Toronto skyline across Lake Ontario with autumn maple leaves

Canada Customs, GST/HST & Fees on Trading Cards from Japan — What You Actually Pay

When you order trading cards from Japan to Canada, the line that decides whether anything is owed on arrival is $20. It is a low line, so most card orders sit above it. That makes a small bill the normal case, not the exception — and the useful question is not whether there will be one, but how much it will be. The good news is that you can work that out before you buy.

We run a trading card shop in Japan and ship to Canada. This guide covers the rules as of September 2026, with links to the official sources. Rules can change, so please check the latest for yourself too. All amounts are in Canadian dollars.

The short version

  • The line is $20. Mail from abroad with a value for duty of $20 or less pays no duty and no tax. Above it, tax applies to the full value, not just the part over $20.
  • Customs duty on cards is Free on Canada's tariff (9504.40.00 and 9504.90.00 both show "Free").
  • What you pay is sales tax: GST 5%, or HST 13–15% in the harmonized provinces, plus provincial sales tax in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec.
  • By mail, Canada Post adds a $9.95 handling fee per item — only when duty or tax is charged.
  • The $150 figure you may have heard of applies only to courier shipments from the US or Mexico. From Japan, the line is $20 by mail or by courier.

The $20 line

Canada's Postal Imports Remission Order grants relief from customs duties and taxes on goods imported by mail with a value for duty — the value customs uses to calculate what is owed — not exceeding $20. The section that sets it has not been amended since 1992.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which handles customs at the border, puts the other side of the line plainly: if the item is worth more than $20, "you must pay the applicable duty, the GST or HST, and any PST on the item's full value." There is no $20 deduction. A single inexpensive card may fit under the line; a deck or a small bundle usually will not.

Splitting one purchase into smaller parcels does not change this: Canada Post notes that the CBSA does not treat a single transaction split into smaller shipments as low-value.

Is there customs duty on the cards?

Duty rates are set by tariff classification. Trading cards fall in Chapter 95 of Canada's Customs Tariff, games. Whether a card is read as playing cards (9504.40.00) or as other games (9504.90.00), the general rate on both lines is Free. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) rate, which covers goods from Japan, is also Free.

Classification is customs' decision in the end, but either reading lands on zero duty. For an ordinary card order, what you pay is tax, not duty.

What you pay: your province's sales tax

Imported goods are subject to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 5%, even when the duty rate is zero. In the harmonized provinces, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) replaces it at a combined rate. In several other provinces, the CBSA also collects provincial sales tax at import on behalf of the province.

Where you live Tax at import
Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut GST 5%
Ontario HST 13%
Nova Scotia HST 14%
New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island HST 15%
British Columbia, Manitoba GST 5% + PST 7%
Saskatchewan GST 5% + PST 6%
Quebec GST 5% + QST 9.975%

It is the same tax you pay at any checkout in your province, applied at the border instead.

What the value is measured on

Under Canada's Customs Act, the value for duty is built on the price paid for the goods. The cost of carrying them from the country they are shipped from to Canada is not part of it — if it is included in the price, it is deducted. GST or HST is then calculated on that value plus any duty, which for cards is zero.

In practice, for a mail parcel, border officers determine the value from the customs declaration, the invoice attached to the item, or an examination. So the figure written on your parcel matters, and it is customs — not the buyer or the shop — that makes the assessment.

The $9.95 handling fee

For goods that come by mail, Canada Post collects the duty and tax on the CBSA's behalf and charges a $9.95 handling fee for each item that is dutiable or taxable. If nothing is owed, no fee is charged.

Couriers charge their own clearance fees, which vary by company. Whichever way a parcel travels, the shape is the same — tax, plus a fee. By mail, the fee is one published figure.

What happens when your parcel arrives

  1. All international mail is presented to the CBSA. Duty and tax can be assessed from the paperwork alone — whether or not a box is opened — so above $20, budget for the tax.
  2. If something is owed, Form E14 (the CBSA Postal Import Form) is attached to the parcel, showing the amount.
  3. You pay Canada Post: online in advance for eligible tracked items (a "Pay" button appears in tracking), at your door, or at the post office if the parcel is held there.

If you think the assessment is wrong, there are two routes: refuse the parcel and ask for it to go back to the CBSA for a reassessment, or pay and then request an adjustment with Form B2G, printed on the back of your copy of the E14.

Two things you may have heard

"Tax-free up to $150." That relief exists, but only for goods imported by courier from the United States or Mexico — duty relief up to $150, tax relief up to $40. Goods from any other country, including Japan, keep the $20 line, whether they come by mail or by courier.

"Mark it as a gift and it's free up to $60." The gift exemption is for gifts a friend or relative sends you personally. Items sent by a business are listed as not qualifying. So please do not ask a shop to declare your order as a gift — a declaration that does not match the parcel only puts your own package at risk.

A worked example

Say you order cards with a value of $190, sent by mail, and customs assesses it at that value:

Where you live Tax + Handling fee Total on arrival
Ontario (HST 13%) $24.70 $9.95 $34.65
Alberta (GST 5%) $9.50 $9.95 $19.45

Because the $9.95 is flat, it weighs more on a small order than on a large one. An order just above $20 looks the most expensive for its size; as the order grows, the total moves toward your province's tax rate.

Declarations and delivery

Japan Post asks senders to describe the contents of parcels to Canada specifically, in English or French — with quantity and price — and notes that Canadian customs inspection of mail has been strengthened, so delays are possible. A vague description can lead to a parcel being delayed or returned.

Mail from Japan to Canada was paused during the 2025 Canada Post strike and resumed in November 2025. The new collective agreements were ratified in June 2026, and Japan Post currently accepts both airmail and EMS for Canada.

How we ship to Canada

We send to Canada by international mail — EMS (Express Mail Service) and a lower-cost tracked air option. Both are delivered by Canada Post in Canada, so everything above applies as described.

We ship directly from Japan. We do not collect Canadian taxes at our checkout: if tax and the handling fee apply, you pay them once, on arrival. It is the ordinary shape of buying from abroad, and the amount can be worked out in advance. Our part is to declare each parcel accurately and describe its contents specifically. See our shipping policy for the current methods and rates.

Official sources

Last checked against official sources: 28 September 2026. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rates, thresholds and procedures change — verify the current official sources for your own situation. How a specific parcel is classified, and the value it is assessed on, are decided at clearance.

返回網誌