List of items bring back to Canada - how detailed???

[chilkootcee]

Hello all,

As my husband and I prepare to land we have been creating an inventory of all our stuff that we are moving / might want to move back to Canada. I know the CIC website states to include make / model / serial numbers where possible. My question is, how detailed does one have to be? Can we just put "clothing" or do I have to count and describe each item? We have a lot of outdoor gear (camping, climbing equipment). Do I have to list each item (i.e. carabiner, make, model, serial number) or can I just put "8 locking carabiners" or can I just put "climbing gear"?

I've seen the information about jewelry, laptops, etc.

What have others experienced when presenting their lists to customs upon landing?

Would love to hear from you!

Thanks!

C.

 

[DanOCan]

Our list was pretty basic; we did it all in Excel.

As we were packing my wife's apartment, we simply made a new line for every box we packed and listed the contents in a category and then made notes about the actual contents and its estimated value.

Our headings on the spreadsheet were:
Box Number, Category, Contents/Description, Value (CDN)

Examples of what we had listed for major categories:
- Books and DVDs
- Clothing/Accessories/Personal
- Collectibles
- Electronics
- Furniture
- Kitchen/Housewares
- Sporting Goods
- Miscellaneous

The actual contents were also pretty generic. Some examples:
- Board games, towels, pillows
- Candle holders, knickknacks
- Office supplies, notebooks
- Pots and pans
- Dishes
- Camping chairs, tent

Naturally, for things like the TV, DVD player, cameras, etc. we went into the level of make, model, serial no., as well as for things of higher value like some antique china. Her entire apartment's inventory list was only four pages long.

For our Form B4, we simply listed the total dollar value and said "See Attached Four Pages for Inventory". When we presented it to Customs the officer was very happy with our method. He told us it was very clear we had done our homework, he thanked us for making his job easy, and said we would be surprised how many people arrive at the border with no clue about what they plan to bring with them.

 

[Owl29]

I am curious too.

I actually will be landing just with one suitcase, as most of my stuff is in Canada anyway. Should I really list my old clothes and few books? Or can I skip this part at all. I won't be bringing any other stuff in the future too.

 

[Taddy]

Ours was no more detailed than DanOCan's list. We didn't have any problems.

 

[Mrschino]

I am curious too.

I actually will be landing just with one suitcase, as most of my stuff is in Canada anyway. Should I really list my old clothes and few books? Or can I skip this part at all. I won't be bringing any other stuff in the future too.

We will be landing with only one bag as well, with only a few clothes. You need to fill out a form for this?? Sorry I have no idea about the landing part!

 

[chilkootcee]

Yes, I believe you need to still complete the form B4, Personal Effects Accounting Document which is different than the standard Customs Declaration Card (which I believe you will still need to complete upon arrival). There used to be a link to this card but I think information on the website is changing

Information is provided on this website.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/before-border.asp

And when you land, you will have two brief interviews (one with immigration / one with customs)

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/before-border-interview.asp

I created a preparation checklist https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19iIDQXsnVXK1SuDNZyT2uUJDlo6CkUSTmsXambuOvP4/edit#gid=0

C.

 

[Taddy]

The three of us arrived with a bag, box and dog each. This was into YYZ whilst out PR was under process. My husband said we were moving back.

We were asked about what we were bringing in and we said just clothes etc and that all our stuff was en-route by ship. They didn't ask any more questions. I guess they assumed that our stuff that wasn't accompanying us would be covered by the official paperwork relating to the shipment.

 

[chilkootcee]

We will be landing with only one bag as well, with only a few clothes. You need to fill out a form for this?? Sorry I have no idea about the landing part!

To be safe, I would complete two lists and attach them to B4 - however brief

1) goods accompanying
2) goods to follow

I'm thinking just because they didn't say anything on landing, doesn't mean that you won't get charged duty when you try to ship them later (if you didn't present a completed B4 of goods to follow when you landed) but I could be wrong.

C.

 

[DanOCan]

To be safe, I would complete two lists and attach them to B4 - however brief

1) goods accompanying
2) goods to follow

I'm thinking just because they didn't say anything on landing, doesn't mean that you won't get charged duty when you try to ship them later (if you didn't present a completed B4 of goods to follow when you landed) but I could be wrong.

That was my understanding as well -- you get one chance to inventory your goods, whether they are with you or to follow and if you don't do it when landing your items will be subject to duty when you try and ship them later.

 

[chilkootcee]

Okay...perhaps another silly question...but much of the stuff my husband purchased was used....so for duty value do we put the original catalogue price, the actual purchase price or what we can get for it today?

Thanks!

We fly out tonight!!

C.

 

[ipoo]

Well its good to have the list, in terms of Thick Items.. one can not have to write it all the items one by one..

I believe that Custom dept., interested more in Value of Items, than Quantity.. except in some items (Like, how many Cigarettes do u have? no more than 200 cigs are allowed on full adult ticket).

 

[andy1011]

Our list was pretty basic; we did it all in Excel.

As we were packing my wife's apartment, we simply made a new line for every box we packed and listed the contents in a category and then made notes about the actual contents and its estimated value.

Our headings on the spreadsheet were:
Box Number, Category, Contents/Description, Value (CDN)

Examples of what we had listed for major categories:
- Books and DVDs
- Clothing/Accessories/Personal
- Collectibles
- Electronics
- Furniture
- Kitchen/Housewares
- Sporting Goods
- Miscellaneous

The actual contents were also pretty generic. Some examples:
- Board games, towels, pillows
- Candle holders, knickknacks
- Office supplies, notebooks
- Pots and pans
- Dishes
- Camping chairs, tent

Naturally, for things like the TV, DVD player, cameras, etc. we went into the level of make, model, serial no., as well as for things of higher value like some antique china. Her entire apartment's inventory list was only four pages long.

For our Form B4, we simply listed the total dollar value and said "See Attached Four Pages for Inventory". When we presented it to Customs the officer was very happy with our method. He told us it was very clear we had done our homework, he thanked us for making his job easy, and said we would be surprised how many people arrive at the border with no clue about what they plan to bring with them.

Hi Dan,

Thanks much for your info. Could you advise how you listed the value of each item? Did you list the real value of each item or you would just put a lump sum value of a box/bag of items?

Thanks again!

Cheers