Here is the legal way to avoid brokerage fee when importing goods from USA into Canada with courier companies like UPS, or FedEx, without driving hundreds of miles to the port of entry. CBSA officially replied that UPS forces customers to pay outrageous customs brokerage fees illegally.
When you want to order some goods for personal use from US into Canada, you want it to be delivered fast and cheap. It can be orders from eBay, and many other stores across US. Many eBay sellers do not deal with UPS anymore because of outrageous customs brokerage fees. Usually buyers face this fee only at the door, when package is delivered.
It is called C.O.D. (collect on delivery) invoice which includes duties and taxes for imported goods, and UPS customs brokerage fees and other UPS fees like collect on delivery fee, bill integrity fee, taxes on the fees and so on. This C.O.D. bill is usually about 50% of the item’s price! Of course duties and taxes must be paid, but it is usually from 5% to 15% for casual goods (no alcohol, or tobacco, or other goods for which duties applied) depending on the province.
When importers see the invoice to pay extra 50% of the item’s price thay order, some of them just refuse to pay, and item is shipped back to the seller. The sellers do not like this as well as importers, and ship items with more expensive and pretty slow USPS mail service. It goes through Canada Post to the addressee in Canada, and they charge $5 for customs clearance. But USPS delivery can take up to 6 weeks, and theirs delivery cost is higher than for UPS Ground.
Depending on the order’s price, UPS Customs Brokerage Fee varies up to 50%. For example, for the order of $40.01 the brokerage fee is $19.45 + tax, according to the table at UPS website.
If you still want to use advantage of pretty fast, guaranteed, and trackable UPS ground service to ship your imported goods from US into Canada,
You do NOT have to pay UPS brokerage fees!
I’m not advising you to use other courier services, like USPS, or driving hundreds of miles to the port of entry in order to clear items by yourself as UPS forces you to do, otherwise paying brokerage fees.
You do NOT have to be in the port of entry to clear your items!
I’ve ordered some auto parts from California, and UPS forced me to pay brokerage fees. They told that there is absolutely no ways to clear items by myself in local CBSA office other than port of entry. I have spent almost two months to investigate and escalate this issue with UPS and CBSA (Canada Borders Service Agency). Finally I got a call with apologies about the incident and official reply from CBSA which indicates the following:
You are allowed to self clear your personal shipments and pay any duty/taxes owing at an office other than where the goods are being held.
UPS SCS (Ground) was also incorrect to inform you that you had to present yourself at the office where the goods were located.
CBSA also advised me that they are going to inform courier company and CBSA offices to ensure they are aware of the proper procedures.
There are local CBSA (Canada Borders Service Agency) offices in GTA (I’m located in Toronto) where you can pay applicable duties and taxes for imported goods. There is absolutely no need to drive into Windsor or Fort Erie to clear your items. There are also a lot of CBSA offices across Canada, so you most likely may choose one which is pretty close to you.
Here is the way how to avoid UPS brokerage fees:
(Important note: this information is outdated, please see update as of October 17, 2010 below for required list of documents, according to which commercial invoice is not required by CBSA. That list is final and allowed to self clear many shipments successfully)
- Place your order at US store with UPS delivery option
- Print out your commercial invoice (PayPal invoice, or e-mail receipt from the store). You may want to make sure that shipper will put the correct price on the package for customs (just send them a note about it)
- Wait for item to be shipped and get your tracking number
- Call UPS, give them tracking number and tell that you want to clear your items by yourself in your local CBSA office. They should instruct you what you will need to do
Note: this mechanism can be only applied for Low Value Shipment program (LVS),when order’s price does not exceed $1600 CAD. In case of more expensive goods you will need to present yourself at the port of entry to clear your goods, or find a broker to do this for you.
If for any reason UPS still tells you that you can not clear items by yourself in local CBSA office, and you must go to the port of entry in order to pay duties/taxes – it is illegal! Insist on your rights. Tell that they violate the law. Mention that there is an official reply from CBSA. If you get the refusal from UPS, write down the name of the person you talked to, time, and phone number you called in. Please describe your case to me and I will forward it to the person in CBSA who investigated my case and replied to my inquiry. I’m not posting his contact information here to avoid spam. He advised to contact him if this issue is repeated again.
