Conference kaosws::canada

    Buy it down there, get rid of the old car. If you're moving up here,
    they'll let you bring in the car.
    
    Glenn

    Firstly ... make sure that you can legally come to Canada to work ...
    the process can take several months to organize ... contact your
    nearest Canadian embassy or High Commission.
    
    When you import any item into Canada duty free as personal goods, you
    may NOT dispose of it within 1 year, otherwise you are liable for duty
    and taxes.
    
    Cars under amd over a certain age may be imported into Canada, but must 
    meet Canadian Safety and Emissions standards (unless antique) for the
    year of their manufacture and must be certified by the manufacturer.  
    There are several aspects of most US cars which do not meet Canadian safety 
    standards ... bumpers, speedo in km/h for example.  There are some cars 
    which while meeting US 49 state emissions standards, may not meet Canadian 
    standards (weird ...).  Strangely, although cars are made on both sides
    of the border for both sides of the border, they are often manufactured
    to the different standards ... I'd have thought it would be cheaper to
    build to common standards ... but no.  Many imports do so and are
    probably the ONLY vehicles that can be moved with RELATIVE ease across
    the border by Mr. Joe Average.
    
    Basically, if your car is aging, dispose of it in the US.  Buy a car
    in Canada ... but if you are only in Canada for a short period, I would
    not buy a new car ... buy a newer used car so that you don't take all
    the depreciation hit when you go to sell it again, which is recommended
    when you return to the US.  (Importing a Canadian car into the US is a
    pain and may require extensive modifications too!)
    
    Hope this helps ...
    
    Stuart	

    re .1
    
    Glenn ... it's not quite that easy ... there are a LOT of technical
    glitches going either way across the border.  There was a story about
    someone a couple years ago who came to Canada on a 6 month work permit,
    so they were allowed to bring their vehicle in temporarily.  The
    husband was hospitalized near the 6 month limit and had to stay for
    another month or so in hospital ... broken back.
    
    Canada Customs came after the wife telling her to export the vehicle,
    or formally import it (under a year old).  It was going to cost her
    several thousand dollars in mods for new bumpers, new speedo etc.
    Moreover, she had to take it to the border to formally re-import it ...
    she couldn't just take it to the nearest Customs Port.  The ridiculous
    part was that in about 1 more month, the vehicle would be going back to
    the US anyway!
    
    Customs would not budge.  What they ended up doing was taking the
    vehicle back to the US, and one of the rental agencies cut her a real
    special deal to get around until they left Canada ... Someone even took
    them back to the US to pick up their car!
    
    I looked into this myself when I came down here with regard to
    returning to Canada as and when the time came.  Even with a car
    that meets safety and emissions specs in both countries it is a 
    major headache in termsof sorting out the bureaucratic jungle.
    
    Stuart

    Thank you.  Let me be more specific.
    
    If I do this, it would be for a permanent position with a Canadian 
    company.  They would arrange for the work visa.  I would expect to
    find a home and remain in Ontario for several years.
    
    It has been suggested to me that I could save thousands of dollars
    by buying a car before I would become a Canadian resident.  This would
    be a combination of lower car prices, no GST and perhaps some other
    items that I don't fully understand.  But, it sounds like I would need
    to do my homework first.
    
    So, I need to learn if the assumption about the savings is correct.
    And, then, what the hassles might be.  Also, I could save U.S. sales
    tax if I bought the car in New Hampshire and then arranged to get
    Ontario plates.  But, I suspect that that would be considered to be
    importing a new car.  So, I may be better off paying a few hundred
    dollars to get plates in the U.S. and drive in with personal property.
    
    Roger

    If it's a relatively new car (1990 or later?), Transport Canada will at
    the very least require such modifications as daytime running lights to
    meet Canadian code.
    
    Consider this: a new car selling for $15000 in the US probably sells
    for $18000 in Canada (check models you're interested in, but I'd bet
    the Canadian prices are generally 20% higher).  Now the good part: 
    your US dollar will get you between 27-30% at bank exchange rates here,
    so you could end up saving money!  Even with taxes!
    
    Worth investigating...
    
    Otto.

>    If I do this, it would be for a permanent position with a Canadian 
>    company.  They would arrange for the work visa.  I would expect to
>    find a home and remain in Ontario for several years.
>    
>    It has been suggested to me that I could save thousands of dollars
>    by buying a car before I would become a Canadian resident.  This would
>    be a combination of lower car prices, no GST and perhaps some other
>    items that I don't fully understand.  But, it sounds like I would need
>    to do my homework first.
>    
>    So, I need to learn if the assumption about the savings is correct.
>    And, then, what the hassles might be.  Also, I could save U.S. sales
>    tax if I bought the car in New Hampshire and then arranged to get
>    Ontario plates.  But, I suspect that that would be considered to be
>    importing a new car.  So, I may be better off paying a few hundred
>    dollars to get plates in the U.S. and drive in with personal property.
>    
Basically you need to do a lot of homework first ... 

	Contact your nearest Canadian Embassy for the booklet "Importing
	a Vehicle Into Canada", and a booklet about "Moving to Canada"
	for all the customs info.  (The titles are somethig like this ...
	they'll know what you are asking about ... they are Customs
	booklets.

	Then contact the vehicle manufacturer for the particular car you
	want to buy, and include all the options and the area of the
	country you would buy it in ... ask them whether they could
	certify that the car would meet Canadian Safety and Emissions
	Standards.

	I found that, with current exchange rate differences, there is
	not a lot of price difference.

Stuart

    Hi,
     Returned from a 4 year relo to Mass. in 1991. Returned with a US
    bought 1988 Subaru. Fifteen minutes at the border filing out a little
    paperwork including one which stated that I could not sell the car for 
    12 months. Piece of cake! By the way the car's speedometer is in mph
    only.
    
    Regards;
    Reed 

When I moved to Canada from Hong Kong 6 years ago the custom office told me that
anything I brought into Canada has to be at least 6 months (or 1 year, I forgot
which one is correct) old in order to be exempted for tax. That is you can bring
things things that you have been using but not things that you just acquired.
There are immigrants that I know being taxed for brand new appliances they
brought in.


A while ago I read from the Toronto Star about importing new car. They said
considering all the hessels in converting the car to meet Canadian safety and
emission standards, you are still ahead only if you are bringing a luxury car.
You probably would not save several thousand dollars if you are going to bring
in an economy car.

David