As customs brokers, Clearit receives requests every day to clear goods at every border point across Canada. When we work with a commercial importer, we need a Canadian Business Number (BN) — we sometimes need it when we’re working with a personal importer, too. Your import number in Canada will come from your BN. Depending on what you’re importing, we may need even more numbers from you — like your ITN number for the United Statesâ€...

When you import goods into Canada, it’s the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) job to ensure they’re legal and legitimate. This is usually carried out at the border as soon as your carrier arrives, but when immediate clearance isn’t possible, you can have your goods move to a licensed warehouse in the country instead. By storing your goods in either a bonded or sufferance warehouse, you can defer paying customs duty, excise taxes, and ...

Any experienced importer will tell you that the customs clearance time wait can be the most frustrating part of the process. You could be vigilantly vetting your suppliers, keeping completely compliant, and making smart decisions about shipping and packaging… and then your goods reach customs and the wait begins. Predicting those customs release wait times is difficult and frustrating. A blind spot on your business is never good, but thereâ€...

Duties and taxes can quickly eat into your wallet if you’re not careful. Passing on the costs to the consumer can burn bridges in the public eye, but taking on the costs yourself isn’t ideal either. If you’re importing for personal reasons, high duty costs are even more onerous — you have no choice but to pay them alone. Thankfully, by being smart, you can avoid being hit too hard by duties and other fees! Avoiding Duty Altogether: Du...

Canada is a trading nation; our total trade is worth more than 66% of our GDP, the second highest in the G7 after Germany. We’re the 12th largest export economy in the world, and at just over 35 million people, that’s an accomplishment to be proud of! Understanding our import and export markets is key to understanding the Canadian economy. What does Canada import and what do we export? What does Canada Export? The bulk of Canadian export...