BUY US Trailer - Bring to Canada

[Dawn S]

Hi - anyone else do this already?

I have to bring my new trailer from the US to Canada.

I have the TITLE - and will have a bill of sale document. Do I need more?

What kind of insurance can I get to drive it across?

Dawn

[Roy in TO]

Do I need more?

How old is the trailer, it makes a difference.

There are lots of threads discussing this, but it pays to check up on the current issues crossing the border for they are in a constant state of flux.

Not sure how insurance works in BC, they are different ;-)

[Kent I]

I purchased my trailer in the US and brought it home to B.C. If the trailer is older than 15 years then you have it easier. You have to have title, and have a authentic paper trail. When I did it some one suggested to go into Canada Border services and check with them what they are looking for so that when you come back across you are prepared. It doesne't help to have the officer's name you talked to going out of the country to refer to when you are coming in. I went out of the country at a different crossing than I returned. If I did it again I would use the same crossing.
Possesion of the title is helpful but it makes life easier if you can have a paper trail that says the person you bought the trailer from was a legitmate owner . If it is newer than 15 years, check out www.riv.ca

Have fun.

[Dawn S]

I purchased my trailer in the US and brought it home to B.C. If the trailer is older than 15 years then you have it easier. You have to have title, and have a authentic paper trail. When I did it some one suggested to go into Canada Border services and check with them what they are looking for so that when you come back across you are prepared. It doesne't help to have the officer's name you talked to going out of the country to refer to when you are coming in. I went out of the country at a different crossing than I returned. If I did it again I would use the same crossing.
Possesion of the title is helpful but it makes life easier if you can have a paper trail that says the person you bought the trailer from was a legitmate owner . If it is newer than 15 years, check out www.riv.ca

Have fun.

When you say "an authentic paper trail" what do you mean? I will do up a bill of sale, and I will have the title. The previous owner also has given me his registration certificate from when he bought the trailer in 2006, and the title.

Does this sound like enough? I will do as you say when going over to pick it up too.

Dawn

[Kent I]

It will be helpful if the registration slip of the seller has his or her name on it from their purchase. When I bought my trailer in Oregon, the seller told me that the paper work, the registration, did not have to get renewed until the tags expired. His name was not on the registration slip as he had had it less than a year, . It was not big enough to accomodate his family. I was in no position to argue with him from being out of the country. I had him write up a bill of sale identifying the vehicle as the one that he had purchased on a certain date, from the person whose name was on the registration slip. Since he also passed on the title to the trailer, it worked out fine in the end but there was some confusing momments at the border crossing because the officer wondered if I had been sold a stolen trailer. If I remember correctly I found a blank form for a Bill of sale on either the ICBC web sight or the RIV web site that has all the items that should be on that bill of sale. A more experieinced officer pointed out that the title was sufficient for ownership. I do not know if it was as big a deal as they made it out to be. I think I was the opportunity to teach a new officer a lesson in the importation of a recreational vehicle. I had no problem registering it in B.C. My 1972 trailer does not have a 17 number vin because it is older than that system and while they encouraged me to get one it is not necessary.

[Kent I]

It will be helpful if the registration slip of the seller has his or her name on it from their purchase. When I bought my trailer in Oregon, the seller told me that the paper work, the registration, did not have to get renewed until the tags expired. His name was not on the registration slip as he had had it less than a year, . It was not big enough to accomodate his family. I was in no position to argue with him from being out of the country. I had him write up a bill of sale identifying the vehicle as the one that he had purchased on a certain date, from the person whose name was on the registration slip. Since he also passed on the title to the trailer, it worked out fine in the end but there was some confusing momments at the border crossing because the officer wondred if I had been sold a stolen trailer. A more experieinced officer pointed out that the title was sufficient for ownership. I do not know if it was as big a deal as they made it out to be. I think I was the opportunity to teach a new officer a lesson in the importation of a recreational vehicle. I had no problem registering it in B.C. My 1972 trailer does not have a 17 number vin because it is older than that system and while they encouraged me to get one it is not necessary.

[Dawn S]

It will be helpful if the registration slip of the seller has his or her name on it from their purchase. When I bought my trailer in Oregon, the seller told me that the paper work, the registration, did not have to get renewed until the tags expired. His name was not on the registration slip as he had had it less than a year, . It was not big enough to accomodate his family. I was in no position to argue with him from being out of the country. I had him write up a bill of sale identifying the vehicle as the one that he had purchased on a certain date, from the person whose name was on the registration slip. Since he also passed on the title to the trailer, it worked out fine in the end but there was some confusing momments at the border crossing because the officer wondred if I had been sold a stolen trailer. A more experieinced officer pointed out that the title was sufficient for ownership. I do not know if it was as big a deal as they made it out to be. I think I was the opportunity to teach a new officer a lesson in the importation of a recreational vehicle. I had no problem registering it in B.C. My 1972 trailer does not have a 17 number vin because it is older than that system and while they encouraged me to get one it is not necessary.

Thanks Kent,

It looks like the tags are expired on the trailer that I am buying too. I hope this doesn't create a problem. I called the Canada Customs folk and it sounds pretty straight forward.

One more question: How did you haul it across the line? IE where did you buy the temp permit? US or BC? I call a BC insurance broker and he told me I have to buy it in the US. Seems odd.

Dawn

[Kent I]

Thanks Kent,

It looks like the tags are expired on the trailer that I am buying too. I hope this doesn't create a problem. I called the Canada Customs folk and it sounds pretty straight forward.

One more question: How did you haul it across the line? IE where did you buy the temp permit? US or BC? I call a BC insurance broker and he told me I have to buy it in the US. Seems odd.

Dawn

I suspect that what we did was not correct. The plates were valid in Oregon and we had real difficulty getting any clear answers about insurance for Oregon, washington and B.C., We tried. So we just went, with the Oregon plates and then sent them back to the previous onwer once registered in B.C. Traveling on the weekend confused matters, we are only an hour north of the border. If there had been an incident I suspect we would have had a major mess.

[Roy in TO]

Temporary Plates are usually obtained where the vehicle is registered, a last tax grab of sorts.

Someone I know (very well) took the plates off a current registered trailer they owned along with the registration for that trailer and temporarily used them on the trailer they were buying in the USA. (They live in a province where the plate is registered to the owner, not the vehicle and you can do that with a car but no one could agree if you could do it with a trailer). They stopped at the border declaring the trailer and pulled over to customs to pay. That was a scene from Newhart. The woman processing the paperwork said we had to go over to the window on the other side of the room to pay. When we got there the same woman walked up to the window and took our money.

Since we were a couple and spent a couple of the nights in the US we met travel minimums and were allowed to take a good chunk off the cost of the trailer for taxes as our duty free exemption on GST. The provincial taxes still had to be paid on the full amount on registration. In Ontario, the trailer basic insurance falls under your vehicle. Extra must be purchased separately.

[Carol Ann in TO]

That was a scene from Newhart. The woman processing the paperwork said we had to go over to the window on the other side of the room to pay. When we got there the same woman walked up to the window and took our money.

That was on the Canadian side. It's worth mentioning (as a humorous aside) that a similar thing happened recently on the US side of the border--- talked to a guy at the kiosk and then when inside it was the same guy at the desk.