American turkey day is so soon you can smell the aromas of Black Friday Deals from across the border. For those of you that are planning to cross (yes I think you are crazy but I still love you) I have compiled some tips to help with your time entering back into Canada.
Most important of all is your passport: with the tightened restrictions at the U.S. border it is vital you have the right ID with you. Check out the specifics on what the Canadian government recommends what you have with you by clicking here.
I’d would normally suggest you check border wait times but since you chose to go on Black Friday I will assume you know what you are getting yourself into. Expect to wait. For other times you can look here.
Of course you are going what to buy stuff and bring it back. Don’t be shocked when they ask you to pull over for itemization and duty. Duty is a scary word but some of these deals this year are certainly worth it. I found this nifty article from a few years back which tries to explain what items you don’t have to pay duty on.
Basic personal exemption is $50 for 24 hours across the border but sometimes, especially during busy periods, you are more likely to get a pass though you have exceeded this exemption.
Even if you do get hit with a charge at the border sometimes (by which I mean usually) the duty is calculated wrong and you can get some of that money back. Go here to check out the form you need to send to get your hard earned plastic $100 bills back.
Other suggestions for making a quick border cross I have seen include:
- Telling the border agent the tax free items you were spending on first
- Having kids asleep in the backseat (this would be best if they were your kids)
- Lower all windows when approaching the booth
- At night, turn on the interior light
None of these tips have ever worked for me. The best result I ever had was this past weekend when I crossed back for Port Huron with just my wife and there was a fender bender on the bridge. They were in a hurry to get us through so all I got was:
“Did you do some shopping?”
We answered yes and were waved through.
Be prepared, keep your ID and all of your receipts handy. Know what you spent. Being honest and answering quickly is what border agents like to hear.
Have some tips, stories or nightmares? Share them below.
thanks for the tips 🙂 I’m yet to go shopping on Black Friday but I’ll be in the US for Christmas (Boxing day here) so hopefully I’ll score deals there!
many stores here are participating this year, so I’ll stay put and support my own country 🙂
I’m not against going, however, just not this year.
I like to cross every year, usually before Black Friday, the lure of Chili’s restaurant is always too much for me to ignore.
@imasmartcanuck – thing is, usually the prices are higher + taxes are higher as well
I understand supporting Canadian retailers but I think when ppl do their Christmas shopping, going to the US is much more wallet-friendly
has anyone ever gone to the USon a wed night before thanksgiving through niagara, if so how was the wait?
a bunch of us gals go every year for the weekend. The deals are great and it is a girls weekend away. Splitting the cost of the hotel and gas between us (this year this are 9) works pout to 120/person. We also get to eat at Panera and the Olive Garden. Get our christmas shopping done and get some nice clothes for ourselves, good food, good friends, good times. who can beat that!
If anyone knows of great online US deals for black friday for those of us stuck at home, It would be great if we could post those somewhere as well!
Brandyzz, you can find black friday deals here:
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/black-friday-canada-deals/
When I went to Buffalo last year, I did so with the intention of buying myself some clothes, so I wore some items that I didn’t mind getting rid of. When I bought what amounted to a new outfit (new shoes, pants, shirt, sweater), I changed in one of the mall bathrooms, then found a donation bin, where I dropped off the clothes I didn’t want/need anymore. I ripped off the tags, and voila, I had less to declare.
We cross the border about once a month. We have only ever been pulled in to pay duty once and that was because we had an agent who was still earning her stripes and wanted to make ‘an example’ of us. My suggestion is be truthful about what you spent if they ask for a dollar figure. If they ask for the types of items you purchased, I always start with groceries and household items. If we are traveling with the kids I also add a couple of toys to the mix. If the kids are playing with them it adds to truthfulness of your statement. I’ve done the Black Friday thing once and it was absolutely chaotic. Once was definitely enough for me. Good luck to those that make the journey!
