Shipping From Thailand to Canada, Duty Inclusive: CBSA Duty, GST/HST, CARM, the CAD 20 Threshold and the All-In Price

What is the duty-free limit for a courier parcel from Thailand to Canada?

A buyer in Canada is relieved of duty and tax on a courier parcel from Thailand when the value for duty is CAD 20 or less. Anything over is assessed on its full value. Limits of CAD 40 and CAD 150 only apply to the United States and Mexico.

Source: Increase to low-value shipment thresholds and other changes, CBSA, page last modified 25 November 2025.

The line comes from the Courier Imports Remission Order (CIRO), and CBSA memorandum D8-2-16 states it.

The CIRO grants remission of customs duties and taxes in respect of imported goods, other than goods imported from Mexico or the United States, that are transported by courier and have a value for duty of $20 Canadian dollars (CAD) or less.

Source: Memorandum D8-2-16: Courier Imports Remission, CBSA, 15 November 2024. The Order on Justice Laws is current to 30 September 2026 and was last amended on 1 October 2022.

Past CAD 20 duty applies to the whole value, including the first CAD 20: a CAD 25 cotton T-shirt pays 18 percent on CAD 25. Splitting packages does not help.

It is not acceptable to divide a shipment into several packages so that individual shipments have a value for duty below the thresholds prescribed in the CIRO.

Source: Memorandum D8-2-16: Courier Imports Remission, CBSA, cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

Routing via the US does not help either. Goods transshipped via the US or Mexico that do not enter their commerce remain under the lower CAD 20 threshold, according to D8-2-16. The guide on the suspended US de minimis exemption covers the US side.

Guide: the suspended US de minimis exemption

How does the CBSA value the parcel, and is the freight included?

The CBSA values goods at transaction value, the price paid, and takes out international freight and insurance. The CAD 20 line and the duty apply to the goods, not the flight. GST applies to goods plus duty.

Customs Act section 48 deducts transport, handling and insurance costs of moving goods from the place in the country of export from which they are shipped directly to Canada. Excise Tax Act section 215 adds all duties and taxes payable under the Customs Tariff to the value, section 212 sets GST at 5 percent on the value of the goods. Invoice in another currency is converted to Canadian funds first.

Sources: Customs Act, section 48, Excise Tax Act, section 212 and section 215, Justice Laws, page dates 15 October 2026; Paying duty and/or taxes on imported goods, CBSA.

What duty rate does Canada charge on goods from Thailand?

Canada charges Thai goods the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) rate, with no discount. The CBSA list of tariff treatments issued 1 September 2026 marks Thailand under MFN only, nothing under the General Preferential Tariff (GPT), the Least Developed Country Tariff or the Other column.

Thailand lost the GPT on 1 January 2015, when the General Preferential Tariff Withdrawal Order (2013 GPT Review) took effect and listed Thailand among the countries where the benefit is withdrawn.

Entitlement to the benefit of the General Preferential Tariff is withdrawn

Source: General Preferential Tariff Withdrawal Order (2013 GPT Review), Justice Laws, laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

GPT would not help a tailor in any case. The Department of Finance says GPT covers over 80% of tariff lines, with exceptions.

with the exception of most apparel and textile products, footwear, certain agricultural goods, as well as certain steel products.

Source: Canada's unilateral tariff preference programs, Department of Finance Canada, canada.ca, Internet Archive copy of 11 July 2026.

Sources: List of Countries and Applicable Tariff Treatments, CBSA, issued 1 September 2026; Customs Tariff T2026-2, chapter 61 and chapter 62; General Preferential Tariff Withdrawal Order (2013 GPT Review), Justice Laws; Canada's unilateral tariff preference programs, Department of Finance Canada.

The table lists the lines a tailor's order usually falls in. The importer or customs broker classifies the actual garment. Note 3 to Chapter 62 defines suit and ensemble by their pieces and fabric.

How much GST and HST do you pay on a parcel from Thailand?

The GST is 5% in every province. The HST of 13 to 15% replaces it in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island. British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec add a provincial sales tax. The base is the value of the goods plus the duty.

Source: GST/HST calculator (and rates), Canada Revenue Agency, page last modified 1 April 2025. Nova Scotia's HST rate decreased to 14 percent on 1 April 2025.

The CBSA collects PST and HST on casual goods on behalf of the provinces.

Participants of the Courier Low Value Shipment (CLVS) program and e-commerce companies are responsible for paying any applicable provincial sales tax (PST) and harmonized sales tax (HST) when importing casual goods.

Source: Requirement for payment of PST and HST on casual goods, CBSA, page last modified 25 November 2025.

