Preparing your Landing III - What to take with you

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You can bring everything you think you'll need.

If you cannot bring with you all the things that you own and would like to bring along, Canada allows you to bring in such items duty free at a later date (10 years period after "Landing").

It is important to know that at the time of "Landing" you will need to provide a complete list of all such items; if you failed to provide this list at the TIME of landing then you will lose this opportunity (as happened with me ... as nobody mentioned this to me). The list should provide detailed descriptions as well as Model Numbers and Serial Numbers of items if they have such numbers. Bring two copies of this list of "Goods to Follow". Canada Customs will stamp one copy when you "Land" and give it to you. (They will keep the other copy.)

When you ship the "Goods to Follow", the stamped copy must accompany the shipment for duty free entry.

The question now is: is it cost effective to bring all your stuff with you? well, it depends on where are you coming from. you have to calculate the shipping cost and compare it with how much the new furniture and stuff would cost in Canada minus the selling price of your used stuff.

However, there are things that you can not (or at least not recommended) to bring with you. Here in Canada, apartments come with 3 appliances (Fridge, Oven, and there is centralized washing machines and driers), so don't bring yours. Also in most cases there are closets in the walls, so don't bring closets.

On the other hand, away from BIG furniture pieces that cost a lot to ship, I encourage you to bring with you all the portable tools like: kitchen tools, plates, pans, books, stationary, kids toys, etc... and don't think like "I will buy new when I arrive" because you will be very busy adapting and settling and it's not as easy as your country to buy anything you want because you will be new to Canada at the beginning.