A car from the United States enters Canada through the Registrar of Imported Vehicles only if it meets every RIV condition: United States certification, retail sale in the United States, a clean compatibility-list position, and no outstanding recalls. This guide runs the scope test, the border steps, and the 45-day inspection — before you buy.
Applies in: across Canada
Most cars bought in the United States can be imported to Canada — but only through one door, and only if the car meets every condition of that door. The door is the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, or RIV, program: the national program Transport Canada established for the registration, inspection, and certification of imported vehicles that are certified to United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and were sold at retail in the United States, or are prescribed vehicles from Mexico. This guide is the walkthrough for a car from the United States through that program. For a car from anywhere else, the check is different, and the companion guide on checking whether a European car can be imported owns that admissibility question. Read that guide first if the car was not sold at retail in the United States: this guide cannot admit it.
This guide was grounded on Transport Canada's page on importing a vehicle from the United States and Mexico and on Canada Border Services Agency Memorandum D19-12-1, Importing Vehicles into Canada (Ottawa, September 2, 2026), both listed under Sources. Recheck both before you buy: the compatibility list changes without notice, and a change to either page changes the check.
Memorandum D19-12-1 sets two entry principles. A vehicle must qualify either as a vehicle required to be registered in the RIV program — United States-specification vehicles sold at the retail level in the United States, or prescribed vehicles from Mexico, in the classes of passenger car, multi-purpose passenger vehicle, truck, or bus — or as a vehicle not required to be registered in the RIV program, which covers all other admissible entries such as Canadian-specification vehicles, age-exempt vehicles, non-regulated vehicles, and temporary imports. Vehicles that qualify under neither principle are inadmissible and cannot be imported into Canada.
For the RIV door, a vehicle must meet all of the following conditions, stated in paragraph 15 of the memorandum:
The RIV program's objective adds the three things the inspection will verify: the vehicle was originally designed and certified at main assembly to the United States standards, the vehicle has no outstanding manufacturer safety recalls, and the importer has performed the necessary modifications to meet the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations. A car that looks like a United States model but was built for another market fails at the certification and retail-sale conditions, not at appearance. Certification and retail-sale history decide, not resemblance.
The compatibility list. Transport Canada maintains the Vehicle Import Compatibility List, better known as the Registrar of Imported Vehicles Compatibility List. The information is provided by vehicle manufacturers on a voluntary basis, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed, and its content can change without notice. There is also no guarantee that a vehicle listed as eligible can be successfully modified to meet Canadian requirements. Check the exact make, model, and year, then verify the position with the manufacturer before importing — the memorandum says the importer should verify the list information with the vehicle manufacturer prior to importation. A list position is guidance, not an admission promise.
Recalls. The vehicle must be clear of any recalls. Lack of satisfactory proof that a safety recall has been remedied is a stated reason for inspection failure and export, so recall clearance is evidence to obtain from the manufacturer before the car crosses, not a problem to solve during the 45-day inspection window.
The label and modifications. Confirm the American compliance label is on the vehicle and readable, or obtain the manufacturer statement the memorandum accepts in its place. Confirm the vehicle has not been modified in a way that compromises the manufacturer's certification. Transport Canada states that a vehicle modified from its original state will not qualify — its examples are a van converted to a motorhome, a van with a raised roof or modified interior, a pick-up or passenger car with a lift kit, a motorcycle converted to a motor tricycle, and a vehicle stretched or lengthened. A vehicle built or assembled by more than one manufacturer must meet extra requirements: vocational trucks, van conversions, motorhomes, buses, and limousines are Transport Canada's examples. If the car was built in stages, the final-stage manufacturer's certification evidence is part of the eligibility test, not an extra.
The province. Before declaring the vehicle at the border, contact your insurance provider and your provincial or territorial licensing authority to determine what provincial requirements you will need to meet in order to import and licence the vehicle in your province or territory. Successfully importing a vehicle does not guarantee registration: the RIV inspection must happen before provincial registration, and provincial rules — including limits on right-hand-drive or salvage-branded vehicles — are a licensing-authority question this guide does not answer.
