Shopping in Australia and forwarding to Canada

Canada is the hardest of the major English-speaking destinations to send to cheaply, and it is worth being upfront about why: its de minimis threshold is CAD 20, among the lowest of any developed economy. In practical terms that means almost every parcel arriving from Australia will attract tax, and often duty and a handling fee on top. None of that makes the route unworkable — plenty of people use it — but it does mean you should plan for charges rather than hope to avoid them.

The CAD 20 threshold and what it triggers

Below CAD 20 in value, a shipment clears without duty or tax. Above it — which is to say, virtually always — the Canada Border Services Agency assesses:

• GST, and provincial tax where applicable. Canada layers federal GST with provincial sales tax, combined in some provinces as HST. The rate your recipient pays therefore depends on which province they live in, which surprises people expecting a single national figure.
• Customs duty, where the tariff classification attracts it. Rates vary by HS code and by country of origin.
• A carrier or brokerage handling fee. Frequently the most irritating line on the bill, because it can exceed the tax itself on a low-value parcel. Courier brokerage fees on informal entries have a reputation in Canada for good reason.

You will sometimes see higher Canadian thresholds quoted — CAD 40 for tax and CAD 150 for duty. Those figures come from CUSMA and apply to courier shipments originating in the United States or Mexico. They do not apply to goods sent from Australia. Our de minimis thresholds reference sets out the distinction.

The gift concession

Canada allows a separate CAD 60 gift exemption for genuine gifts sent between individuals, rather than from a commercial seller to a customer. If the shipment really is a gift, label it as such, name the sender and recipient, and state the relationship. Anything above CAD 60 is assessed on the excess.

The obvious caution: this only applies to actual gifts. Describing a purchase as a gift to reduce tax is a false declaration, and it is one that Canadian customs is well practised at spotting — commercial packaging and retail invoices inside a "gift" parcel are not subtle.

How to reduce what your recipient pays

Given the low threshold, the levers are different from other markets:

1. Do not bother splitting shipments. In most destinations you split to stay under a threshold. At CAD 20 that is futile — you will be over it either way, so you would simply be paying multiple freight charges and multiple brokerage fees. Consolidate instead. One shipment means one clearance and one handling fee.
2. Choose the carrier with your eyes open. Postal-stream imports are handled by Canada Post, which applies a modest flat handling charge. Express couriers generally charge more for brokerage on informal entries. For low-value goods, the postal route often works out cheaper overall even though the freight looks similar.
3. Check the origin. Australian-origin goods may attract preferential tariff treatment under the agreements both countries belong to. This affects duty, not tax.
4. Declare accurately. A vague declaration gets a default classification, which is rarely the favourable one.

Restrictions worth knowing

• Food. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency controls meat, dairy and egg products tightly. Commercially packaged shelf-stable goods generally pass; honey and animal products face specific rules.
• Health products and supplements. Health Canada regulates natural health products, and items making health claims may require authorisation. Personal quantities are usually tolerated, but this is a real constraint on one of Australia's biggest export categories.
• Cannabis-adjacent products. Including CBD, which is regulated regardless of the legal status of cannabis itself. Do not send it.
• Wool, hides and animal products. May require documentation.
• Alcohol. Controlled provincially as well as federally, and effectively impractical to post.

Carrier-level restrictions apply on top — see our prohibited and restricted items reference.

Cost, distance and timing

Australia to Canada is a long lane, and freight reflects it. Transit is meaningfully longer than to Asia-Pacific destinations, and Canadian domestic delivery beyond the major cities adds more. Winter weather is a genuine variable for the final leg into remote areas.

Given the distance and the fact that charges apply regardless, this is a corridor where consolidating into fewer, larger shipments pays twice over. Price it with our international postage rate table and compare services using AusPost versus DHL Express.

If something needs returning

Returns are more painful on this route than most, because the distance and the near-certain charges compound. An Australian retailer will usually accept a return to an Australian address but will not fund freight back from Canada, and you generally cannot recover the tax and brokerage already paid on the inbound leg without a formal refund claim that is rarely worth the effort on a small item.

The practical defence is to have goods inspected before they are forwarded. A wrong size or a damaged item spotted while it is still in Australia goes back to the retailer at domestic postage rates, with nothing paid to Canadian customs at all. For clothing and footwear in particular, that single step is worth more than any freight saving.

Who sends this route

Mostly Australian expatriates in Canada and Canadians with Australian connections, ordering things with no local distribution — supplements, skincare, surf and outdoor brands, sports equipment, specialty pantry goods. Because charges are near-certain, buyers on this route tend to order deliberately and in larger batches rather than impulsively.

The honest summary: expect to pay tax and a handling fee on essentially every shipment, consolidate rather than split, consider the postal stream to limit brokerage charges, and use the gift concession only when it genuinely applies. For the wider picture see our guide to sending Australian products overseas.