Thank you MagicalDreams! I’ll check out the deals posted:>
How can you not go to do some CROSS Border Shopping on Black Friday? I mean, think about it, it is the SUPERBOWL of Shopping! The BEST Shopping day of the year!
My Fiancé and I have been going for 5 years (This will be our 5th) Black Friday Shopping Experience. We have gone on the Thursday night and shopping until we dropped until Sunday, however this year we are going to go up on Friday, and save ourselves the hotel room charge for the extra night!
Crossing the border has never been a “problem” for us; however we have always had to pay the “duty”- which still makes the deals great! We have noticed that once you stay in the US for over 48 hours, the duty reps are much easier on you… they don’t necessarily “search” the vehicle… they actually believe your words, and charge you according to your words and your receipts. Many of my family members go up “for the day” and ALWAYS have troubles at the border. Think about it… when they see a car full of women with bags piled up in the back seat, and you have only been there for a few hours… you are bound to get hassled! If you make it a “weekend away”… and actually spend the 48 hours in the US, it makes it much more worth it.
My suggestion… if you are going with all women for a Girls Shopping Get-a-way… try to stay the 48 hours!
I must say… the deals in the US for Black Friday have not just been DEALS in the past 5 years for us, they have been STEALS… These STEALS make it so much fun to shop, and also make it extremely easy to get ALL your Christmas Shopping done in one weekend… and then you have the entire month of December to enjoy the lead up to the best day of the year…. CHRISTMAS!
Good Luck Canucks & Happy Shopping!!!!
With the US punishing those Americans business that choose to Buy Canadian Products, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to do anything other than buy from a Canuck.
I’m not a flag waving Nut but with living in a small town the people I’m supporting are my neighbours.
My tip is to have your i.d. in your hand when you pull up… AND all of your receipts. Nothing makes the border guards more irritated then you holding up the line and wasting their time searching for everything after you pull up. You WILL be waiting in line, get everything ready before you pull up.
Also, if you have multiple people in the car and someone spent a lot, and someone spent a little, you could always spread the purchases out, because they may be less likely to pull you over if everyone spent a reasonable amount of money. Finally, if you buy a lot, try to keep tobacco or booze out of this trip, because they will pull you over almost automatically if you have either and you’ll end up paying taxes on EVERYTHING.
I would agree with Twinmommy as we cross a few times a week living in a border town. I always think of it like this- sure I prefer to shop local and Canadian and the bulk of it is done here, but in reality the way the economy is now, we are supporting Canada by shopping in the States as they are our number one country that we export to. Seriously…when the States do poorly it trickles down to us. We can see evidence of that in the pulp and paper industry here in Eastern Canada. Not only that- we looked to buy a lawn mower through our local hardware store and it was priced at $260. and the identical mower over the border was $140.. We paid the 5% Maine tax on it and the 14% on the border and still had a huge saving.
Always be honest. I have all my receipts in my hand and like one other reply stated- start with your groceries and then go to the taxable household items on your grocery receipt. I always think of it this way too, all I end up paying usually is the gst/hst extra and I would have paid that in Canada anyway. Know what you are allowed as there are restrictions- 20 kg of poultry and only one turkey. I have heard people furious as they have had one of their turkeys confiscated. Check it out before you go online at our Canada customs site. In the past I have even gotten in trouble for sitting with my hand on my mouth while in the passenger seat. Now I make sure if I am there I am looking them right in the eye. Last weekend I was sure I was going to have to pay due to the total but the officer said “what is the cost of the most expensive item you have?” My response being $10 she waved us on.
I hate shopping and you could not PAY me to go out in the crowds of Black Friday- I did a lot of my Christmas shopping online at Old Navy Canada. But hey- have fun!
I want to go shopping at Buffalo this Friday, does any one know how long does it take to cross the border? And which bridge would be the fastest?