Two further pre-border checks apply to used vehicles generally. Regardless of origin, an imported used vehicle must be free from soil, sand, earth, plant residue, manure, and related debris, under the plant-protection rules the memorandum administers. And on-road vehicles may be subject to emissions regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada — check those separately rather than assuming the safety-regime position covers emissions.
Transport Canada's page states one export fact and no more: you may have to report to United States or Mexican customs for clearance to export the vehicle. This guide states no export timeline, form, or office procedure for the United States side, because the primary pages state none. Confirm the export requirements with the United States customs authority at the crossing you plan to use, before the crossing date, and treat any timeline quoted by a shipper or seller as unverified until that authority confirms it. The Canadian border steps below assume the vehicle arrives with its export clearance already handled.
At the border, the importer declares the vehicle by completing, as applicable, a Transport Canada Vehicle Import Form, Form 1, a RIV e-Form 1, a Vehicle Imported for Parts Only Form 3, or an electronic Single Window Initiative Integrated Import Declaration. For an RIV car, the Form 1 or e-Form 1 route is the entry record. The Vehicle Import E-form may also be completed online on the RIV website; the completed form must then be printed, four pages in total, and given to customs officers at the border. Where the entry is made through the Single Window Initiative, the vehicle data is reported electronically to the provinces and territories, a Form 1 or e-Form 1 is not required and will not be accepted or processed, and the importer receives the RIV case number by email after release.
Proof of ownership is a hard gate for RIV entries. An original valid United States state-issued Certificate of Title, or equivalent, is required. In the case of a new vehicle sold at retail in the United States, it may be accompanied by a Manufacturer's Statement or Certificate of Origin with a valid bill of sale, presented at the time of importation. Title documents are mandatory for vehicles registered in the RIV program and must be submitted electronically where the Single Window Initiative route is used: if a title document is not submitted, the Canada Border Services Agency will refuse entry.
Persons importing vehicles for personal use that must be registered in the RIV program can present themselves to customs at any Canada Border Services Agency port of entry. Persons importing for sale or for commercial, industrial, occupational, or institutional use must report at commercial offices. Leased and financed vehicles have their own title-evidence rules in Appendix A of the memorandum: a leased or financed vehicle without an original lien-free title needs a copy of the Certificate of Title with an original statement or letter from the financing or leasing company authorizing export and permanent import, identifying the vehicle and including the vehicle identification number. Leased vehicles do not meet the ownership requirement for the former-resident and settler tariff exemptions, while financed vehicles do — confirm the customs position for a leased or financed car before relying on any exemption.
The Form 1 also carries the disposal-restriction notice to the provincial licensing authority. Four options exist, including a restriction that the vehicle may not be sold or disposed of in Canada at any time without Canada Border Services Agency authorization, a restriction running to a specified date — generally applying to settlers and returning Canadians, whose vehicles may not be sold for up to 12 months following arrival — and no restriction. Restrictions must be complied with at all times. Check which option is stamped on your form at the border, not when you try to sell the car.
Vehicles eligible for importation will be assessed for duty, excise tax, and the goods and services tax. The Canada Border Services Agency assesses duty on a vehicle manufactured in a country other than the United States and Mexico. For sales tax, the memorandum states that if a vehicle is imported into Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, or British Columbia, the importer must pay the goods and services tax as well as the provincial part of the harmonized sales tax when licensing the vehicle; for other provinces, sales tax may be applied when licensing. Transport Canada's page states the same position in one line: you must pay taxes and duties when applicable to bring your vehicle through Canadian customs.
