Orbit Brokers

Frustration over Potential Changes to Import Regulations
Blogs

Proposed Changes to Calculating Duty

Changes Coming to how Imported Goods are Valued? Proposed Changes to Calculating the Value of your Imported Goods For Canadian import businesses, staying up-to-date with regulations is crucial to maintaining a smooth and compliant importing process.  Canada's government has proposed changes which could significantly impact the way businesses calculate the

by Clayton Castelino
Read More
Blogs

BC Longshore Workers Strike

BC Longshore Workers Strike The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) workers walked off the job on July 1st after giving 72 hours strike notice on June 28th. Talks had been ongoing with the British Columbia Maritimes Employers Association (BCMEA) since February to renew the collective agreement which expired at

Blogs

How to Calculate the Value of your Goods

How to Calculate the Value of your Goods The Different Methods of Determining Valuation Customs valuation is a significant part of the importation process. It is a procedure that is applied in determining the correct value of goods to be imported. This is the base value which the Canada Border

Blogs

Canada Bans Single-Use Plastics

Canada Bans Certain Single-Use Plastics Canada has joined a handful a countries around the world that have placed a ban on single use plastics. This means that once the ban in place, certain plastic products will not be allowed to be manufactured, sold, exported, or imported into Canada.There is increasing

Blogs

Key Players Involved When Importing Into Canada

Key Players Involved When Importing Into Canada Importing into Canada involves several key players. Knowing how the supply chain works will help you make the right decisions, cut costs, and avoid legal troubles. Even if you’re a seasoned importer, a complete know-how of the parties involved can help you move forward with confidence.

Blogs

Guide to Choosing the Right Product to Import

Guide to Choosing the Right Product to Import The goal of any business is to make profits, regardless of what it’s offering. To make bigger profits in the import and export business, you need to make the right decisions from the beginning. This begins by choosing the right product to

Blogs

Top Reasons for Delay with CFIA Regulated Goods

Top Reasons for Delays with CFIA Regulated Goods The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) govern the export and imports of food and agricultural products in Canada. They are responsible for ensuring exporters and importers meet the regulations that have been set on these types of goods.

Blogs

How to get a better price when importing goods into Canada

How to get a better price when importing goods into Canada Canada imported goods worth a record $631 billion in 2021, up 12.2% from 2020, but 2.7% higher than in 2019. In 2020 Canada ranked 11th top importer in with world, in terms of total USD value of imports. To

Blogs

How to Avoid Hidden Costs in Overseas Freight Shipping

How to Avoid Hidden Costs in Overseas Freight Shipping? There’s no doubt that shipping costs are one of the major costs buckets when considering product pricing. Experts estimates shipping costs to comprise upwards of 15% to 20% of the total net sales. Even if a business produces the goods locally

Blogs

7 Things Customs Agents Wish You Knew Before You Travel To Canada

7 Things Customs Agents Wish You Knew Before You Travel To Canada Are you planning a trip to Canada soon? Whether you are just visiting someone in Canada or if you are planning to move to Canada for studies or immigration. You need to be aware of what you can

Blogs

Things Everyone Who Orders Online From Canada Should Know About Customs And Shipping

Things Everyone Who Orders Online From Canada Should Know About Customs And Shipping Purchasing goods from stores outside Canada always seems extremely attractive, especially during the peak shopping dates like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day. Offers made on these dates offer discounts on latest products and fashion that

Blogs

10 Tips for moving and importing your belongings to Canada

10 Tips for moving and importing your belongings to Canada Moving to Canada is a big deal. It’s a life changing decision and one of the biggest undertakings you'll ever go through in your lifetime. Every year Canada welcomes thousands of immigrants into the country, a total of 401,000 new

America's President

Trade Tensions Bubbling Between Canada and the US

Trade Tensions Bubbling Between Canada and the US US President Joe Biden's proposed tax incentive on the purchase of electric vehicles has changed Canada’s relief over the defeat of former US President Donald Trump to disbelief. The Canadian government has issued notice to the United States that should this proposal

Blogs

Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS)

Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) The Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) in Canada allows Customs Brokers to submit shipment release information to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) before the arrival of goods at destination. This process speeds up the release or referral for examination process when the goods arrive. The system

Blogs

Supply Chain Bottlenecks

Supply Chain Bottlenecks Supply chain bottlenecks are currently causing major issues across the globe. Slow movement of goods is resulting in costly delays and empty shelves for retailers. These delays are acting as a drag on the global economy at a time when the world is trying to recover from

America's President

Driving Across the Canada/US Border

Driving Across the Canada/US Border As Canadian Customs Brokers, Orbit Brokers helps importers bring goods into Canada. Recently we have been getting many questions regarding people crossing the Canada/US border. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions and closures at the border. These closures have had a dramatic effect on travel

Blogs

Canada Border Services Agency Strike

Canada Border Services Agency Strike On July 26, 2021, the Public Service Alliance of Canada - Customs and Immigration Union (PSAC-CIU) announced that its members have voted in favour of strike action. This follows after contract talks with the Canadian government broke down late in 2020. The plan is for