I’ve already done all my shopping I just gotta go on a grocery trip Sunday. I hope it’s not too busy & that they’re not sold out of my baking supplies & Fruity Pebbles 🙂
@Dotty dot dot – gotta be careful. I was told some of the chicks on the border control check the soles of your shoes/boots, esp if you were some of the popular designs. They literally told the girl “oh i saw a lot of these this weekend”
She/they had to pay tax on the shoes she/they were wearing (boots in fact).
I don’t know what its like at Buffalo or Port Huron, but in Windsor EVERYONE gets pulled in on Black Friday if they return home before 8 PM- I’ve heard stories about being pulled in for $20 in DVD’s.
I went on the Saturday after black friday last year- it was very quiet. Managed to get a few good deals from the leftovers and got waved through because we only had $50 between the two of us.
Lily, you can click on the link above to see the actual time to cross before you leave. We crossed on July 1 this year (so the Canadian holiday, but not the US one) and it took us 1 1/2 hours to get over the border! For Canada Day! I can’t imagine how much longer the wait will be on Friday (and I won’t be finding out either)!
As a Greater Vanc resident, I am always shopping in the US (min two trips per month). For others that are regulars, I highly suggest you get a Nexus pass. Upon returning to Cda, we used to have to fill out a detailed customs form and hand in when crossing border. This was worth the effort to skip the lineups (which at times could be several hours). Now, this is no longer needed and a verbal declaration (ie. simply the dollar amount and nothing more seems to be adequate) is all that is req’d. I don’t know if things operate in a different fashion elsewhere in Cda, but I have never had to pay any duty, taxes on goods purchased in the many years we have been traveling in the US and we regularly declare amounts into the hundreds of dollars too. For those that think they are a little smarter than everyone else and attempt to dodge the customs guy by wearing their new clothes underneath their old ones, stuffing stuff under the seats and so on, don’t waste your time. Honestly, they don’t care…unless, of course you do lie to them (they can detect this from a mile away).
The last time I crossed (coming back to Canada), the guy at the boarder just asked if we did any shopping. We replied, yes and he waved us through.. he didn’t even check our passports!!
Be honest, because if you’re shopping with 3 girlfriends and you say that you spent $10 each..they’re 95% going to pull you over and check!
I plan to do my shopping online 🙂 Waaaaay less stressful. lol
There’s something about shopping with a million people, plus kids and strollers that drives me nuts!
Last year I crossed at the Queenston Lewison Bridge on the Sunday and I waited in line for FIVE hours. If you are coming back Sunday I suggest take the side road that is parallel to the hwy…..and enter right before the bridge.
all i can say is….TRY NOT TO GET TRAMPLED!!! i’m from the states, and you wouldn’t catch ME going out with the crazies on black friday
Hahha @ checking soles of shoes. Never heard that one. Something they can’t prove.
We’ve never been hassled at the border, but when you factor in the price of gas and waiting in line we find it’s soooo much easier to order online and just have stuff shipped. Still save a bundle.
my BOYFRIEND and I went across last weekend the border guard asked the usual question ..’where you from’ ‘what’s your purpose’ then the stumper…’how do you know each other?’ uhhhhh ‘we live together’ my boyfriend said….once we got through I said ‘now wouldn’t it have been easier if we were engaged or married not we’re boyfriend and girlfriend’ lol
Someone once said “Canadians will spend a dollar to save a dime.” I think it might be true in some cases! Lol, hope everyone has a great time and gets some great deals. I wish I were going!
I never do the Black Friday thing. I wish I had the guts to venture out, but I just can’t stand the crowds! Hope everyone gets some great deals!
Be honest people…there are border guards that are smart canucks too…
Day trips allow you nothing as a personal exemption, so if you decide to shop & stay in the USA less than 24 hours, be prepared to pay on everything…if you get waved through, thank the Border Guard.
If away 24 hours you are allowed $50 but if you go over $50, it all becomes taxable…again, if you are waved through, enjoy the deal.
If away 48 hours, you are allowed $400 per person, so yes, spread the receipts around if someone has spent less. If waved through, enjoy the benefit.