I believe that it should be applied not only to UPS, but to all other courier services. For example, FedEx brokerage fees must be avoided in the same way.
Updated information as of October 17, 2010.
Canada Customs (CBSA) officially replied and provided procedure of self clearing process which UPS, CBSA offices, and importers should follow:
How to pay duties and taxes for imported goods
…
If you are planning to have future shipments sent to you by courier from outside Canada, you do have the option of refusing the accounting services offered by the company, choosing instead to clear the goods yourself through your local CBSA office. If you choose to do this, you will not incur any brokerage fees. The two options available to you are the following:
1. Prior to receiving your shipment, you can contact the courier company and inform them of your wish to self-clear any shipments that are addressed to you and on which brokerage fees are applicable. The company will explain their procedures to you.
2. As an alternative, when a casual shipment is delivered to you, you can refuse delivery and advise the courier company of your intention to self-clear directly with the CBSA. In this case, please ensure that you take note of the unique shipment identifier number on the package, as the shipment will be returned to the courier’s warehouse.
With both options, you will need to visit your local CBSA office and provide them with specific details, including the courier’s name, the unique shipment identifier number, a description of the goods and their value so that the CBSA can correctly assess the goods. This information is usually indicated on the shipment’s invoice, which will be provided to you by the courier company. When you have paid the applicable duties and/or taxes to the CBSA, you will be given an official receipt indicating that the goods have been accounted for. You will need to present this receipt to the courier’s warehouse where your shipment is stored, in order for the courier to release your shipment to you.
Thank you for contacting the CBSA.
Internet: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca (http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/)
Canada Border Services Agency
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0L8
Government of Canada – Gouvernement du Canada
(Some personal information has been omitted, and CBSA e-mail address also to avoid spam. Some key phrases has been highlighted by editor, not by CBSA)
We may conclude, that in order to self-clear goods in local CBSA office we need following:
The final and proven way of how to avoid UPS brokerage fees:
– Courier’s name: UPS
– Unique shipment identifier number: UPS must provide
– Shipment’s invoice: UPS must provide
– Place where the package is being held
Let’s stop UPS outrageous behavior and lawlessness, and force them to obey the simple law and allow importers to self-clear without paying brokerage fees!
Tell about this procedure to all people who use UPS (or other couriers with high brokerage fees) to import goods from US into Canada! If UPS will hear about it from importers hundreds/thousands times per day, they will definitely start to use new procedure.
The exact procedure of self-clearing with scanned documents is given here:
How to self clear shipment at CBSA and avoid UPS brokerage fee
I just got bills in the mail from fedex for half the cost of my orders, for brokerage fees,
Absolutely ridiculous, I will pay customs which is the taxes, but I’m not going to pay the brokerage scam fees.
Same issue… I am in Toronto and UPS wants to charge me an extra approx. 50% of the package value (package was sent from US).
Can you please advise how to find an open CBSA office here, the ones in Toronto are “not open to public” as I can see on the web site. . Maybe should I go to the CBSA office located at International Airport? Not sure it is open in these pandemic times.
Does anybody from Toronto went recently to this self-clearing process?
Thank you in advance for any help provided!
This doesnt work
I talked to CBSA
You MUST goto the port of entry
If the package came by air it will be the Airport, if it came by ground it could be another office.
Same deal, fighting through the matter now.
$135 package of board game items from Texas to Calgary. Shipping was an extra $40 on top of that. UPS brought it through to Winnipeg on Aug 25 then have marked it as held pending payment of fees on Aug 26 (though no notice given to me that it has been there for over 24 hours already). I opened the payment option for the fees and see I owe $6.90 in taxes – that’s pretty damned reasonable and I have no issue with that. Then the next line says I owe UPS $35 for brokerage fees.
