Query About Receiving Goods In Toronto

[Jason11]

hi there.
BACKGROUND
I am a landed immigrant (landed in July) who is expecting his shipped personal effects to reach Toronto in the next couple of weeks.

At the time of my landing I presented a list of goods to follow and had this stamped by the customs person at the airport. He also prepared and gave me a filled form BSF186 which summarizes the contents of the list. Both the stamped list and completed form BSF186 are in my possession.

The goods being shipped are only those which are mentioned in goods to follow, nothing else or nothing different is being shipped.

QUESTION

1. I need help in understanding the clearance process for my shipped goods once they arrive in Toronto. Can you provide some information about this? I am not sure if I need to hire a customs clearance agent for myself or whether I can do this myself given that I am tax exempt and not bringing in any prohibited or restricted items.

2. What paperwork (other than the above two documents and my identity documents) would be required at the time of receiving my goods.

your help will be much appreciated

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

It is great that you are looking into this information beforehand.

We can appreciate that you would be interested in finding some information related to this issue.

You can find some helpful information on the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in the Moving or returning to Canada section.

It states,

Declaring your goods upon arrival in Canada

Even if you have no goods with you on arrival, you must give your list of goods to the border services officer at your first point of entry in Canada. Based on the list of goods you submit, the officer will complete Form BSF186, Personal Effects Accounting Document, assign a file number to it, and give you a copy of the completed form as a receipt. You will need to present your copy of this form to claim free importation of your unaccompanied goods when they arrive. Goods to follow may be subject to import restrictions before you can import them.

To facilitate the clearance process, you can complete Form BSF186 before your arrival in Canada.

You may also want to contact the Border Information Services directly for specific information and a definitive response. You can contact them here:

Border Information Services (BIS) from outside of Canada (long-distance charges apply):

(204) 983-3500 or (506) 636-5064.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org