If you buy alcohol or tobacco when over less than 48 hours, be prepared to pay through the nose! It’s not cheap…if waved through, THANK the Border Guard before you leave & maybe squeeze out a “Happy Holidays” to him/her because he or she is working while you’re out enjoying your shopping trip.
If you’ve been away 48 hours or more, each person over 16 is allowed 1 carton of cigarettes, 50 cigars, 500 grams loose tobacco, & 50 cigarellos.
Every person over 19 is allowed 1 case of beer or 1.14 Ltr bottle of spirits or 1.5 litres of wine.
Also, to those of you who think the Border Guards are naive to you wearing new items back over the border, you are mistaken. We see it everyday & for the most part, it’s us doing the laughing as you drive away because you think you’ve gotten away with something huge. Drugs, guns, child pornography, terrorists, & missing children rate MUCH higher than the new boots on your feet or Coach bag on your shoulder.
And finally, none of us can predict what traffic will be like on the day you plan to return. It’s like shooting ducks in a barrel. It’s the weekend. It’s the Christmas season & everyone’s shopping like crazy…you will wait. Give yourself time.
Above all, HAPPY SHOPPING! There will always be liars, but thank God in 13 years of employment, I have faith in people because most people are honest 🙂
You people are dumb..first of all they are not agents not guards..they are Officers..and really you guys are that cheap to declare to pay 0.13% tax..I hope each and everyone of you that evade taxes get searched.
FunkyMonky has a brain of a monkey. Total retard!
In actuality my brother in law got pulled in for a pair of boots that he purchased in Canada. They eventually let him go but the inconvenience and frustration of the whole situation really upset him.
Smart Canucks are wise consumers and shoppers. You may also be shocked to know that some are officers too. We hear you talking, plotting, tearing tags, throwing away boxes and bags and dressing yourselves and your children in layers in the parking lot.
We are not stupid, we just have a more important job to do. Protecting our borders! So please just pay the taxes HST (and duty for those few items they apply to) and be on your way. You never know who is out there ‘shopping’ alongside of you. The repercussions of not being truthful in your declaration are not worth them minimal payment for your shopping ‘deals!’
Just out of curiosity, do any other countries charge their citizens taxes for shopping out of country?
Living in a border city I have occasionally cross border shopped since I was a child and my mother & I took the bus there.
Now when I go (by car of course) I always bring a note pad/paper, list the name of the stores, amount spent at each store, then a total amount at the bottom and then we have the “total amount for the car (with passengers). I hand this to the customs officer with the receipts all clipped together along with my passport- but not attached to the passport.
I never bring across alcohol or cigarettes because that can be a deal breaker. I always treat the customs officer with respect and they are always respectful with me. Keep in mind THEY HAVE A JOB TO DO- JUST LIKE YOU! They do not make the rules! Yes the odd time I do have to pay duty, or taxes, no big deal because most of the time I do not. Their main function is to protect us! Lets be thankful for the friendly relationship we have with the U.S. and all the fun we have on a full day of bargin shopping, all the different stores, stopping for lunch with your best friend etc. Having to pay duty/taxes is just a small bump in the road.
I work at the border and just as a heads up – if you are honest and declare what you have 9 times out of 10 you will only be paying HST on the items that you purchased. It is when you start lying and the officers have to look at your goods and see that they aren’t made in North America that you are subject to duty and taxes. I.e. almost no clothing items are made in North America. They ate usually from China, etc. So you would be subject to pay 13% HST and 17% duty = 30% on your purchases. So it’s best to just be up front. If the deals are that great, you’re likely to still come out ahead even with the HST.
@Rhonda; I’m not talking Black Friday here, but in general, we live in Eastern Ontario (crossing usually at the Thousand Islands Bridge) and we were told by our border officials (via phone) that daily per person allowances have gone up to $300 per day.
I am wondering what province you are from and why we would have been told this if it is still at $0 a day? I am not going down for black friday (I value my time over waiting in line and opt for online shopping instead), but we go every couple of months and have had no trouble with a hundred dollars or so coming home, (usually not clothing), and the officers haven’t given us a hard time.
