There is alot of speculation and incorrect info in this thread.
First off, the threshold for items importing into Canada is $20CAD, $60CAD if declared a gift (yes, I have had imports marked as gifts by the seller without my asking charged Customs fees...if you dispute it, they will want proof it was a gift and you know the other party).
You pay the equivalent of LOCAL consumption taxes (GST+PST) on all imports that exceed this. This is ****NOT**** synonymous with duty. Duty is something entirely different...
Duty is an additional tax on goods *manufactured* outside the USA. "Free trade" under NAFTA means goods *manufactured* in the USA can enter Canada without any duty being charged (note again duty is *NOT* the full import fee. For items *manufactured* (I keep starring this because people seem to forget that it's place of manufacture that matters, not country of origin for duty) outside of the USA, there is no duty on anything EXCEPT speakers and amplifiers (both 6% duty).
So far we have GST+PST+duty (if applicable) as the total import fee payable to the GOVERNMENT.
However, someone has to actually do the clearance paperwork to get this cleared through Customs.
USPS/Canada post charge a flat $5 handling fee, $8 for EMS items. However, this gets you clearance at the speed of "whenever they feel like it". Items can sit in Customs for weeks on end. You get what you pay for.
UPS (Ground). I'm tired of hearing "horror stories" about UPS when their rates are posted on their website for all to see. Here they are:
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
Remember, that's brokerage PLUS disbursement (2.7% min $5.85) PLUS COD charge ($4.25) PLUS GST on these charges.
FedEx is more or less inline with what UPS charges for GROUND brokerage (FedEx brokerage is actually a little more than UPS). They charge a flat $7 R.O.D. fee for Express shipments.
If you live close to the port of entry, you can also self-clear shipments and avoid brokerage, but I won't get into that.
Another important note for those of you cheating the system. If you send something with a $1 value, that's the maximum amount of insurance it can carry with the shipping company. This isn't always a wise idea, and note that Customs has the authority to question any value on any shipment, open it, check contents, and reassess value as THEY SEE FIT.
