Importing to Canada is not difficult as long as you know the rules. The Minstry of Transportation, thus far, will allow for vehicles manufactured outside of the NAFTA Trade Agreement to be imported into Canada as long as they fall under the following condition: they are 15 years old or older (to the month of registration or manufacture build date).
Importing from Japan to Canada has seen a steady flow of right and left-hand drive vehicles reach western and eastern shores. While the Federal government does not regulate the licensing of vehicles for the road, they do control Customs. Vehicles imported into Canada will have a 6.1% duty and GST imposed on the value of the bill of sale provided by the selling vendor (in this case, that is us). As well, vehicles may be inspected for soil contamination at an extra cost (we hear its $50CND). If vehicles arrive in a container, the container may be inspected, and costs vary.
An experiences exporter to Canada will be able to assist clients with the task of clearing Canadian customs. In our case, we recommend the same customs broker who has successfully worked with our clients for years. Customs brokers can charge from between $250 to as much as $400CND per unit.
Through our recommended customs broker, inland transportation from Vancouver to the major cities can be arranged. This would save the client from having to get to Vancouver to drive their vehicle back home.
Once the vehicle is ready to be registered, it must go through an out-of-province inspection. We recommend shopping around for this inspections. We've heard the cost can vary depending on the province or shop doing the inspection. Common vehicle modifications to meet provincial standards is day-time running lights, side markers, DOT rated tires and a third brake light. DOT rated tires seem to be hit-and-miss depending on the province. However, its safer to have DOT tires on the imported vehicle, as we have heard if there are any accidents as a result of non-DOT tires, insurance companies may not cover for damages.
If you have any further questions about importing into Canada, please let us know.
