Duties importing US boats to Canada?

Hi there...new to the site and looking to buy our first boat. Have noticed there is some good selection of used boats (and reasonable prices) south of the Canadian border. Has anyone here done this? What are the costs involved - taxes,duties, etc? Looking to buy a 18-20 foot bow rider for the family.

Re: Duties importing US boats to Canada?

I bought an old boat from Niagara Falls, NY.... put it on the trailer.. came over the border... and that's it. Noone asked if I bought it or not. They asked if it was mine Gotta love those safe borders.

When you register the boat and transfer the title they will ask if it is a domestic or an import... but no charges are made. They just make you get a new compliance label for Transport Canada.

Check out Service Canada website. It helps (somewhat)
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/sc/boats/

Re: Duties importing US boats to Canada?

Skrobo, you may have lucked out with that one.....good on ya'.
I looked into this myself and according to what I found out you need to show up at the border with the following:
-Boat Title
-Trailer Title
-Bill of Sale
(this is pretty important according to the literature I read on this).
Additional steps supposedly are 48-72hrs faxed notice to the point of entry of the above paperwork. The other thing is supposedly obtaining a 'recall notice' if it applies to the trailer.
As for costs, well this is my understanding:
-GST based on converted U.S.D at time of crossing (not date of sale)
-Minor import duty (...maybe $100 ?)
Another helpful website is the Canada 'RIV' site (Registrar of Imported Vehicles....this includes RV's and boats I believe)
Good luck