I referred in my post dated 17 May to the email I received from CBSA concerning the B4 forms. I copy it below because it answers most of your questions:
A settler describes all who enter Canada with the intention of establishing a residence for the first time and for a period of not less than 12 months. Persons entering Canada to become Permanent Residents without the intention of residing immediately in Canada are not considered Settlers to Canada since they do not have any intention of remaining in Canada at that time, and will live outside Canada for an undetermined period of time. Therefore, under customs legislation, these persons are considered visitors to Canada, even if they are Permanent Residents for immigration purposes.
Before you settle in Canada, you must prepare two copies of a list, preferably typed, detailing all household and personal goods you are bringing into the country. Your list should describe the goods, giving such details as the value, make, model, and serial number of each item, particularly high-value items. Please note that we require the current value of goods, not the replacement value. The list should be divided into two parts, showing which items are accompanying the owner at the time of arrival and which items are to arrive at a later date as “goods to follow.”
For general household items such as books or clothing, a group listing and overall value is sufficient (e.g., kitchen utensils – $000). Since jewellery is difficult to describe accurately, it is best to use the wording from your insurance policy or jeweller's appraisal and to include photographs that have been dated and signed by the jeweller or a gemologist. This information makes it easier to identify the jewellery when you first enter Canada, and later if you return from a trip abroad with this jewellery.
When you arrive in Canada you will have to give your list of goods to the border services officer, even if you do not have the goods with you at the time. Based on the list of goods you submit the officer will complete Form B4 or BSF186, Personal Effects Accounting Document, for you, assign a file number to your B4 or BSF186 form, and give you a copy of the completed form as a receipt. You will need to present your copy of the form to claim free importation of your unaccompanied goods when they arrive.
Memorandum D2-2-1, Settlers' Effects - Tariff Item No. 9807.00.00, provides information about the B4 or BSF186 forms for people settling in Canada. It can be found at:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d2/d2-2-1-eng.html
It follows that when your husband 'lands' for immigration purposes in May (assuming he follows Ponga's advice) he will not be considered a settler for customs purposes, but simply as a visitor. He will become a settler for CBSA purposes in August when he arrives with the intention of staying for not less than 12 months. I found the immigration officer who handled my landing very easy going: I had typed out a B4(E) form but that is not essential. I had listed in it a few items of value I preferred to carry myself rather than place them in a container at a later date: items such as a few bits of silver and several watches. He was not the least bit interested in my form. Like you I had difficulty in preparing a goods to follow list: how was I to know whether I would eventually have room in a future Canadian house for (for example) the grand piano I own? The answer to that dilemma is that until one becomes a settler there is no need to complete a goods to follow list. There is incidentally so far as I am aware no official CBSA goods to follow list. I simply added sheets to the B4 form; but as I have explained that was unnecessary because at the time I was not a settler.
To answer your specific questions:
( 1) just list socks shirts etc as 'clothing' and give them a nominal value. I would have thought that a personal scrapbook would have no value: so simply enter Nil.
(2)Your question is based on a misunderstanding: your husband does not need a goods to follow form when he visits in May. He will need it in August. It cannot be subsequently amended because the concession is only available to persons who settle 'for the first time'. I quote from the declaration at the foot of the B4 form.
(3)The B4 form was not a big deal in my case: the immigration officer who dealt with the matter on behalf of CBSA was not at all interested in my valuables or my list.
(4) I suppose that strictly speaking your husband does not need to declare the goods he is bringing into Canada in May at all, because he will not be a settler in May. The time for declaring them will be August. There should be no problem in removing them from Canada at the end of his May visit.
(5) The completion of the B4 form is optional but if it is not completed and you hand in a long list of items you might find you have a disgruntled CBSA officer to deal with, because he will then need to copy it all out by hand onto a B4. But the issue will not arise in May: in your husband's case it will not arise until August.
I found on the internet a very helpful advice sheet entitled goods to follow - Canada'. It is on the British Expats.com website. You might find some reassurance by reading that.
