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Home > Guides > Duties on used goods
Usually yes. Canada's mail-import rules tax goods on their value in Canadian dollars, and there is no blanket exemption just because something is second-hand. The exceptions are narrow: immigrants' personal possessions are not dutiable, and if the CBSA mistakenly assesses duty on goods mailed home, you can dispute it. The twenty-dollar exemption for low-value imports is the everyday version of the same rule.
This is general information, not tax advice.
Because the CBSA's question is not "is it new," it is "what is it worth." All international mail coming into Canada is subject to CBSA review, and the agency decides whether the goods may enter and whether duty or taxes apply. The amount you may owe depends on the item's value in Canadian dollars, whether it is a gift, and any exemptions in the legislation. A second-hand camera bought on a US auction site is still an imported good with a value, so it is assessed like any other import. The twenty-dollar exemption under the Postal Imports Remission Order is the practical floor: mail an item worth twenty Canadian dollars or less and there is no duty or tax at all; above that, duty plus GST or HST and any PST apply on the full value. Note the carve-outs even at the low end: tobacco, books, periodicals, magazines, alcohol, and goods ordered through a Canadian intermediary do not qualify for that exemption.
The real exemptions are about who you are, not how worn the item is. People immigrating to Canada do not pay duty or taxes on the personal possessions they bring with them: that is the personal-effects exemption, and it is the exception, not the rule. There is a wrinkle worth knowing: when those goods arrive by mail rather than in your luggage, the CBSA sometimes assesses duty by mistake, and you can dispute the assessment to get it corrected. Travellers mailing goods home while abroad face a related rule: on return you must declare those goods on the personal exemption customs declaration, and keep a copy of the form plus your receipts, or you may pay duty on your own belongings. None of these are a general "used goods" pass; they are specific situations with paperwork.
| Scenario | Duty on the used item? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Used camera bought from a US seller, mailed to you | Yes, on its value in Canadian dollars | No blanket second-hand exemption; assessed like any import |
| Used item worth twenty Canadian dollars or less | No | Postal Imports Remission Order exemption (some goods excluded) |
| Your own used belongings, mailed home while you travel | Possibly, unless declared properly | Declare on the personal exemption form and keep receipts |
| Personal possessions of someone immigrating to Canada | No | Immigrants' personal-effects exemption; dispute mistaken assessments |
| Used goods received as a genuine gift from a relative | No, if within the gift rules | Gift exemption applies to qualifying gifts regardless of newness |
Honestly, at what it is actually worth: the price paid is the cleanest number for a purchase, and a realistic current value for anything else. Do not declare a token value like one dollar to dodge duty; that is a false declaration, and the CBSA can reassess based on its own valuation. Keep the receipt or the listing screenshot: if the assessed value looks wrong, that paperwork is your evidence in a dispute. And remember the frame of this whole question: it is about goods entering Canada from abroad. LetterAgent's shipping labels are Canada-only domestic labels, so none of this applies to parcels shipped with them.
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