Hi,
I already have my PR card and plan to move permanently from Chicago to Toronto in Jan 2021. I have a few household items like furniture, utensils, etc. that I had on my goods to follow list and I plan to bring them along with me. Will I be allowed to enter Canada with a U Haul van if I am agreeing to the quarantine requirements? I’ll be moving the stuff myself and do not plan to hire professionals. Would that be of concern to CBP in these COVID times?
I remember reading about CBSA officers asking about arrangments to return a rental vehicle. Given the U-Haul is rented on a per-day basis, you might wanna consider the cost for being stuck with the rental for 14 days if the officer suggests that you may not leave quarantine to even return your vehicle.
Understood, that’s a good point. I guess we just have to convince the officer that the drop-off wont involve meeting any person and with the keys will be dropped off at a drop-off box. I am sure the same would apply if I am just hiring a car and driving to Cananda
We moved from Chicago to Toronto in Sep 2020 and crossed the border via Sarnia (Blue Water Bridge). We did not have a U-Haul but a rental Dodge Grand Caravan.
The officers at the border did not ask any further questions when we told them that this is a renal car.
You can just do a contact less drop off (Make sure you call the drop off location before actually picking up the car/truck).
PS: Make sure you have a detailed Quarantine plan in place (take 2 print outs just in case).
Feel free to get in touch via DM if you have any further questions!
All the best!
I moved from New York to Toronto two weeks back in a car rental and I had a smooth interaction with the border agent. He actually didn’t ask any follow up questions after I told him it was a car rental. You can email IRCC at IRCC.Agent-Agent.IRCC@cic.gc.ca before you move… they typically respond in 2-3 weeks. When I emailed them, they said “Yes, you may enter Canada by private vehicle.”
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience
Hi !! I am planning to move to Canada from usa permanently in January end.I have few questions.
1.what things should I take care of before leaving US?
2.where did u stayed for quarantine period? If air bnb around Toronto or waterloo , is it possible to share its name with me?
3.what things do u suggest to bring from usa for initial 6 months? I know we get everything, but I am coming on right budget with family of 4, so just want to bring things from usa if they are cheap in usa?
4.which cellular plan u used?
5. Which bank is good for newcomer ? Where I can open account from usa ?
Thank you in advance
I can give it a try:
1.what things should I take care of before leaving US? Extremely difficult to answer.
2.where did u stayed for quarantine period? If air bnb around Toronto or waterloo , is it possible to share its name with me? AirBnb. You cannot have shared kitchen and bathroom. Let the host know that you are traveling from the USA and will need to be quarantined.
3.what things do u suggest to bring from usa for initial 6 months? I know we get everything, but I am coming on right budget with family of 4, so just want to bring things from usa if they are cheap in usa? Not sure, pretty much everything is cheaper in the USA. May be warm clothes??!!
4.which cellular plan u used? Fido- 8GB per month for 50CAD, unlimited call and text.
5. Which bank is good for newcomer ? Where I can open account from usa ? Mine is TD. The manager was pretty helpful.
We recently moved to Toronto like couple of weeks ago. My answers are going to be purely based on my own experience and some of them might not fit for your situation or might have better solution. So please make your own decision during this move.
[Actually Moving to Canada: My Experience and Things you need to do]
we stayed in our newly leased condo during our quarantine without any issues. Showed the lease agreement to the border officer. He asked a few questions about groceries and utensils. Luckily we travelled by a suburban rental carrying all our essential kitchen utensils and bedding.
I heard car is quite expensive. And Also electronics and furniture seems to be expensive too. So please plan out in case you are planning to upgrade your TV or furniture. Please do so in US itself and ship it so that you could save a lot of initial setup costs here.
we got our SIM cards delivered to our door during quarantine from Rogers and we have taken a plan with two lines for 70 CAD for one and 45 cad for another with 15GB combined data at 5G speed but regular speeds after that unlimited data, calling and texting in Canada.
I opened a Tangerine checking account online and it must be activated after quarantine. They have association with scotia bank and so can withdraw from Scotiabank Atm. I also opened RBC savings account from US and booked an appointment for opening a checking account after our quarantine.
Hope this helps.
Hi @sidmahajan. Would love to connect with you - we’re based out of Chicago too and are planning to make the move to Toronto in the next couple of months.
I use Fido mobile as well 
@tej , thanks a lot for the details on your recent move. I have some questions, because I am going to move in couple months in my car via the Detroit-Windsor border crossing with the similar situation of having a signed lease, directly into my Toronto condo.
Many thanks in advance!
How did you pay the deposit for your apartment? We’re applying to one right now and they’ve requested an e-transfer but we can’t use Interac until we have a bank account in Canada. I’m not sure Paypal works there like it does in the US.
Paypal US has CAD currency as well. I was able to add it in past online. However, there might be conversion fees.
That actually might work. Thanks so much.
Bummer. The landlord doesn’t use Paypal so we’re figuring out how to send them the 1st/last month’s rent.
Hello @tej , Did CBSA asked question about how you plan to return your rental car? With the new 3 day hotel rule coming in, we are now thinking to go via border crossing.
Also, we wired money to our landlord’s bank account and now have a place to call home! 
Hi, apologies for my late reply. We did enter via border crossing and our landlord lady was really sweet to leave the keys a designated area near our condo unit. Sometimes you get nicer landlords who understand your situation and would be willing to help you. This happened in our case. She made sure we have all the necessary groceries stocked up in refrigerator and shelves without even asking. We carried some of the utensils and groceries ourselves too. Regarding questions at the border, general ones like how are you planning to quarantine in an empty condo. We mentioned that we are carrying sleeping bags, pillows, some kitchen utensils and preordered groceries delivery. Also asked about why we left after our initial landing. We told that we some emergency family commitments that we had to care of and so left to US and right now coming back to settle permanently. And those were the questions before he opened the gate letting us into Canada.
No I was not asked about how I would return the rental car. But I would have answered that question like this. I would call the rental company to pick my car up as we are in quarantine, just as they would do when you get a flat tire without a spare. It is critical to showcase in your answers that you will be committed to taking the quarantine seriously.