Bringing Food items into and out of Canada

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

I tried to find this out by doing an internet search, but really got confused by what I found. Must I declare any food items brought into Canada? Is there anything I can't bring? How about returning to the United States? Is there anything else I have to declare either way?

Thanks,
Nancy

ps. Going into Canada I'll be leaving a US timeshare and going to a Canadian one, so know will have some food items.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

When we drove from NY to Barrie Ontario Canada we had 6 cars and we all had food. They asked what our purpose was and we said a week of skiing. He said welcome to Canada and at that moment we got our very first welcome to Canada EH

But on our return they were a bit more tough since the duty free store was located right on the border. They were watching what beer was bought and how much, I found that the Molson's Canadian was great alcohol in it.

[mountainguide Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mountainguide]

They do ask about fruits, vegtables and meats. What they are looking for is the exotic kind. ie. fruits picked from the wild. Not a big deal really. I would keep your groceries in a grocery store bag i.e safeway bag so if they did check they would see its from a grocery store and not some disease infested unregulated plantation. lol, Oh and dont bring moose meat as I did. They frown on game meat that doesnt have the proper licensing. Happy travels EH.

[swilshire Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swilshire]

I found their regulations impossible to interprete as well. Last summer, we left baskets of homegrown tomatoes behind because we couldn't tell if we could cross the Canadian border with them. Turns out they didn't even ask about the one we took along. I mourned the others I didn't get to eat throughout my two week vacation. By the time we got home, the typical summer drought had done it's damage and they were mostly gone.

Sheila

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Anyone else with info or experience with this?

Nancy

[dcwojo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dcwojo]

Fruits and vegetables are sometimes an issue. Try the U.S. and Canadian customs websites for more help. Some times where you cross the border matters.

[bevvy5 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bevvy5]

We cross regularly and are always (almost) asked if we have any fruits or vegetables. Your homegrown tomatoes would likely have been seized - too much risk of some sort of disease - no offence.

If there's some particular food you want to bring, give the crossing where you will be going through a call. We've done that on more than one occasion to make sure we won't be breaking any rules by bringing stuff across.

Bev