Memorandum D2-3-6 says HST is levied on all taxable non-commercial importations by residents of participating provinces. For the provincial sales tax it gives an example.

For example, casual goods destined to a consumer in Quebec will not be assessed according to the Quebec sales tax, when the goods are released by a courier in Ontario.

Source: Memorandum D2-3-6, CBSA, 8 April 2026.

What do a CAD 35 order, a CAD 150 shirt order and a CAD 600 suit pay?

This assumes the following: each order is for personal use, imported by the Canadian buyer, the goods are casual. The value is the invoice price in Canadian dollars, international freight is left out of the calculation. Duty uses MFN rates above. The buyer lives in Alberta (5 percent GST, no PST) or Ontario (13 percent HST). Amounts are rounded to the cent by the author, not by CBSA.

Sources: CBSA Customs Tariff T2026-2 chapters 61 and 62; CRA rates; Excise Tax Act, sections 212 and 215; CBSA memorandum D8-2-16; arithmetic by the author.

The table shows the duty and tax on each order. CAD 18 and CAD 25 rows show the cliff: seven dollars of extra value moves a parcel from nothing to CAD 5.98 in Alberta. On the suit HST at 13 percent applies to CAD 708.00, value plus CAD 108.00 of duty. Figures are the government bill only, without courier or broker fee.

Does the CAD 60 gift rule apply to a parcel from a Thai shop?

Gift exemption only applies to presents sent by a person abroad to a friend or relative, not a sale by a business. A genuine gift worth CAD 60 or less is exempt, but a CAD 35 T-shirt bought from a shop is not.

Companies, businesses, or associations of any sort do not qualify as donors or recipients for tariff item No. 9816.00.00.

Source: Memorandum D2-1-4, CBSA, cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

For a courier parcel the CBSA test is that a friend or relative outside Canada sends the item to the receiver personally, with a card or notice saying it is a gift. Above CAD 60, the value for duty is reduced by CAD 60. The gift provisions can not be used together with the CAD 20 courier remission (D2-1-4).

Source for the courier test: Memorandum D17-4-0: Courier Low Value Shipment Program, CBSA, 22 September 2025.

Is there an official CBSA duty calculator?

CBSA has two official tools, both estimates: CBSA duty and taxes estimator for personal imports and duties and taxes calculator inside the CARM Client Portal for commercial importers. The border officer’s assessment decides the final amount.

This tool provides an estimate only and applies strictly to goods imported for personal use.

Source: Estimate duty and taxes, CBSA, page last modified 8 September 2026.

Where a category holds products with different rates, the estimator uses the highest rate. The portal calculator estimates duties and taxes for a single commodity and asks for the classification number. For both, the final amount may vary from the estimate.

Source for the portal calculator: How to use the duties and taxes calculator in the CARM Client Portal, CBSA, 2021.

What is CARM, and does it change anything for a parcel from Thailand?

CARM is the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management system, the official system for accounting for imported commercial goods since 21 October 2024. It does not change the 20 CAD line or duty rates. It changes what a business needs in place to import.

A commercial importer must register in the CARM Client Portal and post its own security to have goods released before paying.

Although customs brokers can apply credits into the account, they cannot post a security deposit on behalf of their importer clients, nor can importers use their customs broker's security.

Source: CARM release prior to payment: who can enrol, CBSA, canada.ca, Internet Archive copy of 15 October 2026.

The transition ended on 20 May 2025: importers without security are not eligible for release prior to payment. Since 1 January 2026 section 17(3) of the Customs Act makes the importer of record, the person named on the accounting document, jointly liable for the duties.

Who imports the parcel decides whether any of this applies, and Customs Notice 25-01 draws the line.

Source: Customs Notice 25-01, CBSA, 17 January 2025.

A non-resident importer outside North America needs someone in Canada for its books and records, according to Customs Notice 25-01.

will need to designate a licenced customs broker, accountant, or other authorized agent to maintain their books and records within Canada on their behalf.

Source: Customs Notice 25-01, CBSA, 17 January 2025.

Low-value courier parcels move through the Courier Low Value Shipment (CLVS) Program. The CLVS program is for shipments with a value for duty up to CAD 3,300. Participating couriers must be a Canadian resident company. There has been a CBSA moratorium on new applications since 3 June 2019.

Sources: CARM: Features and benefits and Who can enrol, CBSA; Customs Notice 24-27, CBSA, updated 2 October 2025, and Customs Notice 24-17, CBSA; Customs Act, section 17 and Memorandum D17-2-5, CBSA; Memorandum D17-4-0, CBSA; Importing casual goods by courier, CBSA.

Who pays when a courier delivers with duty unpaid, and what fees come on top?

