Guides

What we had to learn the hard way

Working references for anyone moving consumer technology and home goods into Canada. Written for people doing the work, sourced to the regulations, and kept current. No gated PDFs and no newsletter wall.

Compliance

Importing consumer electronics into Canada: the complete compliance guide

Nine things have to be true before a container of routers, chargers or kettles can legally be sold in Canada. Certification, safety marks, CARM security, duty, labelling, energy reporting, record keeping and the recycling registration almost nobody mentions — with the government source for every rule.

25 minUpdated September 12, 2026

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What is inside

  1. An FCC grant is worth nothing here
  2. Electrical safety is provincial, and the letter “c” is the whole game
  3. Lithium batteries and UN 38.3
  4. Your own number, your own security
  5. What you will actually pay
  6. Three labelling regimes, stacked
  7. The energy efficiency report nobody mentions
  8. Six years, two days, ten days
  9. Recycling: the obligation that catches importers

Sourcing

How to import from Alibaba to Canada: the first order, done properly

Finding a supplier takes an afternoon; getting the right goods into Canada takes a process. What Gold and Verified badges really mean, the one mistake that voids Trade Assurance, samples, inspection, and the Canadian setup you need before anything ships.

13 minNew · September 27, 2026

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What is inside

  1. What Alibaba actually is
  2. Reading the badges: Gold, Verified and what they do not prove
  3. The enquiry that gets a real quote
  4. Samples: pay for them, and sign off a golden sample
  5. Trade Assurance: what it covers, and the one way to lose it
  6. Payment terms: 30/70, and what the balance buys you
  7. Inspection: the cheapest insurance you can buy
  8. Shipping: Alibaba's DDP quote versus your own forwarder
  9. Before anything ships: your importer setup
  10. What else Canada will ask of the goods

Importing

How to become an importer in Canada: the setup, in the order the CBSA wants it

Business number, RM import-export account, CARM registration, the bond-or-deposit decision and how you pay the CBSA — in the order the CBSA wants it. Plus the courier thresholds and the 2026 tariff changes for goods from China.

11 minNew · September 27, 2026

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What is inside

  1. A business number
  2. The RM import-export program account
  3. CARM: register yourself, then delegate
  4. Release prior to payment, and financial security
  5. How you actually pay
  6. A customs broker, or do it yourself
  7. Courier or formal entry: the thresholds
  8. The documents your broker needs
  9. What changed for goods from China
  10. Keep records for six years

Compliance

Bilingual labelling in Canada: what must be in French, and what Bill 96 changed

The three things every package must say, which of them must be in French, the textile and cosmetic layers on top, and what Quebec's Bill 96 changed for trademarks on June 1, 2025 — including why a pending application is not enough.

12 minNew · September 27, 2026

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What is inside

  1. The three declarations every package needs
  2. The dealer's name and address, and “imported by”
  3. Net quantity, metric units and type size
  4. The exemptions, and why you probably will not use them
  5. Textiles: fibre content and the CA number
  6. Cosmetics: bilingual cautions, INCI names, and the 10-day notification
  7. Electronics: certification labels are bilingual too
  8. Quebec asks for French on everything
  9. June 1, 2025: what changed for trademarks
  10. An artwork workflow that avoids stickering

Brand building

Starting a private-label brand in Canada: the order to do things in

The order to do things in: OEM or ODM, clearing the name, CIPO fees and timelines, Amazon Brand Registry on a pending mark, why to register in China first, GS1 barcodes, and a realistic first-run budget.

12 minNew · September 27, 2026

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What is inside

  1. Private label, white label, OEM and ODM
  2. Pick a product you can actually certify
  3. Clear the name before you love it
  4. Filing with CIPO: fees, classes and timelines
  5. Amazon Brand Registry with a pending mark
  6. Register in China before the factory sees your artwork
  7. Barcodes: buy them from GS1 Canada
  8. Packaging that works in every province
  9. A realistic first-run budget
  10. The order, on one page

Sourcing

How to find real wholesale suppliers in Canada

Canada has no resale certificate and most brands appoint a single national distributor. The four free government lookups that verify a supplier, the CRA invoice test that catches what they miss, and the drop-ship arrangement that quietly makes you the importer of record.

16 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. The four tiers, and where the margin lives
  2. Why the “wholesale list” you were sold is worthless
  3. Four checks you can run this afternoon
  4. The invoice test — the fastest tell there is
  5. What none of these checks prove
  6. The four ways Canadian buyers actually lose money
  7. The drop-ship trap, and who becomes the importer
  8. Genuine goods, unauthorised source
  9. Where real Canadian suppliers actually are
  10. How to open an account without looking like a tyre-kicker

Importing

Incoterms for a first container: FOB, EXW, DDP and the ones that cost you money

FOB, EXW and DDP for a container from China into Canada. Where risk really transfers, why EXW is legally impossible for a Canadian buyer to perform, the DDP arrangement that costs you the GST input tax credit, and the Canadian valuation rule that keeps ocean freight out of your duty.

