At what value do duties and taxes apply to a parcel shipped into Canada, by origin country?
Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, and parcels from other origins up to C$20, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. Updated October 18, 2026.
By Martin DejnickiUpdated
Short answer
Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, and parcels from other origins up to C$20, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. Above C$40 and up to C$150, parcels from the US or Mexico pay tax but no duty. Goods such as alcohol, cannabis, tobacco and publications are excluded.
Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, against C$20 from other origins
Value for duty up to which each treatment applies to courier shipments into Canada, by origin, Canadian dollars
- Thresholds are values for duty in Canadian dollars for courier shipments, as the Canada Border Services Agency states them.
- Between C$40 and C$150, parcels from the US or Mexico pay tax but no duty.
- Some goods are exceptions, for example alcohol, cannabis products, tobacco and publications; the list is not complete.
- This chart covers parcels entering Canada only.
Source: Canada Border Services Agency, Increase to low-value shipment thresholds and other changes (CUSMA). Read on .
What this means for your decision
- Setting price points for Canadian orders? A courier parcel valued up to C$40 from the US or Mexico, or up to C$20 from other origins, owes no duty or tax, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. The dataset does not say how shipping or insurance count toward that value, so confirm with the Agency before pricing to the line.
- Shipping from the US or Mexico? Above C$40 and up to C$150, a courier parcel pays tax but no duty. Do not read C$150 as a tax free limit; it is the duty limit only, and above it both duty and tax apply.
- Choosing delivered duty paid or collection at the door? The thresholds show which parcels owe duty and tax, but the dataset holds no duty or tax rates, so it cannot price the charge. Estimate the charge on the orders above each line before deciding who pays it.
- Shipping by mail or selling restricted goods? The C$40 and C$150 limits are for courier parcels; mail from any country, the US and Mexico included, is duty and tax free only up to C$20. Goods such as alcohol, cannabis, tobacco and publications are excluded, and none of these limits apply to parcels entering the United States.
- Setting up Canadian shipping on a Shopify store? For help configuring duties, taxes and shipping for Canadian customers, contact Deploi.
What is the duty and tax free limit for a parcel shipped into Canada?
The Canada Border Services Agency states the duty and tax free limit for courier parcels as C$40 from the US or Mexico and C$20 from other origins, on a page retrieved October 18, 2026. Parcels from the US or Mexico stay free of duty, but not of tax, up to C$150. Mail from any origin, the US and Mexico included, is free only up to C$20.
The chart shows the three thresholds in Canadian dollars. The tallest bar, C$150, is the limit for duty alone; the limit for no duty and no tax is C$40 from the US or Mexico. The thresholds are stated by origin: the United States and Mexico on one side, all other origins on the other. The Agency publishes them on its page "Increase to low-value shipment thresholds and other changes (CUSMA)", where CUSMA is the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
What happens to a US or Mexico parcel valued between C$40 and C$150?
A courier parcel from the US or Mexico valued above C$40 and up to C$150 enters Canada free of duty but is subject to tax, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. Above C$150, both duties and taxes apply, according to the same Agency page. The C$40 line is where tax starts for those origins.
The two US and Mexico thresholds separate three bands. Up to C$40 there is no duty and no tax. Above C$40 and up to C$150 there is tax without duty. Above C$150, both duties and taxes apply.
Do the same thresholds apply from every origin?
Only the US and Mexico have the C$40 and C$150 thresholds. Every other origin has a single C$20 limit for duty and tax free entry, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. A parcel from elsewhere valued above C$20 falls outside the free treatment, and the dataset records no duty free only tier for those origins.
The C$20 limit is half the C$40 limit that applies to parcels from the US or Mexico. A merchant that ships from several countries has two sets of thresholds to track.
Which goods and shipments do the thresholds exclude?
The thresholds do not apply to goods such as alcohol, cannabis, tobacco or publications, and the C$40 and C$150 limits cover courier shipments only, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. They apply to parcels entering Canada. What the United States charges on parcels entering that country is a separate question and is not covered here.
The thresholds are in Canadian dollars. The dataset does not say how shipping or insurance count toward a parcel's value, so confirm that with the Agency before pricing to a threshold.
Should a merchant ship delivered duty paid or let customers pay at the door?
The Agency's thresholds decide which courier parcels owe duty and tax: none up to C$40 from the US or Mexico and up to C$20 from other origins, per the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. Whether to prepay any charge above those lines is a business choice that the thresholds do not settle. The dataset holds no duty or tax rates.
A courier parcel valued at or below its origin's duty and tax free limit, C$40 from the US or Mexico and C$20 from elsewhere, owes neither. Above that limit, compare the charge a customer would face at the door with the cost of collecting it at checkout.
The data
Each chart on this page is drawn from the numbers below. Units are in the column headers.
| Origin and treatment | Threshold (CAD) | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| US, Mexico: no duty or tax | 40 | duty and tax free |
| US, Mexico: duty free only | 150 | duty free, but taxes still apply |
| Elsewhere: no duty or tax | 20 | duty and tax free |
Download Canada's low-value courier thresholds for duties and taxes, by origin as CSV · All 4 columns on the dataset page
Methodology
Reading the chart: Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, against C$20 from other origins
- Thresholds are values for duty in Canadian dollars for courier shipments, as the Canada Border Services Agency states them.