The receiver pays. On a duty unpaid delivery the courier or its broker accounts for the parcel at the border, receiver owes duty and tax plus a clearance fee that is not a government charge.

The CBSA says couriers are authorized to account for casual shipments on behalf of the importer or owner and may pay duties and taxes to the CBSA. The fee is separate.

Customs clearance fees charged by couriers and customs brokers are separate and distinct from duties and taxes owed on imported goods.

Source: Importing casual goods by courier, CBSA, page last modified 18 October 2024.

The CBSA calls the fees a private business to consumer transaction outside its control. The receiver can avoid the fee by accounting personally at a CBSA office that offers accounting services to the public, and may save certain administrative fees.

Mail has a handling fee instead. Canada Post charges it on goods imported by mail that are subject to duty or tax, nothing if duty-free and tax exempt. Under duty inclusive terms the sender settles the amounts, receiver owes no duty or tax on delivery. The guide on international shipping terms explains them.

Guide: international shipping terms explained

Sources: Importing casual goods by courier, CBSA, page last modified 18 October 2024; Importing by mail, CBSA, page last modified 25 November 2025.

What does Canada restrict in a tailoring or plant parcel?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) requires a permit for live plants and a phytosanitary certificate. Clothing falls under Canada's textile labelling laws.

A Permit to Import is required for all plants for planting entering Canada from areas other than the continental U.S. and for some plants entering Canada from the U.S.

Source: D-08-04: Plant Protection Import Requirements for Plants and Plant Parts for Planting, CFIA, page last modified 10 September 2026.

The CFIA requires a phytosanitary certificate for all plants for planting entering Canada. Plants cannot use the simplified courier route.

regulated Health Canada products, such as prescription drugs and food, plant and animal products, cannot be imported via the CLVS Program.

Source: Memorandum D17-4-0: Courier Low Value Shipment Program, CBSA, 22 September 2025.

Guide: importing plants from Thailand: rules by country

Under the Textile Labelling Act no dealer sells, imports into Canada or advertises a prescribed consumer textile article without a label stating the textile fibre content. The regulations carve out made-to-measure clothing.

does not apply to the sale of a prescribed consumer textile article where the article is made up for the use of an individual

Source: Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations, Justice Laws, current to 30 September 2026.

The carve-out has a condition: the buyer can inspect a labeled sample when placing an order, and the label information is shown on the bill of sale or another document delivered with the article. Whether the carve-out covers a sale by a tailor outside Canada is a question for the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Guides: shipping a tailored suit home from Bangkok, Bangkok tailors shipping duty paid

Sources: D-08-04: Plant Protection Import Requirements for Plants and Plant Parts for Planting, CFIA, page last modified 10 September 2026; Memorandum D17-4-0, CBSA; Textile Labelling Act and Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations, Justice Laws, current to 30 September 2026.

How Dragon Courier ships to Canada duty inclusive

Dragon Courier arranges door to door delivery from Thailand to Canada, duty and tax inclusive. All duties, costs and tariffs in the fee, nothing to pay on arrival. Everything goes by air, Dragon Courier takes care of customs clearance.

Prices are in Thai Baht, inclusive of all surcharges. For Canada we have two services, Standard (zone 4-A) and Express (zone 4-B). The rates below are from the duty and tax inclusive rate card of 21 October 2026.

Source: Dragon Courier duty and tax inclusive rate card, valid on 21 October 2026, prices in THB inclusive of all surcharges.

A two piece suit is about 2 kg, on the 2 kg line. Delivery times depend on the market, please message our team for delivery time estimations.

The sender gives the contents of the package and the receiver's name, address and contact number. Payment is cash or bank transfer before export, any invoice can be provided. Insurance is required on every shipment, it covers loss only. Live plants are on a separate plant rate, with a declared value limit of CAD 650 per shipment for Canada. Dragon Courier takes care of all permits as part of the service.

Claims and delays: terms and conditions. Guides: plant export from Thailand, customs declaration and commercial invoice from Thailand, DDP shipping from Thailand

About Dragon Courier

Dragon Courier is a family owned and managed company, with more than 30 years of experience in logistics in Thailand. We send more than 20,000 packages a month to over 200 countries.

Contacts and drop-off

Please message Justin on LINE or WhatsApp +66 6-5937-0812. Office +66 2656 9019, info@dragoncourier.com. For the price list, mention the item.

Drop-off is until 5pm Monday to Saturday at our Bangkok office, 217/3 Crystal Garden Building, 3rd floor, Sukhumvit Soi 4, Klongtoey 10110. Pickup can be booked for a specific date and time.

Book a pickup