Shipping Your Belongings from Australia to Canada: Full Cost Breakdown
Shipping Your Belongings from Australia to Canada: Full Cost Breakdown
One of the most practically charged decisions you’ll make before your move is what to do with your stuff. The realistic answer for most people: ship less than you think, sell more than feels comfortable, and spend the money on new things in Canada instead.
That said, shipping is absolutely the right call for some belongings — particularly furniture with sentimental value, specialist equipment, and items that are expensive to replace. This guide walks through the real costs, your options, and what both the Australian and Canadian customs processes actually involve.
The Core Decision: What’s Worth Shipping?
Before you book anything, work through the cost-benefit honestly. A new bed frame in Toronto costs $300–500 CAD. Shipping a mattress from Sydney in a shared container costs $150–300 AUD just for that item, plus your time packing and unpacking, plus the six weeks it spends at sea.
Worth shipping:
- Large furniture with sentimental or high replacement value
- Specialist equipment (music gear, camera equipment, sporting equipment)
- Books and vinyl collections
- Quality kitchenware, artwork, or genuinely irreplaceable items
Usually better to sell and replace:
- Flat-pack furniture (IKEA ships everywhere)
- Old mattresses and white goods
- Items you’d have replaced anyway in 12 months
- Bulky outdoor gear with soil or plant material attached (biosecurity risk)
Your Shipping Options
Shared Container (LCL — Less Than Container Load)
The most common option for individuals and couples. Your belongings are packed into a wooden crate, which goes into a shipping container shared with other cargo. You pay per cubic metre.
- Cost: $200–500 AUD per cubic metre depending on provider and season
- Transit time: 6–10 weeks, Sydney to Vancouver or Toronto
- Minimum charge: Usually 3–5 cubic metres
- Realistic cost for a 1–2 bedroom worth of goods: $2,000–5,000 AUD
Full Container (FCL)
You rent an entire 20-foot or 40-foot container. Only makes sense if you have a full household to move.
- 20-foot container: $7,000–12,000 AUD (Sydney to Vancouver or Toronto)
- 40-foot container: $10,000–18,000 AUD
- Transit time: Similar to LCL (6–10 weeks)
Air Freight
Used for urgent, high-value, or small shipments. Expect to pay $15–30 AUD per kilogram. For anything more than 50kg, sea freight almost always wins financially.
International Couriers and Post
For smaller non-fragile shipments, international couriers (DHL, FedEx) or Australia Post’s registered international service work well for boxes under 30kg — clothes, books, and personal items sent before or after your main shipment.
Who to Use
Major international removalists operating on the Australia–Canada route:
- Crown Relocations — full-service, they pack your goods and handle customs at both ends
- Allied Pickfords — another major full-service provider
- Seven Seas Worldwide — popular for smaller moves, flat-rate pricing by box or cubic metre
- Kent Relocation — good for larger household moves
- Interline Shipping — budget-friendly, less hand-holding
Get quotes from at least three providers. Prices vary significantly, and the cheapest isn’t always the most reliable.
Paying for Your Shipping
If you’re paying an international removalist — whether in AUD or CAD — using Wise or OFX for any international payment will save you considerably versus your bank’s transfer service.
For a $5,000 AUD shipment, a 2–3% exchange rate difference plus fees can add $150–300 to your bill. OFX is particularly good for amounts over $10,000 AUD — no transfer fees and competitive rates, and you can lock in a rate ahead of time if you’re worried about currency movement.
Australian Customs: What You Can’t Take
When exporting household goods, you’ll complete an Australian Customs export declaration. Items that cause issues include:
- Wood products — may require treatment certification
- Food — generally prohibited for export as part of a household goods shipment
- Soil — anything with soil attached (hiking boots, camping gear, garden tools)
- Plant material — certain items may be restricted
Clean your outdoor gear thoroughly before packing. Biosecurity officers can hold and fumigate shipments at your cost if they find issues on the Australian side.
Canadian Customs: Form B4 and Duty-Free Import
Importing household goods as a new Canadian resident is duty-free, provided you owned the items before becoming a resident. You’ll need:
- CBSA Form B4 — Personal Effects Accounting Document — filled out before your goods arrive
- A complete list of all items and approximate values
- Proof you’re establishing Canadian residency (IEC visa, landing documents)
Critical: Items not listed on your B4 when you first import cannot be added later without paying duty. Be thorough. You can fill out a preliminary list marking items as “to follow” and submit the final version within 40 days of landing.
Newer items purchased specifically for the move may attract duty if they don’t qualify as used personal goods. Keep receipts.
Insurance for Your Goods in Transit
Your belongings aren’t automatically insured during shipping. Standard home insurance policies don’t typically cover international transit, and the removalist’s liability is usually limited to a fraction of the item’s actual value.
Cover-More offers policies that can include international goods in transit as part of their travel coverage, and World Nomads covers high-value personal items under their Explorer tier. For larger household moves, ask your removalist directly about marine cargo insurance — this is the industry-standard product for container shipping.
The Timeline to Plan Around
| Task | When |
|—|—|
| Get shipping quotes | 3+ months before departure |
| Book your shipment | 6–8 weeks before your move date |
| Pack and have goods collected | 1–2 weeks before departure |
| Goods arrive in Canada | 6–10 weeks after departure |
| Customs clearance | 1–5 business days after arrival |
The timeline gap matters: you will be in Canada for 6–10 weeks without your shipped goods. Plan for it — keep a full suitcase with enough for that period, and don’t ship anything you’ll genuinely need on arrival.
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