Cars from Japan. What the import costs, from the auction to the registry office.

In one sentence. A car from Japan costs its price, the export costs in Japan, the ship, the Canadian port, the duty, the GST and the $100 air conditioner tax at the border, the Green Levy on some larger cars put into service after March 2007, the clearance, the trip from the port, and the provincial tax and inspection when you register it.

Check your car free: whether it passes the 15-year rule by its build month, and what is due at the border.

Three kinds of cost, set by three kinds of people

The first and third parts have no official price list. The figures below are what sellers, importers and one buyer have published, each named, so you can ask your own seller for theirs.

In Japan: the car and the export costs

A price quoted FOB covers the car up to loading on the ship in Japan. A price quoted CIF also includes the ocean freight and the insurance to the Canadian port. Before the ship, the car has to be bought, taken to the port, deregistered and exported:

The car also has to arrive clean. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency: "The importation of items contaminated with soil and soil-related matter from all countries is prohibited." CBSA's vehicle memorandum, D19-12-1, says used vehicles "must be free from soil, sand, earth, plant residue, manure and related debris." A broker, BorderBuddy, writes that dirty cars are held for washing at the importer's expense and that "Soil exams can take up to 2 weeks to complete". Ask the exporter whether the price includes a wash.

The ship: RoRo or a container

A car crosses on a roll-on, roll-off ship (RoRo) or in a container, which costs more and keeps it sealed. Most published prices are for Vancouver:

Duty is charged on the price up to the ship, not on the freight

This is the line many online cost pages get wrong. Canada values imports at the place of shipment, not at the Canadian port. Section 48 of the Customs Act adds to the price the costs of getting the goods to the ship:

"the cost of transportation of, the loading, unloading and handling charges and other charges and expenses associated with the transportation of, and the cost of insurance relating to the transportation of, the goods to the place within the country of export from which the goods are shipped directly to Canada"

And it takes out the same costs from that place onward, the transport "from the place within the country of export from which the goods are shipped directly to Canada". So the value for duty is the car's price plus the trip to the port in Japan, and the ocean freight and insurance to Canada are not in it. If your seller quotes CIF, take the freight and insurance out before you work out the duty. On the $20,000 car below, adding $2,000 of freight by mistake would raise the duty from $1,220 to $1,342.

One more part of section 48 matters if you use a buying agent in Japan. Commissions are added to the value, "other than fees paid or payable by the purchaser to his agent for the service of representing the purchaser abroad in respect of the sale". Whether your agent's fee is that kind of fee depends on what the agent does for you, so settle it before the entry is filed.

Duty: 6.1%, or 0% with a CPTPP certification

Japan is in the CPTPP, and the 2026 Customs Tariff gives cars made there a lower rate:

The lower rate needs paper. Memorandum D11-4-2 says the certification of origin "must be completed and signed by either the importer, the exporter, or the producer of the good", and without it another tariff, "usually the MFN Tariff, is to be claimed." For a kei truck, see are kei trucks legal in Canada.

GST, the air conditioner tax, and the Green Levy

D19-12-1: "Vehicles eligible for importation into Canada will be assessed for duty, excise tax and the goods and services tax". The excise tax is usually one line, the air conditioner tax: "Imported vehicles that have an air conditioning unit are subjected to a CAD $100 excise tax." The same paragraph names a second one, which is easy to miss:

"Importers will have to pay additional excise taxes (Green Levy) only if the vehicle has a weighted average fuel consumption rating of 13 or more litres per 100 kilometers and is put into service after March 19, 2007."

It covers "automobiles (including station wagons, vans, and sports utility vehicles) designed primarily for the use as passenger vehicles, but not including pickup trucks, vans equipped to accommodate 10 or more passengers, ambulances, and hearses." Section 6 of Schedule I to the Excise Tax Act sets the amount:

The cars that pass the 15-year rule today were built up to 2011, so a large car, van or SUV built from 2007 on is the one to check. A model sold only in Japan has no Canadian rating, and the Act's answer is "the best available data, which may include the city fuel consumption rating for the most similar model and attributes", and the same for the highway rating. Ask before you buy one.

The GST is 5% (Excise Tax Act, section 212), on more than the price. Section 215 makes its base the value for duty plus "the amount of all duties and taxes, if any, payable on the goods", which includes the duty, the air conditioner tax and the Green Levy. There is no luxury tax: it applies only to a vehicle with "a date of manufacture after 2018" (Memorandum D18-4-1), and a car that passes the 15-year rule is older than that.

The border bill, worked through

For a car with factory air conditioning and a value for duty of $20,000, a number picked only to show the method:

If the same car owed a $2,000 Green Levy at the default rate, the value for GST would be $23,320.00, the GST $1,166.00, and the total due at the border $4,486.00. Freight, the port, the clearance, the trip home and provincial tax are not in this table. They come next.

At the port: the terminal, the clearance and the trip home

In Vancouver the car lands at a terminal that charges its own fee. We found no fee published by the terminal itself. JDM Rush, an importer, writes that the "WWS Terminal (Vancouver area) charges ~$385 for standard processing", with the first 4 days at the port free; one buyer reported a $375 docking fee in 2025. A car in a container has to be unloaded first, and BorderBuddy puts that at $350 to $500 per vehicle.

Then the clearance. You may do it yourself: CBSA's Memorandum D17-1-3 accepts a CAD "prepared and transmitted by the importer or the person acting as an importer's agent", and "The carrier transporting the goods cannot act as an agent of the importer unless they are a licensed customs broker." Published prices for an agent: through Norquin, $259 per car, and a licensed Canadian customs broker clears it; RB Auto lists port fees and clearance together at $615; one buyer reported a $250 broker fee in 2025. Since 1 April 2024 one broker licence covers "all customs offices across Canada" (Customs Notice 24-06), so the broker does not have to be at the port.

Last, the trip home. B-Pro, an importer, publishes what it adds to deliver a car from Vancouver: Calgary or Edmonton $890, Winnipeg $1,590, Toronto $2,190, Ottawa $2,390, Montréal $2,490. JDM Rush quotes $2,300 from Vancouver to Ontario for its example car.

When you register it: provincial tax and an inspection

The GST is paid at the border; the provincial part comes when you register the car.

For Quebec and the other provinces, ask your registry office for the tax and the inspection before you buy; we have not confirmed them on a government page. Right-hand drive and road use are a separate provincial question: what each province says.

Four mistakes in online cost calculators

Of ten cost pages we read on 27 October 2026, five work out the duty or the GST on the wrong base. The four mistakes to watch for:

Questions people ask