Two excise figures are stated on the memorandum itself and are repeated here as stated. Imported vehicles with an air conditioning unit are subject to a CAD $100 excise tax. Additional excise taxes, the Green Levy, apply only if the vehicle has a weighted average fuel consumption rating of 13 or more litres per 100 kilometres and was put into service after March 19, 2007, and the levy applies to automobiles designed primarily for passenger use, excluding pick-up trucks, vans equipped for 10 or more passengers, ambulances, and hearses. The luxury tax continues to be payable on subject vehicles priced or valued above $100,000 unless an exemption applies. This guide states no duty rate and no RIV fee figure: no duty rate is stated on the primary pages, and the RIV program requirement is funded through RIV user fees charged to importers, with the amount to be confirmed on the RIV program's own pages at the time of import. Check the RIV fee, the duty position for the vehicle's country of manufacture, and the tax position for the province of licensing before you budget — a figure from a secondary source is not a substitute for the primary page.
Once the vehicle is released, the importer must abide by the terms of entry, which may include fulfilling additional requirements. The inspection requirement is the central one. The vehicle must pass an inspection by the Registrar of Imported Vehicles in Canada before it can be officially considered imported, within 45 days, or one year in the case of a salvage vehicle. The memorandum requires inspection once in Canada by an official RIV authorized inspection centre, within the specified time period and prior to registration by a provincial or territorial licensing authority.
Admission is conditional throughout. By signing the Vehicle Import Form or RIV e-Form, the importer acknowledges that admission depends on successfully passing a RIV inspection, and there is no guarantee that a vehicle is capable of being permanently imported or brought into conformity with applicable laws. If a vehicle fails the RIV inspection, it cannot remain permanently in Canada and the RIV will notify the importer that the vehicle must be exported. The rejection reasons are the vehicle's inability to be modified to comply, lack of satisfactory proof that a safety recall has been remedied, evidence of non-compliant modifications observed at inspection, or failure to present the vehicle for inspection within the prescribed timeframe. A vehicle that fails the inspection cannot stay in Canada even though taxes and duties were paid to bring it through customs.
Salvage vehicles follow the same program with a longer clock and a brand limit. A salvage-branded vehicle can be imported as a vehicle, rather than for parts only, as long as it was a United States-certified vehicle sold at retail in the United States or a prescribed vehicle from Mexico, less than 15 years old, and not inadmissible on the compatibility list. The brand must not be junk, scrap, non-repairable, flood, or water damage, or similar irreparable branding: a vehicle with such a brand does not qualify for repair and import as a vehicle. A salvage vehicle meeting the criteria must be rebuilt within one year after importation, fully operational and made compliant with Canadian standards before presentation to the RIV for final inspection, and presented for that inspection before provincial licensing. The brand record follows the vehicle identification number and remains part of its permanent history.
Only after a passed inspection does provincial registration follow. Registration itself is provincial: the RIV inspection, where required, comes first, and the provincial or territorial licensing authority registers the vehicle after. Keep the stamped Form 1 or the RIV case number from a Single Window Initiative entry for that step, and comply with any disposal restriction stamped on the form for its full term.
The parts-only route is not a fallback for a failed car. Vehicles imported for parts only are entered on a Form 3, and a vehicle imported under the parts-only program cannot be changed or re-assessed into a road vehicle. If the goal is a drivable car, the parts route does not get there.
No RIV fee figure: the memorandum confirms the program is funded through RIV user fees but states no amount, and secondary figures conflict. No duty rate: the memorandum confirms duty is assessed on vehicles manufactured outside the United States and Mexico but states no rate. No per-model admissibility claims: whether a specific model is admissible is a compatibility-list and manufacturer question, answered per vehicle. No United States export timeline or form: the primary pages state none. No provincial registration steps: registration rules vary by province and are a licensing-authority question. No conversion route for a modified or foreign-market car: none exists in the primary pages, and none is implied here.
