How to ship to Canada

Shipping wine to Canada is not simple, but it can be quickly done when adequately prepared. We make many successful wine shipments to recipients in Canada each week.

Special Requirements

Currently, we can only deliver wines to these five provinces, with the estimated Duties/Taxes (D/T) rates listed below:

Alberta: 10-15% wine value; with a volume limit of 45L per recipient per 90 days.
British Columbia: ~100+% wine value + $21 CAD
Ontario: 110-120% wine value
Manitoba: 〜10% wine value
Quebec: 110-120% wine value. No gifts allowed. The buyer and Recipient must be the same person.

Legal Compliance

We file and submit the necessary documents digitally on behalf of the Recipient per Canadian regulations. Please send us the receipt of purchase to facilitate customs clearance. The receipt must include the following items. Please share the proper purchase receipt with the Recipient as they may be asked to present it to the local Liquor Control Board (LCB). (Note: the Recipient must be a legal resident in the destination Province, i.e., providing the driver's license to LCB when requested.)

Winery or Merchant's name, logo, address, and phone number
Recipient's full name, shipping address, phone number, and email address.
If gifting: Sender's full name, billing address, phone number, email address
Wine description (vintage, name, AVA, alcohol by volume)
Purchased price of wine (as declared value)

Customs D/T Payments

We are happy to help get wines delivered safely into Canada. Our pricing does not include D/T. Due to Canadian Customs regulations, only a Canadian Recipient receiving the wine can pay the D/T.

For example: Joe lives in Napa, California and Mary lives in Ontario. Joe sends a case of wine to Mary. Mary's name and address are listed as the Recipient on the package to be delivered. Only Mary can make the taxes payment to Canadian government. Joe cannot prepay or make payment to the Canadian government. It does not matter if the wine is a gift.

The recipients must pay D/T when contacted by the Liquor Control Board (LCB). This rule applies to gifts; a gift Sender cannot take care of D/T on behalf of the Recipient.

The Recipient may be required to provide an invoice (a receipt of purchase), a copy of the credit card statement (an electronic copy is okay), and a copy of the transaction receipt by a local LCB. The LCB may cross-reference the declared value to the purchase receipt and the purchaser's credit card statement.

Gifting Workaround

You can send wine as a gift to your friend and family in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Manitoba; however, you cannot do so if the recipients are in Quebec. Quebec only accepts the shipment purchased by the individual in Quebec and shipping to themselves.

One major challenge is that the Liquor Control Board (LCB) requires the Recipient to pay for the import D/T. The sender cannot prepay this on behalf of the Recipient. If you plan to send a surprise gift to a friend in Canada, it will not work. Imagine your friend getting a call from the Liquor Control Board asking for payment of the D/T that they are unaware of...

Here is what we suggest when sending wine as a gift to Canada (Alberta, BC, and Ontario only):

Inform them that we are sending wine as a gift. They are to expect a call from the LCB shortly. They may need to provide the LCB with a receipt of purchase, a copy of the credit card statement, and an actual transaction receipt, as mentioned above. If requested, they should pay the required fees and submit a copy of the credit card statement and a transaction receipt to comply with LCB. Then we will pay them back via PayPal or Venmo, etc., as a reimbursement.
The Recipient will receive the tracking info from Gliding Eagle in an email, and we will watch the shipment throughout the process.

Please note that the Customs Invoice differs from the transaction receipt when the sender is not the Recipient and because the transaction receipt is issued to the sender. It may show a collective purchase is acceptable, but the customs invoice must be issued per shipment.

Pricing and Volume Limit

Gliding Eagle Full Services and Pricing to Canada

Other Considerations

Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) depends on when the LCB contacts the Recipient about payment and the promptness of the response. Thus, we do not guarantee an ETA. Learn more about our estimated delivery times.

The recipient must work with FedEx and other customs brokers to clear customs within 40 days once the packages arrive at Canadian customs. Otherwise, they will be handed over to Canadian customs to be destroyed.