What can't I bring into Canada?

When entering the Canadian customs, what can be brought in and what can't be brought in has always been a problem that every tourist or immigrant will inevitably be stingy with. One of the main reasons is that Canada is worried that some items will have a disastrous impact on Canada's crops, fishery products, forests and other natural resources, or because germs or pests pose a threat to public health. However, because the quarantine standards of related articles in the United States are similar to those in Canada, things brought in from the United States can often be treated leniently.

For the above reasons, most of the prohibited items are food and various animals and plants. According to the laws of the federal government, passengers must declare all agricultural products, animals and plants and related products brought into the country when they pass through the customs. Such items that are not allowed to be brought in or do not meet the standards will be confiscated, destroyed or required to be disposed of before they can be brought into the country. The cost of destruction and disposal shall be borne by the passengers themselves. Those who fail to declare according to law will be fined or face criminal prosecution.

Some items allowed to be brought into the country for personal enjoyment are limited, such as dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables. Even so, some of these items need a permit to enter the country. Generally speaking, articles containing soil (except those from the United States) are not allowed to be brought into the country.

Due to the above reasons, the unit responsible for the inspection of inbound articles is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). In some cases, CFIA staff may require passengers to pay inspection fees (in addition, the Canadian Health Bureau, the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency, the State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China Customs and Excise Bureau and the provincial governments also have other restrictions on the inbound articles carried by passengers from their own jurisdictions. Non-self-use commercial products must follow the commodity import procedures. The food inspection department has another set of regulations on this. The food inspection department has drawn up a list of commonly used items of permitted and prohibited artificial agricultural products, animal and plant products for the reference of ordinary passengers.

If you want to inquire about agricultural, fishery, animal and plant products outside the list, or make further inquiries, please call the Import Service Centres of our department in various regions.