Form BSF186A Personal Effects Accounting Document: Filing, Deadlines, Penalties

Form BSF186A is the Canada Border Services Agency’s Personal Effects Accounting Document (list of imported goods), a companion inventory to the main BSF186 that you file at your first Canadian port of entry to list belongings a moving company will deliver later. Filing it locks in your duty-free eligibility so those “goods to follow” clear customs without GST, HST, or duty when they arrive weeks or months after you do.¹

Who Can File It

The form is tied to four tariff classifications on the BSF186. Each has its own residency and ownership rules.

Settlers (Tariff Item 9807.00.00) are people entering Canada to establish a residence for the first time for at least 12 months. Students and workers on contracts of 36 months or less are not settlers. You must have owned, possessed, and used the goods abroad before arriving, but there is no minimum ownership period.²³
Former residents (Tariff Item 9805.00.00) are Canadian citizens or permanent residents returning after at least a year abroad. Goods must have been owned, possessed, and used abroad for at least six months, though the six-month rule is waived if you lived outside Canada for five years or more.⁴
Beneficiaries of a bequest (Tariff Item 9806.00.00) are Canadian residents importing personal effects inherited from someone who lived abroad.⁵
Seasonal residents (Tariff Item 9829.00.00) spend part of the year in Canada and bring household items for that seasonal stay.⁶

Getting and Filling Out the Form

Download the PDF from the CBSA forms site at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186a-eng.html, or ask for a paper copy at any port of entry.¹ Filling it out before you travel and printing a copy saves time when you reach the officer.⁵

The form is an inventory grid. For each item you plan to ship later, write a clear description and an estimated value in Canadian dollars. The instructions specifically tell you to use a separate sheet for goods to follow, keeping them off the list of things you carry with you at the border.⁷

What Each Entry Should Show

Give enough detail that an officer can match your list to a physical item months later. For electronics, jewelry, and other valuables, include make, model, and serial number. Vehicles, boats, trailers, and aircraft go on the dedicated conveyance fields of the main BSF186 with make, model, and serial number.⁶

Value each item in Canadian dollars at what it is realistically worth in its current used condition, not what you paid for it new. If your figures are in another currency, convert them using the Bank of Canada rate in effect on the date the goods begin their journey.⁸

List Everything

Only goods declared as goods to follow on your original BSF186 filing qualify for duty- and tax-free import later.³ Forget an item and you lose the exemption on it. A longer list costs nothing; a missing item costs you the GST at minimum. When in doubt, put it on.

At the Border

When you arrive at your first port of entry, tell the officer you have goods to follow and hand over both the BSF186 and the BSF186A. The officer checks your residency and tariff eligibility, stamps the BSF186A, and assigns a document number.¹ If a professional mover is handling your shipment, the officer may also record the mover’s inventory and a BSF715 number.⁶

Keep the stamped copy somewhere safe. It’s your proof the goods were declared on arrival, and you or your broker will need to present it every time a shipment clears customs. Without it, a shipment can sit in a warehouse until you pay full commercial import taxes to release your own belongings.

Clearing Shipments When They Arrive

When a shipment reaches Canada, you or the moving company’s customs broker presents the stamped BSF186A and the original BSF186 receipt to a border services officer, who releases the goods without further duty or tax.⁵ If the shipment arrives inland rather than at a border crossing, clearance happens at a local CBSA office or the sufferance warehouse holding the goods.

Deadlines

Settlers importing under Tariff Item 9807.00.00 face no deadline for bringing in goods to follow, as long as those goods were on the original BSF186.³ A box of books that ships two years later still clears duty-free if it appeared on the list.

If the Goods Arrive Before You Do

Shipments that beat you to Canada sit in a sufferance warehouse for 40 days. After that, the CBSA treats them as unclaimed and issues a notice giving you 30 more days. If you still don’t act, the goods become forfeit to the Crown. Contact your local CBSA office before those 40 days expire to request an extension; extensions of up to four years are possible.³

Vehicles Listed as Goods to Follow

A vehicle on your BSF186A goes through extra steps. Every vehicle permanently imported into Canada must be registered with the Registrar of Imported Vehicles program, pass a federal safety inspection, and have all outstanding manufacturer recalls cleared.⁹

Financed vehicles meet the ownership tests under Tariff Items 9805.00.00 and 9807.00.00, so a car you’re still paying off can enter duty-free. Leased vehicles do not qualify, because the CBSA doesn’t consider you the owner. You can still import a leased vehicle, but you’ll owe the full duty and taxes.⁹

A disposal restriction applies even when the vehicle enters duty-free: you generally cannot sell it in Canada for up to 12 months after arrival. Sell earlier and you owe the duties and taxes you originally avoided.⁹

What You Can’t Put on the List

Some goods are prohibited outright: cannabis, food and plant products that pose a biosecurity risk, and anything made from endangered species parts.¹⁰ Firearms require a valid Canadian Possession and Acquisition Licence and must be declared on arrival; prohibited firearms cannot be imported at all, and failure to declare can lead to seizure, criminal charges, or monetary penalties.¹¹ Health products, prescription drugs, antiques of historical significance to their country of origin, and explosives all need permits or written authorization in advance. Alcohol and tobacco are handled under the traveler’s personal exemption limits rather than as personal effects.¹² Commercial goods sit entirely outside the BSF186A process and go through the commercial import channel instead.¹³

What Skipping the Form Costs

Skip the BSF186A at your port of entry and any belongings you later ship are treated as ordinary imports. That means at least the 5% GST on everything, and potentially the Harmonized Sales Tax at a higher rate in a participating province. Depending on the type and origin of the goods, duty may apply on top.¹⁴ On a household’s worth of furniture, appliances, and electronics, the bill adds up quickly. The form takes a few minutes at the border; there is no easy way to fix a missed filing after the fact.

1
Canada Border Services Agency. BSF186A – Personal Effects Accounting Document (List of Imported Goods)
2
Justice Laws Website. Definition of Settler for the Purpose of Tariff Item No. 9807.00.00 Regulations
3
Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D2-2-1 – Settlers’ Effects – Tariff Item No. 9807.00.00
4
Canada Border Services Agency. Moving or Returning to Canada
5
Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D2-1-5 – Bequests – Tariff Item No. 9806.00.00
6
Canada Border Services Agency. BSF186 – Personal Effects Accounting Document
7
Canada Border Services Agency. BSF186A – Personal Effects Accounting Document (PDF)
8
Canada Border Services Agency. Customs Valuation Handbook
9
Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D19-12-1 – Importing Vehicles Into Canada
10
Government of Canada. What You Can Bring to Canada
11
Canada Border Services Agency. Firearms and Weapons – Canadian Border Requirements
12
Travel.gc.ca. Personal Exemptions Mini Guide
13
Canada Border Services Agency. I Declare – A Guide for Residents Returning to Canada
14
Canada.ca. GST/HST on Imports and Exports