Called UPS at about 3:45pm on Aug 26 after reading up on this site and some others – asked them to explain the brokerage fee to me (in hopes maybe I’d get lucky and get someone who would waive the fee or even reduce it to single-digit $$, which I’d be a bit more ok with since that’d be a reasonable fee for taking care of that paperwork). Nothing doing, told me I owed $41 total and could pay online. Told her no thanks, asked for the self-clearance documents to be sent to me and I would deal with it that way. Was told I would get an email from someone in Winnipeg with the details.
45 minutes after that phone call, magically I get an automated phone call warning me that the shipment may be sent back if I don’t pay the fees. Nicely timed – close to 30 hours after their site marks that the package was held for fees and only notified after I asked for self-clearance.
Got an email from someone telling me that “Unfortunately self-clearing is not available at this time as it is importing through Winnipeg. Please track your shipment on [website] to view an pay your import fees, If any, to release your shipment for delivery.”
Have responded, again playing a bit innocent, to ask if I will be given the documents when the shipment arrives in Calgary. We’ll see where we get with that. Have also emailed the general CBSA email to see if they’ll offer a more recent confirmation of the fact that you don’t need to go to the closest office, but can instead go to your local office.
Does anyone know if I still can do self-clearing or to dispute UPS brokerage fees after package was delivered. The thing is I did not see UPS driver, nor signed for the package even though it was mentioned on UPS web site that signature is required. It was in early June when I received an email from UPS saying there is a shipment coming that has import fees due. I have read all recommendations on this site and called UPS asking them to send me paperwork for self-clearing. To cut long story short, I called three or four times but still did not have the papers even by the end of June. Last time I called, the guy on the other end said that they were not able to provide me with papers for self-clearing because they had not yet received the paperwork. But according to their website at that moment the package was already at their warehouse. Then he said I needed to check their website regularly and to give them another call once I see that the package was out for delivery. A couple of days late I just found the package at my door. Well, I thought that probably they waved their fees. And few weeks later I receive their bill to pay those f…….g brokerage fees I tried to avoid. Looks like they tricked me. Pure racket in my opinion. Is there anything I can do about it, or is it too late?
Hi there, just came across this post. I ordered a few items from Alibaba via UPS. I didn’t know anything about this but as per the seller, UPS was cheaper. So I paid a total of $62 where shipping is $24. Can someone tell me how can I say no to delivery at home for Surrey? I don’t know at which step I should ask the UPS to give me the details for self-accounting.
Why I can’t pay the import fee by online
When I ordered an item and had it shipped via UPS I noticed while tracking it online that I owed customs brokerage fees. I called them about 6x to ask what my options were, inbetween researching it online. Eventually I learned you had to refuse it at the door. When the driver eventually delivered the item 1.5weeks late, I advised him I had to refuse this based on the $$$ owed. He told me there was no paper work so don’t worry about it, so I accepted the item. Now about a month later I have received a bill for the brokerage fee, which I am inclined not to pay since I already have the item
This thread was helpful, just went through the same thing with UPS. Got a weird automated call that sounded like a scam, when I called them they said a bunch of BS and half truths, the woman was difficult to hear and hard to understand. I ordered bath products worth $127 and they were going to charge me $61 on top of the $21 in taxes, somehow she said the total would be $91. I told her never mind I will get back to you. Spoke to Border Services they told me that if UPS doesn’t clear the package I have to drive to Montreal to pick it up myself and can’t self clear here in Halifax. UPS called a few minutes later asking for my permission to clear the package and I told him I wanted to self clear. He said okay just refuse at the door and told me the steps. I said thank you. I notified the business where I purchased the items and they will not be using UPS in the future, it’s a friend of mine and she got a deal from UPS this time but won’t be using them again. I notified UPS of the same, this is a lot of lost business for this shady practice. Seriously. Holding people’s packages hostage right before Christmas! Nice one UPS.
Great articular! Thanks for sharing.
****WARNING******
However, I just called UPS. They have a new strategy to deal with this “self-clear” trick.
