you everything you need to know. Reorder on the landed cost you actually paid — including the brokerage invoice and the domestic freight — not the unit price you were quoted at the start.
Most sourcing losses follow the same pattern: a bulk order placed before a sample was checked, a landed cost worked out after the goods were paid for, or a product ordered without checking whether it could legally be released into Canada. Each is avoidable by keeping this guide's order — specification, comparable quotes, landed-cost math, paperwork, small test — and refusing to skip a step because a deal looks urgent.
Related guides: how to get a business number in Canada, how to start an online store in Canada, how to charge GST/HST in Canada, how to register for GST/HST in Canada.
| Invoice value converted to Canadian dollars (US$100 × 1.37) | CAN$137.00 value for duty |
|---|---|
| Customs duty at the 4% rate used in this example only | $5.48 |
| Value for tax (value for duty plus duty) | $142.48 |
| GST at 5% on the value for tax | $7.12 |
| Total customs duty and GST payable in this example | $12.60 |
This is the CBSA's own example, not a rate for your product. Your duty rate depends on your goods' tariff classification and country of origin, and the example excludes shipping and brokerage, which you must add separately.
Yes, for commercial imports. You need a 9-digit Canada Revenue Agency business number plus a 6-digit import-export (RM) account, which together make the 15-digit business number the CBSA uses to identify you as the importer of record. You register in the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management ([CARM](https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/carm-gcra/start-passer-eng.html)) Client Portal, and if you use a customs broker you delegate authority to that broker in the portal.
Duty is based on three things: the tariff classification of the goods, their country of origin, and their value. The [CBSA's example](https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/guide-3-eng.html) works like this: US$100 converted at 1.37 gives CAN$137.00 as the value for duty; at a 4% duty rate the duty is $5.48. That 4% is only the rate in the CBSA's example — your rate comes from your own classification and origin, and you can ask the CBSA for an advance ruling if you need certainty before you ship.
Imported goods are generally subject to the 5% GST, and it is charged on the duty-paid value — that is, the value for duty plus any duty. In the CBSA's example, $137.00 plus $5.48 of duty gives $142.48, and 5% GST on that is $7.12, for $12.60 of duty and GST combined. Shipping and brokerage are not in that example, so add them to your own landed-cost calculation.
It depends on what the landed cost looks like once everything is counted. A Canadian wholesaler usually charges more per unit, but the price often arrives without a separate duty, brokerage or border-delay bill. Direct importing can be cheaper per unit, but you carry the freight, duty, GST, brokerage and compliance work yourself. Compare the full landed cost side by side, not the headline unit price.
Order a sample first and check it against the specification you wrote, not against the listing. Confirm the materials, measurements, packaging and labelling, ask what happens with defective units, and get the freight and customs terms in writing before you pay. A supplier who will not send a sample, name the shipping terms, or put the deal in writing is a reason to walk away, not a reason to hurry.
Some goods need permits, certificates or inspections from other government departments before the CBSA will release them, on top of meeting the CBSA's own requirements. Check before you buy, not when the shipment is already at the border — a product that cannot legally be released is a loss even if the price looked good.