Any restrictions about crossing border?

[akhenaten]

I have not been up to Canada since I was little. We will be driving up and I wondered if there are any restrictions about what you can bring across the border? Foods etc.
(not talking guns/fireworks/drugs..LOL)

If we buy hockey equipment in Canada do we declare it when we cross back to US?

Thanks for any info..

 

[highland3]

Make sure you bring your passports or other government approved documents (in order to get home). Homeland Security made that change this summer. We need them to enter the U.S. as well.

I don't think there are any current food bans, but yes... no firearms please!!

You do technically have to report everything you buy.

 

[akhenaten]

Make sure you bring your passports or other government approved documents (in order to get home). Homeland Security made that change this summer. We need them to enter the U.S. as well.

I don't think there are any current food bans, but yes... no firearms please!!

You do technically have to report everything you buy.

LOL... no worries about firearms
But my son could use his hockey stick as a weapon

So , if you buy anything and declare it you pay taxes?? How much?? To US or Canada ( I presume if Canada has sales tax it would be paid at the time of purchase) ?
Sorry , but I have to admit to not having a clue about that....
with taxes here you pay what it is where you purchase and thats it...

 

[cslittle999]

LOL... no worries about firearms
But my son could use his hockey stick as a weapon

So , if you buy anything and declare it you pay taxes?? How much?? To US or Canada ( I presume if Canada has sales tax it would be paid at the time of purchase) ?
Sorry , but I have to admit to not having a clue about that....
with taxes here you pay what it is where you purchase and thats it...

Check out the Know Before You Go PDF on this page. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/duty_free.xml

You get an $800 per person exemption as long as you stay 48 hours. Unless you're going on a big spending spree I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[akhenaten]

Check out the Know Before You Go PDF on this page. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/duty_free.xml

You get an $800 per person exemption as long as you stay 48 hours. Unless you're going on a big spending spree I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Thanks for the link!
Well, we are planning to buy Goalie Pads/Glove/blocker ...but even that will be less than 800 per person

 

[siobhan1997]

No meat, vegetables or fruit, they will check we know people who were detained for a while due to the cooked meat in their sandwiches that they forget about.

 

[tgropp]

I am pretty sure that you will get your money back from the G.S.T tax on all monies that you will spend while in Canada. I think that you fill out a form on your return home

 

[Northstar]

I am pretty sure that you will get your money back from the G.S.T tax on all monies that you will spend while in Canada. I think that you fill out a form on your return home

Alas, no more. The Canadian government stopped the refund program a few years ago.

You probably won't owe any duties (which would be paid to the US, not Canada) when you return into the US. There is a reasonably generous allowance on how much stuff you can bring back from a trip abroad duty-free. Check with the US, not Canada, to find out your duty-free allowance. But I wouldn't worry about it if you're not doing major shopping.

About restricted items... things that have been a problem in recent years (don't know if they're still on the verboten list, but sometimes the border guys aren't totally up to date anyway):

Entering Canada: Guns. Large quantities of cigarettes or alcohol

Entering US: Pet food, meat, fruit.

So good luck with the hockey!

 

[endy]

OP - do you find it cheaper to buy hockey equipment here? Please tell me where so I don't have to fill my SUV on the way home this summer.
My son gets his when we go to California for way, way less than here.

He's on the hockeygiant & hockeymonkey sites all the time & he'll tell me when he looks at a stick here what the US price is (actually he knows prices on just about everything hockey related). We go to both stores when we're in Anaheim or SD. We got the whole goalie set up (pads, chest, glove, blocker & helmet) for $600 in CA and here just the chest protector was over $200.
He's also a goalie and got new pads recently for 1/2 price from the Canadian hockeygiant website, we had got an email & it was a 4 day sale.

 

[akhenaten]

OP - do you find it cheaper to buy hockey equipment here? Please tell me where so I don't have to fill my SUV on the way home this summer.
My son gets his when we go to California for way, way less than here.

He's on the hockeygiant & hockeymonkey sites all the time & he'll tell me when he looks at a stick here what the US price is (actually he knows prices on just about everything hockey related). We go to both stores when we're in Anaheim or SD. We got the whole goalie set up (pads, chest, glove, blocker & helmet) for $600 in CA and here just the chest protector was over $200.
He's also a goalie and got new pads recently for 1/2 price from the Canadian hockeygiant website, we had got an email & it was a 4 day sale.

How old is your son? My son is 15 and he needs Pro level equipment now so that he is protected from the extremely hard shots that the 18 year olds he plays with have.

What pads did he get??

We have purchased from Hockey monkey/giant in the past..... we also purchased used equipment... this is actually going to be his first new Pads/Glove/blocker and he wants Don Simmons stuff, so we will go to the Simmons store up there. We fiqure it would be best to have him sized by them and that they would have tons for him to try out....

Funny thing is we know lots of folks who love to get their equipment when they go up your way....

 

[endy]

akhenaten
My son is almost 13. He got a set of TPS pads last month. Still an inch too big but by the end of the summer they'll likely be too small. His old pads are Itech, we got at hockeymonkey for around $200 (3 years ago). Here in Calgary you're lucky to find used ones for that price. Sad part is they're made in Canada.
Also sad he just signed up as a player for the fall.

We're going to CA in 2 weeks and my son already has a day booked to visit both stores while we're there. Forget Disney - he's more excited about hockey & maybe a couple baseball games, both Angels & Padres in town.

Have you checked GDI for goalie gear? They custom build them for you too.

 

[Cdn Gal]

Don't bring any drugs- we seem to have enough here!