****WARNING******
On the phone, they told me the item is at the CSBA in Manitoba ( the the delivery address is in Calgary). UPS also informed me that I have to go there myself personally if I choose to clear myself. They DID NOT give me an option to clear it at my local CSBA in Calgary, they said UPS can’t do further transportation in Canada until it is cleared. So now are screwed either way: if I agreed to let them clear, then I loose the advantage to say “I did not consent you to do the clearance”, and if you tell them to not clear them, then the item will stuck in the CSBA 1000 miles away from you forever.
So my suggestion is, DO NOT CALL THEM until the tracking shows the item is at you local UPS. Then you can do whatever Nerd said in the last comment.
Hi there!
I just went to my local CBSA office (Ottawa) to self-clear a FedEx Ground package. I went there with the paperwork FedEx Ground emailed me.
CBSA told me they cannot clear a package that is not in the same city. CBSA told me I need to go to the port of entry!
Can you please provide me with your contact at CBSA that told you that it is possible to self-clear a package at any office?
Thanks!
Just had my 1st experience with this scam. Luckily it happened to me later than some of the posters here and there was a lot of good information (and a class action lawsuit settlement in Ontario). In my case I called UPS and got a woman with an extremely thick accent telling me to I had to drive 2 Provinces over to Winnipeg to self claim my item (there was some confusion as to the term I needed to use, the correct term you want is “self accounting”). The 1st lady at UPS simply hung up on me when I asked if there was anyone else there I could speak to. The 2nd lady spoke a little clearer and was able to give me the information I needed. I had to wait until the package was over the border of Canada and call back for some tracking number or info she would send. She refused to do it while it was still in the U.S. Then once the delivery driver showed at my door I had to tell him I wanted to do “self accounting” and he would give me an invoice which I needed to take to the Canada Border Services Agency – conveniently located a 45 minute drive away near the International airport! All this by the way was over 13 cents of GST. I called and spoke live to a CBSA person both in Toronto on the main line and at the actual location in town. The good news is you can just walk in, fill a form and it’s processed right away. There was no confusion from the local office they were up on the procedure. However there was some confusion about whether I could bring the paper to the UPS warehouse storing my item or whether I had to contact them for redelivery. So there would still be a significant delay potentially in getting my package. Once the package was on the Canadian side of the border I called UPS again for that information they said they would give me and to my surprise the lady waived the brokerage fee! She had asked if this was my 1st time ordering through UPS over the border. It was. So she took about 5 minutes to fill out the info, needed my phone number too. But she waived the fee and alerted the driver so fingers crossed it will arrive on time tomorrow with no fees and no 45 minute drive to the airport! What an ordeal. I would recommend staying calm. Know your rights and have as much information as possible when you call. Be calm and polite even if UPS is not. Record all your calls. And as always be there with bells on when the actual delivery is made so you don’t miss the person or have your item stolen. Good luck and f**k UPS.
Ordered 3 books worth of C$55 for my kid and ups charges C$27. The website told me if I pay online before the delivery, I could save $5 otherwise the fee is $32. I paid and then realized I’ve been rip off by them.
UPS report every yes every international parcel to custom and so they could charge you the high brokerage fee! And you know what? Canada custom is also happy that UPS do this, so they could tax more parcels
i just order shampoos value of 78$ and i haed to pay 40$ to get the good this is outrageous
I have just received an order from ebay. It was a used item. The total was 180$ Canadian and UPS charged me 65$ in order for me to get the package. I could return package bit would have to pay the shipping cost. I’m not very happy and was surprised to see the amount I had to pay them. Is there any way to get my money back after the fact. Feeling ripped off!
This information I got from CBSA (I live in Calgary) so the address to here is unit 162 175 Aero Way NE “Calgary Air Commercial”;
As a casual importer, you may have the option of refusing brokerage services offered by a courier company and choose instead to self-clear the casual goods directly with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Casual goods are defined by the CBSA as goods imported into Canada other than commercial goods. Commercial goods are defined by the CBSA as goods imported into Canada for sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional or other like use.
