Discussions

We are considering purchasing a used motorhome in the U.S. and are curious about US and Canada border protocol. Is it difficult to do it privately and if a Broker is required what would the costs be? We have looked online but it seems very complicated. Thanks for any information.

Send a copy of the title to the U.S. Customs Border location that you plan to cross at 72 hours prior to arriving. Stop there with the vehicle so they can verify the Title. Proceed to Canada Customs to pay the GST and PST. Fill out the RIV forms and pay fee online at home. When you receive form back from RIV, take vehicle to Canadian Tire for inspection.

Make sure you call Canada Customs FIRST with the [i]exact[/i] make, model and year of the motorhome. Some vehicles are not allowed to be imported into Canada, so make sure yours is allowed. Call the border you plan to cross at, and get the name of the agent who gives you the information.

Thanks M.D. Rome. Is there a form that is used to send that information to U.S. customs and by 'title' do you mean the bill of sale?  
(I phoned US Customs in Dunseith to try and get help and they gave me a link which a Philadelphia lawyer would have a hard time understanding and to a layman doesn't even seem to refer to the problem at hand! Here is the link http://aesdirect.census.gov/  
Appreciate your help.

In the past I've imported 3 travel trailers and 2 trucks from the US, the last time being April 2013. At that time the process was very easy, the first time we were a bit nervous though.  
 
But in Oct 2014 the US gov't made changes adding additional requirements to export. Check out Step 3 from this link. http://blog.pcb.ca/2013/08/9-steps-to-importing-a-vehicle-into-canada-from-the-u-s/5134  
 
I'm hoping someone here has imported a vehicle since Oct 2014 that can comment on whether they have actually had to do this part of importing from the US.

Contact AD Rutherford, a broker.  
They have a office in Brandon.  
They will talk you through all the steps and procedures.

Thanks all for the input, appreciate it. Will check some of these things out-they sure dont make it easy! Any other comments are welcome. I'll get back if I find out anything more. Cheers.