Canadian Chat → Re: UPS charge on gift

Reference Ontario area only as I do not know the other ports, etc.

Whether it is UPS, Fedex, DHL you will be charged brokerage fees if they have to clear your item themselves, this is their business. However, they only use their own clearance staff if an item is transported by land into Canada and their first Canadian stop has their own office or an office at the crossing: Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Windsor, Sarnia, etc.

If an item is shipped by air and they land at an airport that has a Canada Customs Office then those items will be cleared/inspected by Canada Customs, you will only be charged the Duty and Taxes owing, no brokerage fees, Toronto LPB, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, etc.

Lester Pee Bearston?

The items don't actually stop at the border. Everything is handled electronically and all the brokerage does is pay the CBSA taxes on your behalf. UPS charges an arm and a leg in service fees because they're more or less paying those taxes on your behalf on the intention of eventually collecting them from you plus a tribute for their trouble.

There are brokerage houses here in Fort Erie that are nothing more than an office with two people. The amount of physical work done with goods when crossing the border by the brokerage themselves is extremely limited.

I was being very generic in my description, mostly to show that land movement of an item is where you will pay the high fees. However, thank you so much for the clarification.

The stupid thing in all this is that air is handled pretty much the exact same way as far as electronic filing goes.

»goo.gl/maps/CSOsT

They're all brokerage companies, including many of the buildings that look like houses. There's also the CBSA commercial building which houses the CBSA commercial offices, truck docks and a bunch of brokerages itself. The street directly to the north of this one has a bunch of brokerage comapnies, too.