Buying from Japan to Canada

Which service is cheapest for Canada

The same order through all five. The postage is identical; the differences are each company's fees and whether it collects the tax at checkout. Choosing ZenMarket instead of Doorzo costs ¥1,077 more on this order.

Local-currency figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-10-01 (1 C$ = ¥110.9). Your card or the proxy will use its own rate on the day.

Head-to-head for Canada: FROM JAPAN vs Buyee, FROM JAPAN vs ZenMarket, FROM JAPAN vs Neokyo, FROM JAPAN vs Doorzo, Buyee vs ZenMarket, Buyee vs Neokyo, Buyee vs Doorzo, ZenMarket vs Neokyo, ZenMarket vs Doorzo, Neokyo vs Doorzo.

Import tax in Canada

Import tax is set by Canada, not by the proxy service you choose. All the proxy decides is whether it takes the money at checkout or leaves you to settle with the courier at the door. The amount owed is the same either way. That is why the totals on this site are split into what you pay now and what you pay on arrival, rather than merged into one figure that would make the companies who collect honestly look dearer.

The numbers

• Import VAT / GST: 5% to 15% depending on your province (GST alone, or HST), so we do not guess a single rate
• Duty-free threshold: CAD 20

Which proxies collect this tax up front

None of the five services collect this tax up front for Canada. You pay it when the parcel arrives, and couriers normally add a handling charge on top.

What that means in money

Two orders to Canada, both from Mercari Japan, both about 1 kg packed and both with ¥700 of domestic postage inside Japan, priced through the cheapest service available for each:

Canadian sales tax on imports ranges from 5% to 15% depending on your province. Parcels over CAD 20 are taxable. Couriers usually add a customs handling fee on delivery.

Couriers usually add their own customs handling fee on top. Paying tax up front often avoids it.

Tax at six different prices

Canada's charge on arrival depends on the item or on where you live (5% to 15% depending on your province (GST alone, or HST), so we do not guess a single rate), so the totals leave it out rather than guess. The timing columns still apply: they show which services take it at checkout.

A Mercari Japan item, 1 kg packed, EMS. Tax is shown for the cheapest service; the last five columns show when each service takes it.

The limits that matter, in yen

• Canada's duty-free limit is CAD 20.

Exchange-rate conversions are approximate. Near a limit, a move in the rate can put an order either side of it, and the calculator warns you when that is the case.

How Canada compares

The tax for Canada cannot be calculated in advance, so it is left out of this comparison. For the other countries, here is the same ¥10,000, 1 kg order:

The handling fee nobody quotes

Where tax is not collected up front, the courier or postal operator pays it for you at the border and then charges a fee for having done so. It is not part of the tax itself. None of the five services publish it and it varies by carrier, so it is deliberately left out of the totals here rather than guessed at. It is still a real reason to prefer a service that collects at checkout where you have the choice.

EMS postage to Canada

Japan Post puts Canada in EMS zone 3, together with United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France, which pay the same prices. EMS is charged by weight band, so a parcel pays for the whole band it falls in (the first band ends at 500 g, then 100 g steps up to 1 kg, 250 g steps up to 2 kg, 500 g steps up to 6 kg, 1 kg steps up to 30 kg). Some of the bands:

For the same 1 kg order, other Japan Post methods: Sent by airmail small packet instead of EMS, the same order comes to ¥13,330 through Buyee, ¥2,070 less. The trade-off is time: EMS is Japan Post's fastest service and surface parcels its slowest.

Japan Post's published rates. A service is only counted where its own site lists the method; the shipping methods guide shows which do. SAL (economy air) is not shown because Japan Post has suspended it.

The first band costs ¥6,300 per kg; at 30 kg it is ¥2,183 per kg. That is why sending several purchases together in one box saves money. The EMS guide compares all nine countries.

What cannot be sent to Canada

All five refuse model paint and thinner; spray cans and topcoat; lighters; perfume; and plants and seeds on this route. For replica swords and knives, no service says it will ship to Canada: some refuse, and the rest publish no rule, which means the decision is made at the warehouse after you have paid. None of these is blocked by a Japan Post rule specific to Canada; where something is refused, it is the company's own policy, and another service may accept it.

Company rules and Japan Post's rules for Canada combined. See what you cannot ship for each company's own wording.

By what you are buying

Typical orders for different kinds of item, each through the cheapest service that will take it to Canada. Weights and prices are assumptions; the guides explain each one.

More for Canada

• Cheapest proxy to Canada, by marketplace
• Shipping by weight to Canada: a manga volume, a boxed figure, a 2 kg parcel, a 3 kg parcel
• Paying import tax up front or on delivery
• Import tax in all nine countries