Canadian residents coming home from the US can bring back a set value of goods without paying duty or tax, under the CBSA’s personal exemptions. How much depends on how long you were away: nothing on a same-day trip, up to CAN$200 after 24 hours, and up to CAN$800 after 48 hours. Above those amounts you pay duty (where it applies) and sales tax, and the rules on what you owe differ between the 24-hour and 48-hour exemptions. This guide sets out the limits, what counts toward them, what you pay over the limit, how online orders are taxed, and how to work out whether a shopping trip saves money once the exchange rate and the drive are included. It is one of the site’s consumer guides to shopping, deals and everyday bills.
Duty-free personal exemptions
| Time outside Canada | Exemption | Alcohol and tobacco | If you go over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 24 hours | None: personal exemptions don’t apply to same-day cross-border shoppers | Not included | Duty and taxes on everything |
| 24 hours or more | Up to CAN$200 | Not included | You lose the exemption: duty and taxes apply to the entire amount |
| 48 hours or more | Up to CAN$800 | Included, within the limits below | Duty and taxes only on the amount above CAN$800 |
| 7 days or more | Up to CAN$800 | Included, within the limits below | Duty and taxes only on the amount above CAN$800; goods other than alcohol and tobacco can follow by mail or courier |
The times are counted to the hour: a trip that left at 7 p.m. Friday qualifies for the 24-hour exemption from 7 p.m. Saturday and for the 48-hour exemption from 7 p.m. Sunday. For the 7-day exemption, the CBSA counts the day you return but not the day you left.
Rules that apply to every exemption
- Goods must be for your personal or household use. Souvenirs, gifts you received from friends or relatives outside Canada, and prizes you won count. Goods for commercial use or for another person don’t qualify.
- Exemptions can’t be combined or shared. Two people can’t pool theirs, and a 9-day trip doesn’t give you both the 48-hour and the 7-day exemption.
- Children have their own exemption for goods that are for the child’s use; a parent can declare for them.
- Goods under the 24-hour and 48-hour exemptions must be with you when you cross. Goods under the 7-day exemption (except alcohol and tobacco) can be shipped, and you have 40 days from your return to claim them.
- Values are reported in Canadian dollars, including any US sales tax you paid, converted at the exchange rate the CBSA recognizes.
Alcohol and tobacco allowances
Alcohol and tobacco can be included only in the 48-hour and 7-day exemptions.
Alcohol: one of the following, not all three:
| Product | Limit | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Wine | Up to 1.5 litres | Two 750 ml bottles |
| Alcoholic beverages (spirits) | Up to 1.14 litres | One large standard bottle of liquor |
| Beer or ale | Up to 8.5 litres | About 24 cans or bottles of 355 ml |
You must be of drinking age in the province or territory where you enter Canada: 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, and 19 everywhere else. Above the allowance you pay duty, taxes and any provincial or territorial liquor levies, and the quantity must be within the limit the provincial liquor authority sets where you enter.
Tobacco: all of the following (you must be 18), if the packages are stamped “duty paid Canada droit acquitté”:
| Product | Limit |
|---|---|
| Cigarettes | 200 |
| Cigars | 50 |
| Manufactured tobacco | 200 grams |
| Tobacco sticks | 200 |
| Vaping products | 120 ml of liquid or 120 g of solid, in no more than 12 devices and containers |
Unstamped cigarettes and tobacco bought in the US are charged a special duty even inside the exemption.
What you pay above the limit
Duty. Under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), no duty is payable on goods imported for personal use if they are marked as made in Canada, the US or Mexico, or carry no marking saying they were made elsewhere. Goods made in other countries (much clothing and electronics, for example) can be dutiable even when bought in a US store. Separately, Canada charges surtaxes (counter tariffs) on a list of US goods, and the CBSA’s notice on them says the surtax applies to goods imported for personal (casual) use as well as commercial ones; the CBSA surtax notice links the list.
