Before you buy — settle these first

• Set a total landed budget — purchase price, shipping, biosecurity compliance, GST, broker fees, and delivery to site combined. The purchase price is not the number that matters; the landed figure is.
• Check the machine's HS heading against the Canadian Customs Tariff. Most used farm and earthmoving machinery — headings 84.27, 84.29, 84.30, 84.32, 84.33 and the agricultural tractor lines of 87.01 — is already MFN Free, meaning no duty from any country of origin and no trade agreement claim needed.
• Confirm whether your province applies PST/QST or HST on top of the federal 5% GST. At the border a commercial importer pays 5% GST only — the provincial part is self-assessed afterwards and, for a registered business, recovered.

Before you import — admin that must be in place first

• Business Number (BN) with an import/export account registered with CRA — this must be set up before first import, not at the border. Allow time.
• CARM registration (Canada Border Services Agency trade modernisation platform) — required; register early.
• A Canadian customs broker who handles machinery regularly — not legally required in all cases, but declarations, classification, and CFIA referrals are genuinely complex on machinery.

Sourcing the machine

• Search across multiple sources — dealer stock, online auctions, private sellers in the UK, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, France.
• No single listing platform shows the whole market. Auction stock rarely appears on retail platforms.
• If you need a specific model, spec, or year range: note it precisely before searching. Vague searches produce vague results.

Verifying the seller

• Confirm the business exists on the relevant national company register.
• Confirm the business is actively trading.
• Confirm that bank account details match the registered company name.
• Check there is a real address and working landline.
• Assess trading history — how long have they been in business?
• Never pay a deposit to a seller you cannot verify. Pressure to transfer money quickly before a deal is agreed is a fraud signal.

Inspection

• Inspect the machine in person — or have someone do it for you — before any money moves.
• Start the machine cold and work it; don't just walk around it.
• Check undercarriage condition on tracked machines: tracks, rollers, idlers, sprockets. This is the most expensive wear item and the easiest to hide in photos.
• Check for oil leaks, hydraulic condition, emulsified oil.
• Cross-check displayed hours against visible wear.
• Photograph and record everything honestly.

CFIA biosecurity — applies to construction plant, not just agricultural machinery

Canada's CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) Directive D-95-26 is explicit: it names earth-moving vehicles and equipment alongside agricultural machinery. Both sectors are covered. The prohibition is clear: no soil or soil-related matter from any country.

This is not a formality. A used excavator or dozer that has worked in the ground for years accumulates soil in places a quick wash does not reach.

What must be removed

• Soil and organic matter — track frames, wheel arches, belly plates, chassis rails, engine bay, cab floor, bucket teeth, blade faces, every trap point.
• Plant material — seeds, straw, hay, plant debris — particularly relevant for agricultural equipment.
• Manure and animal residue — relevant for livestock-handling and agricultural equipment.
• Blood, ectoparasites — any sign of animal contamination.

What is needed

• Professional clean by a contractor — not a hand wash or a basic pressure wash.
• Machine to be visibly free of soil, plant material, and organic contamination on arrival at the Canadian border.
• Photograph the cleaned state before loading.

A professional pre-export clean is straightforward. A CFIA-ordered remediation or hold at a Canadian port is not — it adds costs and delays that are avoidable.

CBSA customs and duty

• Confirm the correct HS classification for your machine with your Canadian customs broker.
• Only if your machine sits on one of the minority of headings that is not already MFN Free (for example road tractors for semi-trailers, 87.01.21–.29, at 6.1%) does a trade agreement claim matter. CUKTCA covers UK-origin goods; CETA covers EU-origin goods. Note that origin means where the machine was manufactured, not where it was bought — a Japanese- or US-built machine resold from a European yard is not UK or EU origin, and cleaning, servicing or repainting it in Europe does not change that.
• Confirm that the machine genuinely originated in the UK or EU — "shipped from the UK" is not the same as "UK-originating". A machine manufactured elsewhere and resold through the UK may not qualify. Confirm per machine.
• GST: 5% at the border — applies to most machinery imports, charged on the machine's transaction value rather than on freight and insurance (a smaller base than in many other markets). A GST-registered business may recover this through normal returns, but the cash outflow at the border still needs to be planned.
• PST or HST: at the border a commercial importer pays 5% GST only. The provincial part — HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, or PST/QST elsewhere — is self-assessed on your return afterwards and, for a registered business, recovered.
• Required documents: Cargo Control Document + Canada Customs Invoice (Form CI1) or equivalent commercial invoice. Proof of origin is only needed if you are actually claiming a preference on a heading that is not already MFN Free.

Off-road engine regulations

• Canada has federal off-road engine emission standards that can apply to machinery being imported, including for own use. The import declaration must confirm the engine carries a Canadian, US EPA or CARB emissions label — we photograph the engine plate before we quote. If the machine contains a regulated engine, confirm compliance before committing — this is less prominent than the US equivalent but not zero risk.
• If the machine could be driven on public roads (tractors, telehandlers), Transport Canada compliance questions may also arise — confirm per machine.

Export from the UK

• UK export declaration lodged correctly.
• Commercial invoice prepared: accurate machine description and declared value.
• Bill of lading obtained from the shipping line.
• Packing details prepared.
• Proof of origin prepared (origin declaration on the commercial invoice) only if claiming a preference — not required for the great majority of machinery, which is MFN Free anyway.

Summary — the safe sequence

1. Set up Business Number and CARM registration before the first deal, not at the border.
2. Verify the seller before any money moves.
3. Inspect the machine in person (or have someone do it for you).
4. Agree the full landed cost — machine, freight, biosecurity, GST, provincial tax, broker fees, delivery.
5. Clean the machine to CFIA standard; photograph cleaned state; check AIRS for current requirements.
6. Confirm HS classification before finalising the purchase price — classification is the single most common thing CBSA challenges, and it determines whether any duty applies at all.

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