For casual goods clearance you may encounter one of the two following scenarios:
Self-clearance prior to release
If you advise the courier of your intention to self-clear casual goods prior to CBSA releasing them, the courier is required to issue a cargo control document for the shipment. You must provide this cargo control document (original or photocopy), an invoice, or other documents required to the CBSA office responsible for release to account for these goods. This CBSA office of release is the office which has local operational control of the geographical area where the goods are located (in the same city). It is important to note that in these circumstances, the goods have not yet been released from CBSA’s control. As such, the goods are still subject to examination at the bonded warehouse where the goods are being held.
Self-clearance after release
If you did not advise the courier before the attempted delivery of the shipment, you may refuse delivery at your door and advise the courier of your intention to self-clear. You must record the unique shipment identifier number(shipment tracking number) which is the number the courier assigns each shipment. You must provide the CBSA with the unique shipment identifier number, an invoice, or other documents required to present an accounting document. It is important to note that in these circumstances the goods have already been reported and released by CBSA under the account security of the courier and are considered domestic goods. They are no longer subject to CBSA examination or control. The importer is simply completing the final accounting and payment of duties and taxes instead and thereby removing the final payment liability from the courier. In this scenario the accounting can be completed at any CBSA office where clearance services are offered.
A directory of CBSA offices can be found on our website at:
http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/do-rb/menu-eng.html
Please be aware that a courier may not provide a self-clearance option (transmitting shipment information documents, etc.) after CBSA releases and returns the shipment to the sender. Please check with your courier for further details.
Should you require additional assistance with your inquiry, we recommend that you contact the Border Information Service (BIS). You can access the BIS line free of charge throughout Canada by calling 1-800-461-9999. If you are calling from outside Canada, you can access the BIS line by calling either 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064 (long-distance charges will apply). If you call during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, except holidays), you can speak to an officer by pressing “0†at any time after you have made a selection of either English or French.
Thank you for contacting the Canada Border Services Agency.
Hi MM,
Did you clear it yourself?
Thanks,
Trueler
Hi, would you be able to PM me tor cbsa contact? I followed your advise but then told by UPS that I can’t clear the parcel myself as it has already been manifested by customs. My only option is to pay the brokerage fee of $39 or return to sender. It’s ridiculous I’m paying the same amount of fee as the item clothing I bought.
For Barrie Ontario, the CBSA office doesn’t offer this self clearing service but instead directs people to the following website: https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2017/10/information_for_clientsofthebarriecbsaoffice.html
From what I gather from that website, they want us to fax information to a different office. The information they want faxed is: “number of pages, type of entry (personal or commercial), commercial transaction number, cargo control number and client name and full contact information.”
Any idea what these things are?
I wish I had read this before I received a shipment from UPS. I was at work when the UPS guy showed up and he was rude to my daughters. He wouldn’t want to talk to me over the phone! Anyway, I paid UPS the duties/brokerage fees. I have question: is the duties/brokerage fees refundable after i returned the item to the USA? If so, how can I get the refund? Thanks in advance.
I had no idea! I just recently had a similar experience with UPS. On a $75.00 purchase before shipping they charged $65.00 on top of the $10 duties & taxes on my credit card! Can I get them to still refund me the money so that I can call CBSA myself to pay for the duties and taxes directly? I purchased a bedding set for $75.00 and got two free pillows with the purchase. But since the pillows were originally priced at $99.00 normally they charged me for the cost that the pillows would have been even though I got them for free. Huge Scam, I’m so mad at myself.
wow. followed these instructions and surprisingly UPS was more than happy to accommodate me in self-clearing my package. After speaking with the CBSA they directed me to visit their facility closest to me that handles LVS. I showed up and the agents working were absolutely clueless. I was instructed that they cannot provide me with a B15 form because I do not have the goods that I ordered with me. I showed them the receipt from the sender as well as the commercial invoice. “these are just pieces of paper” I was told. I needed to have the item I ordered with me physically. I asked the border officer how I could possibly have the item in my possession if duties haven’t been paid on it yet? “not my problem” I was told. I left defeated and called UPS to schedule another delivery for my item, much to my surprise they waived the brokerage fees. woohoo. such a headache but i’m finally getting my package without having to pay an arm and a leg.