No. To be eligible for the Registrar of Imported Vehicles program, a vehicle must meet all of the conditions in Memorandum D19-12-1: a prescribed class of regulated vehicle, less than 15 years old on the date of importation, sold at the retail level in the United States, not identified as inadmissible on the Vehicle Import Compatibility List, certified by the original manufacturer as complying with all United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as shown by the American compliance label or a manufacturer statement, and not modified in a way that compromises the manufacturer's certification. A car that fails any one condition is not an RIV vehicle. If it qualifies under no other entry principle, it is inadmissible and cannot be imported into Canada.
For a vehicle registered in the RIV program, an original valid United States state-issued Certificate of Title, or equivalent, is required. A new vehicle sold at retail in the United States may instead be accompanied by a Manufacturer's Statement or Certificate of Origin with a valid bill of sale, presented at the time of importation. Title documents are mandatory for RIV vehicles: where the entry is made through the Single Window Initiative, they must be submitted electronically, and if a title document is not submitted, the Canada Border Services Agency will refuse entry. Declare the vehicle on a [Vehicle Import Form 1](https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d19/d19-12-1-eng.html), a [RIV e-Form 1](https://www.riv.ca/), or a Single Window Initiative Integrated Import Declaration, and keep the stamped form: it records the entry and any disposal restriction, and the province will look for it at registration.
The inspection must be done within 45 days, or one year in the case of a salvage vehicle, according to Transport Canada's page on importing a vehicle from the United States and Mexico. Memorandum D19-12-1 states the same requirement in its own terms: the vehicle must be inspected once in Canada by an official RIV authorized inspection centre within the specified time period and prior to being registered by a provincial or territorial licensing authority. The inspection verifies that the vehicle was originally designed and certified to United States standards, that it has no outstanding manufacturer safety recalls, and that the importer has performed the necessary modifications to meet the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations. Do not book provincial registration first: registration comes after a passed inspection.
It cannot remain permanently in Canada, and the RIV will notify the importer that the vehicle must be exported. The common reasons for rejection stated in Memorandum D19-12-1 are the vehicle's inability to be modified to comply with prescribed requirements, lack of satisfactory proof that a vehicle safety recall has been remedied, evidence of non-compliant modifications observed at inspection, or failing to present the vehicle for the mandatory inspection within the prescribed timeframe. Admission is conditional from the start: by signing the Vehicle Import Form, the importer acknowledges that admission depends on passing the RIV inspection, and there is no guarantee that a vehicle can be brought into conformity. A failed inspection does not refund the duties and taxes paid to bring the vehicle through customs, which is why the admissibility check belongs before the purchase.
No, not through the RIV program. A vehicle must not have been modified in a way that compromises the manufacturer's certification, and Transport Canada states that a vehicle modified from its original state will not qualify to be imported into Canada. Its examples include a van converted to a motorhome, a van with a raised roof or modified interior, a pick-up or passenger car with a lift kit, a motorcycle converted to a motor tricycle, and a vehicle that has been stretched or lengthened. The same rule applies to a Canadian-owned vehicle modified in the United States or Mexico and returning to Canada. A vehicle built or assembled by more than one manufacturer — a vocational truck, van conversion, motorhome, bus, or limousine — must meet extra requirements, so a staged or converted vehicle needs its certification position confirmed with the manufacturer and with Transport Canada or the RIV before money moves.
It does not enter through the RIV program. The import requirements in the Motor Vehicle Safety Act apply to regulated classes of vehicles less than 15 years old, and buses manufactured on or after January 1, 1971. A regulated-class vehicle 15 years old or older, and a bus manufactured before January 1, 1971, is an age-exempt entry: it is recorded as a vehicle not required to enter the RIV program, and the border steps for a non-RIV entry apply instead. Age-exempt does not mean unchecked: border officers still establish the vehicle's status, examine ownership documents, and assess duties and taxes as applicable, and provincial registration rules still apply. If the vehicle's age cannot be proved, it is assessed under the normal guidelines, which can end in denial — so the month and year of manufacture on the compliance label is evidence to have in hand, not a detail to reconstruct at the border.