Canada import fees: what US online sellers must quote

A Canadian customer pays your US store, then receives another bill before the parcel arrives. Your shipping label can be correct while your checkout explanation is incomplete. Start by identifying who imports the order, which border channel it uses and which product is inside. Those facts determine the questions your store must answer before you offer a flat delivery charge.

Which part of the arrival bill belongs to the government? #

Customs duty is a tariff on the imported product. Its treatment depends on classification, origin and applicable preferences. Import sales tax is another line. CBSA’s mail and courier overview explains that most imports can attract GST plus provincial treatment. Neither charge is the carrier’s payment for completing clearance. Ask for a bill that separates these categories before deciding whether a customer was charged incorrectly.

Canada Post adds a C$9.95 handling fee to a taxable or dutiable mail item under its published customs guidance. A courier uses its own schedule. Keep that service fee outside the government duty line in your pricing worksheet. Even where a preference removes ordinary customs duty, tax and a collection fee may remain. Calling the whole balance a tariff makes your support answer less useful.

Write the checkout promise around the actual billing arrangement. If the customer pays on arrival, show that clearly before purchase. If you intend to absorb import charges, verify the carrier’s account instructions and the importer arrangement first. Your US sales-tax settings do not establish Canadian border treatment. Save the booked service, charge payer and product declaration with the order so the eventual bill can be compared with the offer.

Why does the same order have different postal and courier thresholds? #

These bands come from CBSA’s low-value shipment guidance. USPS merchandise entering through the postal stream does not gain the higher courier thresholds because it started in the United States. Use the actual import channel rather than a general international shipping category in your checkout software. At the boundary, distinguish C$150 from a value above C$150; a rounded storefront display is not the customs calculation.

The courier order also has conditions beyond dispatch country. Under Memorandum D8-2-16, non-originating goods may benefit if they entered US commerce before export. Goods merely transshipped through the US do not gain that benefit. The memorandum also excludes arrangements in which someone other than the Canadian purchaser imports the goods. Your broker needs to confirm eligibility for your ownership and import structure.

Can a low-value order still attract the new US-origin surtax? #

Yes. CBSA’s Customs Notice 26-23 describes surtaxes effective September 8, 2026, on listed US-origin goods. Depending on the listed product, the rates are 15%, 25% or 50%. The notice expressly says they can apply to shipments below postal and courier de minimis thresholds. Do not present the ordinary remission bands as a blanket protection against this separate measure.

Check the Department of Finance product list against the Canadian tariff classification and the origin rule used for the measure. A US ship-from address alone does not identify US origin. A CUSMA preference for ordinary duty is also a different determination. Retain the result with the product record, including the date checked. This lets the person buying a repeat label see why the checkout treatment was chosen.

Keep this review at product level. A store selling different kinds of goods cannot sensibly apply one customs percentage to its whole catalog. If classification or origin is unresolved, remove the guaranteed landed-price claim for that item until the calculation is settled. Changing carriers can change clearance charges, but it does not itself remove a product-specific government surtax.

Should you convert the USD sale before comparing the thresholds? #

Yes: CBSA expresses these thresholds in Canadian dollars and refers to value for duty. Preserve the sale currency, amount and supporting transaction record, then have the declarant establish the Canadian customs value. Do not compare a USD product price directly with C$40 or C$150. Keep transport, discounts and other relevant charges identifiable instead of silently merging them into a rounded total.

Treat customs value and the amount shown in a marketing banner as separate records. A promotion can alter what the buyer pays without changing the product’s description or origin. The declaration must reflect the actual transaction under the applicable valuation rules. Do not use a nominal replacement value merely to place the order in a lower band. If the value changes after a refund or order edit, resolve the declaration before dispatch.

Province matters for the tax estimate too. CRA lists Ontario’s HST at 13%; Alberta uses 5% GST without a provincial sales tax. Those published rates help illustrate why a single Canada-wide tax percentage is unsuitable. The product’s taxable status and the applicable import tax base must still be established. Keep tax on any carrier service separate from tax on the imported goods when reconciling the invoice.

What changes if you place cleared inventory with a Canadian sender? #

AirPost’s model is to place products and packaging with a sender who packs orders and drops them off. Canadian domestic dispatch moves the retail parcel within Canada after inventory has been imported. It does not erase the stock import, create an importer account or determine your GST/HST obligations. Compare those parts of the business separately instead of treating a domestic label as a replacement for customs compliance.

On October 14, 2026, the AirPost Canada-to-Canada options page displayed Canada Post Expedited Parcel from approximately C$13.70 for the small-parcel category and C$15.85 for the medium category. The difference is C$2.15 before the separately agreed sender compensation. Both displayed amounts include the platform fee. They are starting prices, not US-to-Canada rates or a quote for a particular address.

Use that calculation to test the domestic dispatch stage of your budget: a larger packed category changes the displayed starting label cost by C$2.15. Add actual inventory transport, clearance, taxes and sender compensation before judging the complete model. The page uses converted currency displays and states settlement is in euros. Keep conversion assumptions visible, and retrieve a current route price when making a real decision.

The stock arrival notice guide helps organize the receiving handover. For the distinction between US product routing and the receiving location, see Shopify US fulfillment routing. Confirm a suitable sender and domestic service before sending inventory; availability is a separate check from the price illustration.

What should your team check before opening Canada checkout? #

1. Review each product’s Canadian classification, documented origin and current surtax status.
2. Confirm the importer, ownership at entry and whether the shipment follows the postal or courier channel.
3. Record Canadian value for duty and apply the eligible remission band without splitting a single transaction to obtain relief.
4. Check applicable import taxes and the carrier’s clearance, advancement and collection charges.
5. Match the checkout wording to the confirmed charge payer, and retain the declaration and quote with the order.