I just want to know for sure, if you and your fellow officers on here who posted are from Ontario did the rules change recently or was the person on the phone at the customs office playing a cruel trick with us? Because there are several people at work who have been told the same, they also never get any flack for that kind of amount, and we’re all in the same border town so this whole post and comment section has confused the heck out of me!
Just a little side story for the Officers on here who are helping us with the ins and outs and also, and perhaps especially, those who are calling some others stupid for trying to hide things, perhaps these people have had an experience with your agency like my parents did:
Earlier this year when my parents came back from a 2 month trip to Florida in their somewhat-rickety (but well cared for) 1980’s motorhome they stopped to cross the border at the Thousand Island location. It was 11pm and my dad was having heart issues (he had to have a pacemaker put in a month later, so he was really having mini heart attacks), he had purchased his allowance of cigarettes (I know, has a lot to do with the heart issues but he won’t listen), when the border officer told him it was going to be $22 for each $15 pack of American cigarettes in duty he was really shocked, and commented that he only bought them because of the duty free allowance and if he knew that they would be that much more he wouldn’t have bought them at all, since they are just crappy american cigarettes.
My dad is a nice guy, he said this in a very non-rude jokey kind of way (it’s his way of being, nothing, including mini heart attacks, can keep him from trying to crack a joke), because he was tired and just wanted to get home so he was going to pay.
I’m not sure why but the guard took offence to this and sent him over to be searched. Long story short my 70 year old father got home around 3 am in near tears (for all I know there had been tears, it takes 30 minutes to get to the border from their house) with a COMPLETELY torn apart motorhome (ALL cabinets opened and contents pulled out and left on floor, bed flipped, couch cushions pulled off… I could going on… at least they didn’t cut the cushions I guess… oh, and did I mention that my mother is in a wheelchair as well?); in the process they had broken one of his oak cabinets which had stuck while searching (ripped it off and broke it in half, actually), and the border refused to pay until he had paid 4 different guys a fee to give him a quote to repair it, in the end it was cheaper for him to glue it himself and deal with the eyesore.
Did they find anything? Of course not, my father doesn’t drink (again, heart condition, no alcohol with pills that keep him alive) and they’re not criminals, just snowbirds.
He was also well within his near thousand dollar per person (so times two then) 2 month vacation allowances, so even if they tallied everything in the thing including the tattered old vacation sheets they would have been clear. He’s been going over since I was 8, I’m now going on 30. He was EXTREMELY hurt by all of this, he felt it was discrimination against smokers and I agree. He wasn’t having a fit or being irrate, he just said “Well if I knew that I wouldn’t have bought them, they’re not worth that kind of money”. He refuses to go back over now, which hurts him because his yearly trip to Florida is his saving grace and a little reward for having to take care of my mother who has MS.
The only upside I suppose is that he doesn’t have to see the glued cabinet, since he refuses to go into the motorhome anymore. That motorhome was his favorite thing in the world and that trip was his whole reason for living. They took that from him, and in my opinion just out of revenge for a comment on the quality of American cigarettes (I must note my father is a clean person, so there is NO way they took him for anything but an elderly old man, he doesn’t look like a criminal in any way).
THIS IS THE TYPE OF THING THAT MAKES US WANT TO LIE TO YOU Rhonda and the other Officers on here, when you tear our belongings apart and treat us like common drug dealing criminals, it makes us think you are jaded and cruel and that may not be deserved but there are a few of you who (as with any job) make the rest of you seem just downright evil.
RANT OVER
@Laura; OH YES there is duty from other countries and equally for other people who travel here and go back into their own country. For example, in the UK the VAT (their taxes) has been increased (I’m pretty sure on this number) to 20% and they aren’t allowed very much no matter how long they stay over here. Then again you usually use air travel to go anywhere outside of the Americas so by the time you pay the airline for the weight of the bags you can forget it. Souviniers only really.