- Between C$40 and C$150, parcels from the US or Mexico pay tax but no duty.
- Some goods are exceptions, for example alcohol, cannabis products, tobacco and publications; the list is not complete.
- This chart covers parcels entering Canada only.
Caveats: Canada's low-value courier thresholds for duties and taxes, by origin
- The thresholds are for courier shipments only.
- Some goods are exceptions, for example alcohol, cannabis products, cigars, cigarettes, tobacco and publications; the agency's list is not complete.
- The dataset covers parcels entering Canada only. The United States has its own rules for parcels entering that country.
- Amounts are the value for duty, the amount used to calculate the duty owed, as the agency's page defines it. Above C$150, duties and taxes apply to courier parcels from the United States or Mexico, and mail from any country is duty and tax free only up to C$20; the dataset holds the courier thresholds only.
- The label column is a display label set by Deploi from the row key.
Deploi's charts and compilation are licensed CC BY 4.0. The underlying facts belong to their sources, which are named on every page. How Deploi Shopify Data works.
Sources
Tier A sources are primary documents: filings, official releases and official price pages. How sources are ranked.
- Tier ACBSA: Increase to low-value shipment thresholds and other changes (CUSMA)
Canada Border Services Agency · HTML · Read on
Cite and reuse
Deploi's charts and compilation are licensed CC BY 4.0. The underlying facts belong to their sources, which are named on every page.
APA
Deploi. (2026). At what value do duties and taxes apply to a parcel shipped into Canada, by origin country? [Web page]. https://deploi.ca/shopify/data/canada-de-minimis-duties-taxes Retrieved October 18, 2026.
BibTeX
@misc{deploi_canada_de_minimis_duties_taxes_2026,
author = {{Deploi}},
title = {At what value do duties and taxes apply to a parcel shipped into Canada, by origin country?},
year = {2026},
url = {https://deploi.ca/shopify/data/canada-de-minimis-duties-taxes},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-18}
}Embed this chart
Embed code
<iframe src="https://deploi.ca/embed/shopify/data/canada-courier-low-value-thresholds" title="Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, against C$20 from other origins" loading="lazy" style="width:100%;height:550px;border:0"></iframe> <p style="font:12px/1.4 Arial,sans-serif;margin:4px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://deploi.ca/shopify/data/canada-de-minimis-duties-taxes#chart-canada-courier-low-value-thresholds">Deploi, Courier parcels from the US or Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to C$40, against C$20 from other origins</a></p>
Keep the credit line under the embed. It is the license condition.
Questions
What is the duty free limit for parcels shipped from the US to Canada?
Courier parcels from the United States or Mexico valued at C$40 or less enter Canada free of duty and tax, and parcels valued above C$40 and up to C$150 are free of duty but taxed, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026.
What is the limit for parcels from other countries?
Courier parcels from origins other than the United States and Mexico enter Canada free of duty and tax up to a value of C$20, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. The dataset records no higher free tier for those origins.
Do the thresholds apply to alcohol, cannabis, tobacco or publications?
No. The Canada Border Services Agency excludes goods such as alcohol, cannabis, tobacco and publications from these low-value thresholds, according to the page retrieved October 18, 2026. Check other goods against the Agency's page before relying on a threshold.
Do these thresholds apply to parcels shipped into the United States?
No. The thresholds cover parcels entering Canada only, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026. The rule for parcels entering the United States is a separate question that this page does not answer.
Are the thresholds in Canadian dollars?
Yes. Each threshold is a value in Canadian dollars: C$40 and C$150 for the United States and Mexico, and C$20 for other origins, according to the Canada Border Services Agency page retrieved October 18, 2026.
More on Canada
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Retail ecommerce was 7.0% of Canada's retail sales in 2025, or C$59.2 billion, according to Statistics Canada's monthly retail trade data released September 24, 2026. Updated October 18, 2026.
- How large is the Quebec market compared with the rest of Canada, and does it justify a French storefront?
Quebec accounted for 22.2% of Canada's retail sales in 2025, second to Ontario, according to Statistics Canada, and 74.8% of its residents had French as their only mother tongue in the 2021 Census. Updated October 18, 2026.
- How much have courier prices in Canada risen since 2019?
Canada's courier and messenger price index rose from 99.1 in January 2019 to 160.5 in August 2026, a rise of 62.0% computed by Deploi from Statistics Canada data. Updated October 18, 2026.
- Is Shopify growing faster in Canada than Canadian ecommerce is?
Shopify's revenue from Canada grew 46.1% in US dollars from fiscal 2023 to 2025, against 31.4% in Canadian dollars for Canadian retail ecommerce, according to Shopify's Form 10-K and Statistics Canada. Updated October 18, 2026.
- When in the year do Canadians shop online, and how big is the November-December peak?
November and December brought in 21.5% of Canada's retail ecommerce sales in 2025, according to Statistics Canada monthly data released September 24, 2026. Updated October 18, 2026.
- Which markets do Canadian online retailers sell to: Canada only, the US, or further?
In 2023, 19.8% of Canadian retail trade enterprises with online sales sold to the United States, against 97.0% that sold in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Updated October 18, 2026.
Changes
- · Canada's low-value courier thresholds for duties and taxes, by origin
First release on October 18, 2026.