Blogs

Canada’s Tariff Rate Quota System

Canada’s Tariff Rate Quota System Importing is an opportunity to bring new products to the local market and its consumers. However, foreign goods coming into a country can also be a threat to domestic industries. As such, a government may implement specific protection policies to regulate imports and improve domestic

Blogs

Importer Security Bonds

What are Importer Security Bonds? There are many industries in Canada that rely on the shipment of merchandise to or from other countries. The success of such companies is highly reliant on the import process. Importer security bonds are a great choice when it comes to facilitating this process. Just

America's President

Joe Biden and Trade with Canada

Joe Biden and Trade with Canada The United States and Canada have shared solid political ties for a very long time. This has promoted the creation of a strong trade relationship between the two countries, especially in the agri-food sector. However, under various regimes, this relationship has been exposed to

Blogs

Importing Cats into Canada

Importing Cats into Canada Imports of pet cats into Canada has been on the rise recently. With more people working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, owning a pet is appealing. Choosing to import a cat into Canada can be a big decision to make. It is important to

Blogs

Importing Goods for Valentine’s Day

Importing Goods into Canada for Valentine's Day Its easy to notice that Valentine’s Day is approaching when you see red hearts all over tv commercials and storefronts. Gifts like jewellery, stuffed animals, and chocolates are among the many items that are very popular purchases this time of year. Imports of

Blogs

CITT Inquiry into Upholstered Seating

Investigation into Imports of Sofas The CITT has issued notice that they are initiating an inquiry into whether there is evidence of dumping and subsidizing of imported upholstered seating. This inquiry is aimed specifically at seating manufactured in China or Vietnam. Let’s take a look at what this means. What

Blogs

Importing Goods for Personal Use

Importing Goods For Personal Use If you are looking to purchase goods from outside of Canada for your own personal use, then this blog should be of assistance to you! Personal imports, also known as casual imports, is when goods are brought into Canada for non business/commercial purposes. There are

Blogs

Obtaining the SFC License

Obtaining the SFC License The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations have been in force since January 15, 2019. Some requirements came into effect immediately and some were phased in over 2020 and 2021. As of July 15, 2020, it is now required to have a Safe Food for Canadians License

Blogs

Importing a Dog into Canada

Importing a Dog into Canada The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada continue to restrict certain activities and freedoms. As a direct result of this, we are seeing imports of things that help people deal with spending more time inside. Products like exercise equipment and board games are very

America's President

Trump Abandons Latest Tariff Threat

Trump Abandons Latest Tariff Threat On August 6, US President Donald Trump announced a plan to apply 10 percent tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports using national security as the justification. The President had previously issued the tariffs on Canada in March of 2018 as a negotiating tactic for the new

Blogs

Changes to Courier Shipments under CUSMA

Changes to Courier Shipments under CUSMA With CUSMA now fully in force and NAFTA in the past, big changes have been made to low value shipments coming to Canada from the US or Mexico by courier. These shipments are known as CLVS (Courier Low Value Shipments). Let’s take a look

Blogs

Importing Brewery Equipment into Canada

Importing Brewery Equipment into Canada Beer has always been a popular pastime of Canadians. The past couple of years has seen a massive increase in popularity of the craft breweries, or microbreweries as they are also known. There has been a corresponding rise in the rise in imports of beer

Blogs

Proof of Origin for CUSMA Shipments

Proof of Origin for CUSMA Shipments CUSMA, USMCA, NAFTA 2.0, T-MEC; the new trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States of America has many names. Regardless of what you call it, the agreement will come into force more than 3 years after the US trade representative issued notice

Blogs

Classification of Medical Supplies

Classification of Medical Supplies As the world continues to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, CBSA has released a notice on classification of medical supplies that are being imported into Canada to help with the fight against COVID-19. Further to our previous blog on importing masks and sanitizers, the below list

Blogs

Importing Masks and Sanitizers

Importing Masks and Sanitizers into Canada Importing Masks and Sanitizers into Canada As the Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, it is not surprising that we have been receiving many inquiries on the requirements to import masks and hand sanitizers from China into Canada. In this blog post we

Blogs

Will the Coronavirus Affect Shipments?

Will The Coronavirus Affect My Shipments? We've been receiving many calls recently about the effect of the Coronavirus, (or COVID-19 as this strain is being referred to) on international shipments. The virus is spreading around the globe and has wreaked havoc on supply chains, from production to transportation. Currently we

Blogs

Importing Beef Into Canada from the US

Importing Beef Products into Canada from the US With BBQ season right around the corner, let's take a look at the documentation requirements to import beef products into Canada from the US. Keep in mind that these are general guidelines for commercial importations. Please contact our office for specific information.

Blogs

What you Should Know: AMPS

What you Should Know: AMPS In 2017, the Auditor General of Canada criticized the Canada Border Service Agency’s Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) for being too low to encourage trade compliance. As a result, a number of penalties have increased as of April 1st, 2019. This is a good opportunity

Blogs

How to Avoid Demurrage, Detention, and Storage Charges

How to Avoid Demurrage, Detention, and Storage Demurrage, detention, and storage are 3 words that the team at Orbit Brokers hate to hear. These terms mean additional charges aside from freight, duties and taxes and are usually avoidable.They are all different and it is important to know what each is

Mini Cart 0

Your cart is empty.