17 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. Which edition is in force, and the “Incoterms 2026” myth
  2. The eleven rules, and the two families
  3. Why FOB is technically the wrong rule for a container
  4. EXW: the rule you cannot actually perform in China
  5. FOB: why it is usually the right answer
  6. DDP: the quote that looks cheapest and is not
  7. Canada values to the place of direct shipment
  8. There is no Canadian ISF. Stop paying for one
  9. Nobody has to insure the ocean leg
  10. 30/70, the bill of lading, and the telex release
  11. Every line that is not in the FOB price

Marketplaces

Getting ungated on Amazon.ca: what an invoice actually has to show

Amazon publishes an invoice standard for appeals and withholds the one for selling applications — most rejections fall in the gap. The real 365-day window, what the “10 units” figure actually is, the bill-to field that kills most applications, and a model Canadian invoice field by field.

15 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. There are two rule sets, and only one is published
  2. What Amazon actually says an invoice must show
  3. The “10 units” number, and what it really means
  4. The nine things that get an invoice rejected
  5. The bill-to field — the single biggest cause of failure
  6. “We are unable to verify the supplier”
  7. Transparency, Project Zero and brand gating
  8. Letters of authorisation, and the Canadian territory trap
  9. Why a Canadian invoice is better evidence than a US one
  10. The model invoice, field by field
  11. CBSA wants the same discipline for six years

Logistics

Shipping from China to Canada: what it actually costs and how long it takes

Dated ocean rates rather than stale ones, the LCL versus FCL break-even, why Prince Rupert keeps beating Vancouver, a worked landed cost to Southwestern Ontario, and the courier thresholds that do not apply to Chinese goods. Plus the Chinese New Year 2027 date that will catch people out.

18 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. What ocean freight costs right now, and why the headline is misleading
  2. LCL or FCL: the break-even, and the fees that hide in LCL
  3. When air freight is the rational choice
  4. There is no rail from China to Canada
  5. Which port, and why Prince Rupert keeps winning
  6. A worked landed cost to Southwestern Ontario
  7. Three tax facts that change the budget
  8. PO to shelf, week by week
  9. Chinese New Year 2027 is eleven days earlier
  10. What actually goes wrong

Condition

New, open box, refurbished, returns-graded: what the grades actually mean

There is no standard for liquidation grades, and we prove it with four published scales side by side. What Amazon, eBay and Best Buy Canada actually require, what Ontario and Quebec law let you call a used product, the performance-claim rule that catches battery-health listings, and Quebec's new working-order warranty.

17 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. There is no standard. None. Here is the proof
  2. What Ontario law lets you call it
  3. Quebec is stricter, and something big just changed
  4. The performance claim rule nobody knows about
  5. Amazon: a cosmetic ladder with a functional floor
  6. eBay: the only platform that ties warranty to grade
  7. Best Buy Canada, and where the three ladders converge
  8. Manifested, unmanifested, and the MSRP column trap
  9. Where the pallet came from, and returnless refunds
  10. Electronics: batteries, data, and certification marks
  11. Who actually carries the warranty

Sourcing trips

The China trade show circuit, and how to tell a factory from a trading company

Canton Fair, Global Sources, HKTDC, the East China Fair, AWE, Yiwu's year-round Futian market and Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei — compared, with confirmed dates and an eleven-day itinerary covering four shows. Plus the Canadian visa waiver and the day it expires, and the free Chinese registry check that tells you whether you are talking to a factory.

16 minUpdated September 25, 2026

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What is inside

  1. Canton Fair — the 140th, and which phase you actually need
  2. Hong Kong: Global Sources and HKTDC, in the same week
  3. East China Fair, AWE, and the one show you should not go to
  4. Yiwu — the permanent market nobody tells you about
  5. Huaqiangbei, and what it is bad at
  6. The Canadian visa position — and its expiry date
  7. Badges, trains and the October squeeze
  8. The itinerary that covers four shows in eleven days
  9. Factory or trading company: the checks that actually work
  10. What to ask at the booth, and what to bring home

What we are writing next

These are the questions we get asked most often. If one of them is the one blocking you, say so — it moves up the list.

  • Canadian bilingual labelling, line by line: what actually has to be on the package
  • RPRA, Éco Entreprises Québec and Recycle BC: registering as a producer in three provinces
  • Quality control in China: what an inspection report should contain, and when to book it
  • Payment terms and trade credit: how Canadian distributors actually assess a new account