Canadian Customs
Current Canadian Tariff Issues
Tariffs and fees imposed by Canadian Customs on US-made goods are rapidly changing.
Please understand that we have no control over these, and you are responsible for paying any fees, taxes, and tariffs due upon delivery.
Until a permanent trade deal is finally agreed between the US and Canada, it is impossible to predict how much this may cost as it may even vary during transit.
Please only order if you understand this situation and are willing to incur the extra expenses involved.
The information below was correct before the new issues, but should not be relied on as accurate right now.
Standard non-customized goods "returned to sender" due to non-payment of fees, taxes or tariffs will be refunded at the purchase price, minus our costs incurred in the transaction, including shipping and admin charges.
Custom goods that are returned to us are not refundable, but will be held for a reasonable time (4 weeks from return date) before being disposed of. Re-shipping may be possible if the full shipping costs are remitted to us within four weeks of the parcel's return.
The following information was valid prior to January 2025:
When we ship a board, pegs or other goods into Canada, various duties, tariffs, taxes, fees and charges may be added and collected from you upon delivery.
These are added by Canadian Customs after we have shipped the goods and before they are delivered to you.
We find USPS is significantly cheaper than other services, and the monies for the taxes, etc., are collected upon delivery.
We usually use USPS for our shipping, except for tables.
We label each package accurately with country of origin (US) and the correct code, so there should be no duty under NAFTA rules.
With recent changes being made almost weekly to tariffs, we are unable to estimate your liability, but so far, board games and parts do not seem to be affected.
However we can do nothing about GST (Goods and Sales Tax) which may be assessed at 5%
Then there is HST and/or PST, depending on the province, making a total of 5-15%
Click here for a great calculator to estimate the required taxes
(set category to "toys", the product to "board games", enter the value in Canadian dollars, and click the "NAFTA" button.)
A Canadian government handling fee of $9.95CAD is then added to this to "collect the tax".
Please expect to pay the taxes and fees before the goods are released to you.
If you are sending the package as a gift, please warn the recipient that a payment may be due on delivery.
LOW VALUE EXEMPTION: Customs does not usually assess duty or tax on mail items valued at $20CAD or less.
It probably makes sense to keep your order under $20CAD to avoid these taxes and fees, or make your order big enough so the fees make up a smaller proportion of your order.
Please make sure you are aware of the total cost before placing your order.
