How to submit a customs declaration  upon arrival

Customs clearance by declaring items upon arrival at the airport can typically take a long time. In addition to the time spent on customs matters, travelers often spend a lot of time with other administrative duties, which for a new immigrant can include meeting with  a CBSA officer  and handling other standard procedural procedures required as a new Canadian.

Fortunately, a pre-prepared CBSA declaration can speed up  processing time.

What is a CBSA Declaration?

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is the government body that monitors and protects Canada's borders and the lawful entry of goods and people.

A CBSA declaration is a customs declaration. Through this declaration, individuals and newcomers to Canada must declare the assets and goods they bring into Canada. The CBSA Declaration is also beneficial for people who plan to ship a large item to Canada.

Since most newcomers to Canada can't carry all of their belongings to Canada at once, they must provide a list of Goods to Follow  in order to be legally transported in the future. 

What happens if you don't submit a CBSA Declaration?

Failure to file a customs declaration or make a false declaration will result in the seizure of the items or a fine for the owner of the items. According to the decision of the Canada Border Services Agency, the items can be permanently confiscated or a fine of between 25 and 80 per cent of the value of the seized goods will be imposed on the owner. 

For example, if newcomers to Canada do not declare that they are carrying products such as tobacco, these products will be permanently confiscated by the Canada Border Services Agency.

The CBSA records all violations and fines for violators. Therefore, individuals must file an accurate and correct customs declaration.

In addition, according to the customs law, vehicles used for illegal imports will be fined.

  What is the purpose of CBSA Ready Returns?

CBSA declarations  allow  travelers coming to Canada to submit their customs and immigration declaration forms before arriving in the country.

How do  you complete a CBSA  return?

CBSA declarations can be  completed and submitted through the ArriveCAN application up to 72 hours prior to arrival in Canada.

What are the benefits of completing a CBSA  declaration  in advance?

In 2021, more than 11.79 million people traveled to Canada from the border and "other international sectors." This does not include the more than 34.3 million passengers who arrived from Canadian airports on domestic flights.

To this end,  advanced CBSA declarations can be vital for optimizing the arrival experience for immigrants and other newcomers to the country. This is because completing a CBSA declaration  in advance can help incoming travelers  save time using PIKs upon arrival, thereby shortening the waiting time at the border. In other words, this feature processes immigrants and It expedites other passengers arriving from international locations.

Note: According to the Government of Canada, "preliminary data shows that the traveler's experience with  a pre-prepared CBSA  declaration was 30% faster than at the customs clearance kiosk."

 Where are ready-made CBSA declarations  acceptable?

With Calgary International Airport accepting the CBSA-ready declaration  at the end of January, the feature is now available for "passengers arriving on international flights" at 10 airports across Canada.

Participating airports include:

• Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)
• Calgary International Airport (YYC)
• Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
• Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)
• Montreal Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
• Ottawa International Airport (YOW)
• Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)
• Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Terminals 1 and 3
• Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
• Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (YWG)