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Importing a trailer from the US into Canada

68K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  ChrisL 
#1 ·
Anyone done this before? Is the process the same as for a vehicle, or are trailers (eg: camping trailers) handled differently?

...lars



 
#2 ·
We have friends thet do it every two years. They buy one in arizona or somewhere, off ebay usually, live in it for the winter and then bring it home and re sell it. My understanding is that it's the same process as a car. Minus the inspection here when you register it.
 
#6 ·
actually i believe they have to go thru a federal inspection, i have done a lot of them on trailers being brought up from the states, it is free (well it is part of what you pay at the border) and if it is beinge registered commercially will need a proper inspection

Now i am not 100% sure on this i have just done then alot over the past few months so i would assume it has to be done
 
#8 ·
I bought a car trailer in the states and brought it up. The guy left this plates on it so i just drove it home with his plates. Got to the border, the vin on the trailer didn't match the vin on the papers. They didn't even care. Just told me to do the homework on it when i got it home and get the papers changed. Couldn't believe it. I just got it home and insured it as a u-built.
 
#9 ·
what kind of trailer lars? travel trailer or lil utility camp trailer? i think the RIV still covers vehicles/trailers newer than 15 years old. older ones, are exempt from the program and should be easier to import.

have a look at this link i bookmarked when i was looking for a military trailer. its from ontario though, but should be somewhat relevant.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f343/how-to-import-from-usa-into-canada-27563.html

oh and for the permit, you'll need one for every state the trailer is being driven in. as long as you've got registration papers, you should be good. if it can qualify as a ubuilt or similar, you may be able to get a permit without registration. bill of sale might help if you dont have one...
 
#10 ·
oh and for the permit, you'll need one for every state the trailer is being driven in. as long as you've got registration papers, you should be good. if it can qualify as a ubuilt or similar, you may be able to get a permit without registration. bill of sale might help if you dont have one...
I remember reading on IVOAC that you can get a vehicle permit from ICBC that will get you through all the US states. You'd think that the same would follow for a trailer.
 
#11 ·
I bought a travel trailer a few years ago from the states. It was pretty easy. From what I remember, you just need to have title to the trailer and a bill of sale. Go straight to Canada Customs and pay the tax. The trailer will need valid plates to be on the road and for BC, I got a binder of insurance which I think covers liabilty.
 
#14 ·
i believe you are only suposed to register a trailer you actually built yourself as a u-built.

if it was me i would just throw a u-built plate on it and bring it back with me across the border. if you need a story to tell the canadian guards just tell them you camped somewhere for a day or two and bring some camping stuff with you.

canadian and u.s. customs do not comunicate in any way. they have no way of knowing when you crossed the border into the u.s. or why you went down. so you can tell the u.s. border guard that you are going camping on the way down.
 
#15 ·
canadian and u.s. customs do not comunicate in any way. they have no way of knowing when you crossed the border into the u.s. or why you went down. so you can tell the u.s. border guard that you are going camping on the way down.

Sorry, but in this day and age I find that very hard to believe. And if you are caught making a false declaration, things can get very expensive and nasty if you get caught.

IMO, it's not worth the risk.
 
#17 ·
i'm pretty sure it has to go through a federal now. even atvs and dirtbikes have to get a federal inspection now. there have been a couple people that have come in to get them who said they weren't going to but they got calls saying the bike was going to be re-posesed if they didn't get one.

federals aren't that big of a deal, and it is paid for with all the fees at the border, all we do is confirm vin, make sure the vehicle isn't a 3 wheeler (cannot import 3 wheelers into canada anymore) basically just to make sure it isn't stolen. Its not like a provincial where you need everything to be to maufacturers specs.
 
#18 ·
You`ll need a federal inspection before you can register the travel trailer in BC. No cost for the inspection, part of the RIV fee. There is a list of approved places, I had Canadian Tire do it. The inspection is a joke, they don`t check whether or not the trailer is safe or check for any propane leaks. They didn`t need access into the trailer, I think they just confirmed vin#.
 
#20 ·
Get a APV38 "binder of insurance from ICBC" over the phone once you've purchased the trailer. THen get a Washington permit and plates. That's the insurance side of the transaction. Best buy the 30 day APV38 as something always comes up.

You will have to get an inspection at Cambodian Tire too.
 
#23 ·
just did this 3 weeks ago..

Bought a travel trailer in Lynden, called my autoplan broker for the binder ($36), went to a title office in Bellingham and bought a 3 day permit ($28)
Drove it back to the canadian border, completed an RIV doc (was under 15 years old), paid the RIV fee and GST (30 mins).
Went to autoplan the next day with the trailer (no inspections needed for trailers per ICBC), and they physically checked the VIN, charged me the other tax, and we were done :) All registered and insured.

Highly recommend it, there's some great deals on CL, and EVERY one we looked at was in much better condition than it's BC counterpart
 
#24 ·
i just did it this past week with a travel trailer i bought in seattle.

-we paid cash for it, got a written bill of sale and a wa state title that was signed over. the transfer part of the title doesn't need to be filled out, just the part that signs over any interest in it.
-the trailer had a valid wa plate on it so i just drove it back with that plate
-got to the 176th border crossing at 2am and paid the gst only and filled out a little paper work that the riv needed
-went online with the riv the next day to pay the $200 and fill out all of the paper work and fax them copies of the title and paperwork. call them a few times to check for status on the paperwork because if something doesn't show up clearly on their fax they will just set it aside and not contact you.
-1 business day later i logged onto their site and downloaded the inspection form for canadian tire.
-took the trailer and all forms to canadian tire where they spent 5 minutes checking the vin and tires to make sure they were proper trailer tires.
-took the trailer to an autoplan agent where they looked at the vin number on it again and the gvw. from there they take the title away and issue a bc regy. they also charge pst on it
-i think there is supposed to be a sticker of compliance showing up in the mail soon.

apparently you are supposed to have a letter from the manufacturer saying all recalls have been done. when filling out the riv stuff one of the questions is if we have a letter for recalls done or if there is a sticker of compliance on the trailer. there was a UL compliance sticker on the trailer so i checked that off as a yes on the paperwork. no letters were needed.

the guy at canadian tire said that because they only get paid $20 to fill out the inspection form they don't check for recall letters or a sticker of compliance.

3 business days after bringing the trailer home it is insured with a bc plate. i never did get any temp permits from icbc for the trailer. i kept the wa plate on it until everything was done. legal? i don't know.

in the end it ended up costing us about $5100 can for a 2000 terry ultralite 17' hybrid travel trailer. probably worth about $8000 here maybe 10 grand in the spring.
 
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