Sales tax. The GST (5%) or HST applies to the amount over your exemption. The CBSA also collects provincial sales tax for some provinces when you cross at a port of entry in your home province. Each province’s rate is in the guide to sales tax by province.
The CBSA’s duty and taxes estimator works out the amount for a specific purchase.
Example: over the 48-hour exemption
An Ontario resident returns after three nights away with $1,200 (Canadian) of goods, all marked as made in the US and none on the surtax list, so no duty applies.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Goods brought back | $1,200 |
| 48-hour exemption | $800 |
| Amount over the exemption | $400 |
| Duty (US-made goods under CUSMA) | $0 |
| HST at 13% on the excess | $52.00 |
On a 24-hour trip the same goods would get no exemption at all, because they are over CAN$200: tax would apply to the full amount.
Declaring your goods
Every purchase must be reported when you cross, along with any repairs or alterations done to your car or belongings outside Canada, and all food, plant and animal products. Keeping receipts together and knowing the total before you reach the booth makes the declaration quicker.
If you don’t declare goods, or declare them falsely, the CBSA can seize them. You may lose them permanently or have to pay a penalty to get them back, which the CBSA sets at 25% to 70% of the goods’ value depending on the goods and circumstances. Alcohol and tobacco that aren’t properly declared are seized permanently, and a vehicle used to bring goods in unlawfully can also be seized.
Restricted goods
Some goods need permits or are restricted whatever their value: firearms and weapons, many food, plant and animal products (the CFIA’s rules decide which), and health products and prescription drugs, which Health Canada limits in quantity and type. Cash and monetary instruments of CAN$10,000 or more must be reported at the border.
Online orders from the US
Parcels have their own thresholds, separate from the personal exemptions:
| How it arrives | Duty and tax |
|---|---|
| By courier, from the US or Mexico | Up to $40: duty and tax free. Above $40 to $150: duty free, but taxes apply. Above $150: duty and taxes apply |
| By courier, from other countries | Up to $20: duty and tax free. Above $20: duty and taxes apply |
| By mail, from any country | Up to $20: duty and tax free. Above $20: duty and taxes apply to the full value |
Couriers usually add a brokerage fee when they clear a parcel through customs, and that fee can exceed the tax itself on a small order. Some US stores collect duty and tax at checkout so the parcel arrives with nothing more to pay; others leave it to the courier.
Is a shopping trip worth it?
The price difference has to cover the exchange rate, the cost of the trip, and any tax above your exemption. On September 23, 2026, one US dollar cost C$1.4096 at the Bank of Canada’s daily rate; the CAD to USD exchange rate page tracks it, and where to exchange currency compares what banks and exchange counters charge on top.
A jacket costs US$200 in the US and $350 in Canada. The round trip costs $60 in gas.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| US price in Canadian dollars, at the rate above | $281.92 |
| Price difference before the trip | $68.08 |
| Less gas | $60 |
| Net difference | $8.08 |
Card purchases in US dollars also carry the card’s foreign transaction fee, unless the card waives it (cards with no foreign transaction fee compares them). Paying by phone doesn’t avoid it: Apple Pay and Google Pay charge the card behind them, so the card’s fee applies, as the guide to digital wallets explains. Time at the border, a hotel night if you need the 48-hour exemption, and meals all count too, which is why the arithmetic tends to favour shopping on a trip you were already taking.
NEXUS
NEXUS, run jointly by the CBSA and US Customs and Border Protection, gives pre-approved low-risk travellers dedicated lanes at land crossings and airports. Membership lasts five years, the application fee is US$120 and non-refundable, children under 18 are free, and each family member needs their own card. The CBSA’s NEXUS page has the application steps.
Sources
- CBSA, Travellers: what to declare and personal exemptions
- CBSA, Increase to low-value shipment thresholds (CUSMA)
- CBSA, Importing by mail or courier