Called USA’s USPS at 1-800-742-5877 and got the invoice. It’s important to not mention about self-clearing and just ask for the invoice. Otherwise they’ll keep transfering you around with the calls disconnected at the end for no reason.
Once you get the invoice, you need to print out two copies and take them with you to a CBSA office along with a photo ID. The location I was referred to go to by CBSA is https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/offices-bureaux/810-eng.html. They open 24 hours. They’ll keep one copy and you take the other copy with their notes to the cashier window in the same place to pay the fees. After the payment, they’ll stamp that copy and give it back to you along with a receipt. The stamped copy is what you’ll take to UPS to get them to release your package.
My package was worth 100 USD and UPS was charging me 58 bucks for COD. I only paid 16 bucks to clear it myself.
Received a call from the UPS brokerage dept regarding a shipment foe a gift valued at $19.99. Told
D there+would be no fee. Had already paid $26.13 in shipping fees.
When the parcel was delivered there was a brokerage fee of $22.80.
I have contacted UPS and they insist there is a brokerage fee.
Never again will I use UPS
So frustrated – UPS has told me in no uncertain terms (repeatedly) that I CANNOT self clear my shipment without going to the port of entry in Winnipeg. They are refusing to provide me with any documentation/invoice for my shipment to even attempt to self clear it, stating that they “don’t have access to the documents I require.” What more can I do?
Thank you so very much for this very valuable information! I just called UPS and informed them I will be clearing my package myself. I am located in British Columbia. Enough is enough with outrageous fees from UPS. My total invoice invoice for my USA order was only $44 (including shipping) and UPS sent me brokerage invoice for $33.85. Outrageous! To think of all the money I wasted paying UPS for brokerage on numerous past orders – I only wish I found your site earlier. Thank you so much! Have a great holiday and may God bless.
I operated a small mail order business years ago before the new online internet businesses became possible. But I had to order in critical “sub-components” from New Jersey in batches (around $25 each)…..
Unfortunately the supplier was tricked into using UPS exclusively….which is when the trouble started….. Subsequent $25 shipments arrived by UPS with a tacked on $50 flat rate brokerage fee in addition to the typical US Customs/exchange/duties etc.
End result was that I had to shutdown my business…..
The excessive fees imposed by UPS (acronym often confused by many as USPS) was IMHO ipso facto, parcel extortation.
These days I purchase most international item directly from Singapore, HongKong and other Asian cities w/o any duties and virtually no exchange or shipping charges….. saving typically 65 to 75% compared to same items going thru the infamous US import hub for all North American businesses.
I suspect this is why FedEx has started mailing you the bill for the brokerage… I have had this up to 2 months after I received the item which means I had no chance to go to the CBSA to clear the item myself… something has to be dine about these ridiculous charges… such a rip off!
Hi Alex,
Since you’ve already paid taxes, please tell it to UPS mentioning that double taxation is prohibited in Canada.
Thanks,
Trueler
Through this process, I paid $150 to CBSA instead of $270 to UPS. However, a couple days ago (approx one month after the delivery etc.) received an invoice from UPS for $270! I am concerned they will send collections after me and ruin my credit score. Could anyone give me some advice on how to proceed?
Hello,
I am wondering if there is anything I can do regarding my shipment through Aramex. They have been contacting me through emails and call to notify me that I have to pay for:
Custom brokerage fees on top of the GHS Duty MFN Rate (is this Canadian duty charge?) and GST. Is there any way I can avoid the brokerage fee?
Does CBSA accept calls as I would like to get clarification before I make an hour drive to clear the parcel?
Thank you in advance!
Cleared auto parts myself recently here in Calgary. The CBSA office it by the airport on Aero Drive.
UPS wanted $79.xx for clearing the item, but in the end I paid $13.xx clearing it myself. That’s a $65 difference.
I called UPS, said I want to clear the item myself, buddy on the phone said “It’s already cleared.”, I said; “I don’t really care, I didn’t ask you to.”.
He put me through to their brokerage department they sent me an email with all the pertaining paper work.
Went to CBSA office and it took me all of 10 min,
Wen’t to UPS and picked up the item without paying a dime to those goons.