Hello friends,

I raised my below query in my other post but perhaps due to the topic name it was over sighted by the members on CD. So I am raising it again.

In August beginning I am moving permanently to Toronto with my family. I am shipping my household items by sea cargo which should reach there by sept second week, and by the time I am expecting I would have managed to rent a place to live with my family. I have few questions which I am sure people here on the forum can address and give their opinions, advice, pros and cons and other important things to take care of for this

1) What address of Canada should I OR Can I give for shipping the goods to Canada? as I do not have a permanent address there yet and the address which I had used previously for PR card, Bank A/c opening etc was only a temporary one as I returned back after a short stay? Can I use any new temporary address for booking my cargo?

2) How would I know that the cargo has reached at Toronto Port other than my shipper calls me and tell or inform me by email.? Will I be intimated by any office of Toronto Port/Customs office?

2) Once the Goods reach there (Toronto Port), what all documents will I need to produce to collect the goods from the customs/Port? As per my knowledge I need to have

a) Any Photo ID
b) Passport / PP copy
c) Proof of residence (Landing paper copy, or PR card)
d) Goods to follow list which was declared by me and which is stamped by the customs when I landed first time.

If any other please add the same

3) Will it involve lots of paper work?Is it complicated or its general.?

4) Do I need to hire a clearing agent for this ? How much will that cost?

5) How do I transport my goods from port to my rental home? How much it costs (I will be in downtown )

6) Within what time frame I need to get my goods cleared from the port and take it to my place?

7) What if the address I give in the shipping address at the time of booking my cargo is different than the one to where I will take my goods when it arrives (To my new rental place)

8) Is any other specific thing which I need to keep in mind at the time of booking the cargo and shipping it? Also when I go to collect my goods from the port/customs in Toronto?


9) Is there any guidance service for this matter by Ontario services/ Voluntary organisation/institue for the newcomers like me in this regard to whom I can approach once there?


Thanks in advance for any answers to this query.

newincanada

It seems that you are arranging the shipping on your own. I had got a door to door service and it was very easy.

However, shipping on your own should not be a big problem too - only thing is that you will have to get a clearing agent in Canada. You can either do it before you ship the goods and get the goods consigned to his address or consign to yourself with collection at port and then get a agent. The latter will be a bit cumbersome since you will then be at the mercy of agents who could quote any price to you since they know you have already shipped and have to get it cleared in given time.

What I had to do was - after receiving my agent's call that the goods have arrived -

1. go to canadian customs and produce my passport, landing papers and goods to follow list. They already had details of my shipment sent by the agent to them.
2. The custom clearance was done electronically and it took me less than half hour to get everything organised.
3. The clearance was sent to agent and he brought the goods to the address I gave.

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

I followed the same steps as above except that in my case , I went over to the cargo Agent myself with a copy of the Customs documents and collected my goods as mine was perhaps door to port ... I recall that the storage cost at the cargo Agent was pretty high per day and it is worth checking up with him every day around the date of arrival .......... first day s free but another extra day could set you off by $60/- ......... You can check with someone on Craigslist with a van who can help you move the goods in ........... or browse for movers on CD .......

Or do the 3rd step as per Chandresh ...

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Fido.

Hello Chandresh and Fido,

Yes, I am shipping my household goods from Dubai to Toronto, and evaluating to do on my own, but now I think should first opt for door to door which I believe should be the most hassel free, probably little extra cost, but should be worth the value one pays in return for any last moment hassels if things do not go as calculated like arranging agent, daily cost of storage if delayed etc.

Thanks for your time and providing the inputs.

Appreciate if any other CD's here who has shipped from Dubai to Toronto can share their views as well. (Door to Port as well as Door to Door). Also if they can share the agents as well as shipping companies details they took the service from.

Thanks again.

newincanada

We are moving to Toronto by the 1st week of July. We sent our household stuff by Leader packers. You can google them, they have a website too. The service which we opted for is door to door. the packers have been refered to us by some friends who moved to toronto last year. They found the service good. The packers did a good job and we hope our stuff reaches in good condition and on time.

Good luck with your move.
Jigcy

Thanks Jigcy, I will also check out with them and share with you. I shall send you my contact details by pm, if you can send me your contact details i shall contact you no problem at all. (If you are interested)

Wish you all the best and Welcome to Canada!

newincanada