Making sure you have all the paperwork to get your plates and car ownership from Service "InsertYourProvinceHere" for your JDM import
Waiting in line at Service Canada is the adult version of being sent to timeout. You're not sure what you did to deserve this, but you're pretty sure it involves paperwork.
Chances are, you're working a 9:00 to 5:00 job and you had to take some time off to make sure this paperwork happens. So, you don't want to take an afternoon waiting in line for 1 hour, to arrive at the window while the rep talks to Transport Canada for another hour, just to find out that it's not going to happen because you forgot one scrap of paper.
"...you don't want to take an afternoon waiting in line for 1 hour, to arrive at the window while the rep talks to Transport Canada for another hour, off just to find out that it's not going to happen because you forgot one scrap of paper."* - DREAM * ... and yes, that is exactly what happened to me the first time
In today's blog, we're going to make sure you have every single piece of paper you need, stamped in triplicate and ready to go.
Step #1 - The Papers You Need Before You Can Get the Papers You Need
Before you even consider going to Service Canada (Ontario)/Ministry of Transport with anything, you need to have some already existing and documented paperwork in your hands:
An assessment of the value of your car
Safety certification
Proof of insurance
These three items are the precursor to anything that needs to be done prior to walking into the service (insert your province here). Missing the first two pieces of information means you won't be issued the third (proof of insurance).
Assessment/Appraisal
So, how do you get this done? Your first option is to find someone in the province who will do a 360 of your car, over and under, take a deep and detailed look at it, and come back with a valuation. This means you will have to somehow have your vehicle towed to this location for the inspection or pay for the inspector to come out to where you are.
Or, you can speak to Dan (the man) Sporbeck. I have used Dan on both of my vehicles, and I would strongly recommend you use him on yours. His company, D & P Consulting and Appraisals , provides virtual certification as long as you can provide pictures. The cost for Dan's services is about $200, and I'll be doing a separate article on Dan very shortly, so stay tuned for that.
In short, after providing full interior and exterior pictures (including underneath the car), Dan will provide you with a complete history of the vehicle and a valuation of the car. It's actually a fun little research document to read. It's a very detailed history of the car itself (not yours personally, but the history of the class of the vehicle). Without an appraisal of the car, the insurance company cannot insure the value of it. Of course, the trickiest part of these photos is the underside photos, which means you need to have it lifted up onto a hoist somewhere, which is probably happening while you're getting your safety inspection.
Safety Certification Every vehicle needs to go through this. If you want it considered drive-able on a Canadian road, it needs to have a Canadian safety inspection. We call it a Safety Standards Certificate to in Ontario; in Alberta, it's often referred to as a Vehicle Inspection Program. You get the idea. This can be done by registered mechanics or, probably at your local Canadian Tire! Usually at around $200.
That said, you still need to get that vehicle from whatever depot it is at to the mechanic. If you can find a mechanic that's willing to use his service plates to get it from point A to point B, great! If not, then you're going to have to find a tow truck that's willing to move a vehicle that doesn't have Canadian Safety certification. And that can be tricky. Also, in Toronto, it'll be $250 for any type of tow service (and no, CAA Membership will not cover this!).
You may end up having some extra costs here, particularly if something is found lacking in the vehicle (broken struts, your tires having insufficient tread for Canadian roads, turn signals not working, Window tinting being 'too dark', for Canadian standards, etc.), so be prepared to fork out $ 500-1500 to make it roadworthy. With any luck, if you have a sufficiently high auction grade of a vehicle (usually 4.0 or higher) you will be able to minimize this. On Project 2.0, I still ended up having to get both of my front struts replaced -_-' ....
Also, just as a side note here, make sure you present the original document for the safety certification. Scans and photocopies are not accepted.
Proof of Insurance
So, once you have your safety certification and an actual value for your vehicle, you can reach out to your insurance agency: either Hagerty or Mitch Insurance (formerly Mitchell Whale). I say this as, in all likelihood, they are one of the two agencies you will be going with because very few other agencies will insure right-hand drive vehicles. You'll notice some variations in pricing and policy specifics between Hagerty and Mitch Insurance—and there's one crucial detail that might tip the scales for you. Mitch Insurance opts for independent assessors to put a price tag on the vehicles they insure, ensuring an unbiased valuation outside of company influence. On the flip side, Hagerty uses their in-house team for vehicle valuations. While convenient, this has the potential lead to your beloved ride being undervalued. Why does this matter? Well, if there's ever an accident and it comes time to cash out, Hagerty could end up paying you less than what your vehicle is truly worth, because their initial estimate was on the low side.
That said, Hagerty is also very extensive in their evaluations of vehicles; take a look at what they did for Larry Chen's R32 Skyline!
Step #2 - Service "InsertYourProvinceHere" Center
Source: Service Canada website
Alright, so you've managed to survive this far and get all of these pieces of information. Now, you can proceed to the Service [insert your Province here], with your documentation. What other documentation do you need?
Safety certification (as discussed above)
Proof of insurance (as discussed above)
Your bill of sale from Japan
Export certificate (translation from ATIO)
Casual Goods Accounting Document/Form B3
Vehicle Import Form aka 'Form 1' Online or Double Stamped on Paper
Your bill of sale from Japan
Be careful when you specify your bill of sale here. It will, of course, have to be translated and ultimately will end up being corroborated on other pieces of documentation as to the value of the vehicle. However, if possible, I would strongly recommend that your bill of sale from Japan have the value of the vehicle broken down into three parts: purchase price, CIF, and transportation fees. The reason for this is you will be taxed in your province based on the first two. However, given most people's (and governmental) inexperience with this information, if you just present the combined total without the breakdown, you may be overly and incorrectly taxed.
Export certificate (translation from ATIO)
This is where you should have been reaching out to ATIO or whatever your provincial translation agency is (see article Lost in Translation). Expect anywhere from two business days to two weeks to get that translation done as well, so get that done in advance before you decide to walk in the front door. While an uninformed Transport Canada service representative might process your transaction without it, they are technically not supposed to. Only translations from provincially accepted agencies are accepted by Transport Canada. You can take that risk if you want, but then you wasted the day and still have to get that translation done.
Casual Goods Accounting Document/Form B3 This is where you can experience some problems. If somehow or another you've managed to handle the import yourself, you may have received a Casual Goods Accounting Document (aka: Form BSF715 or BSF715-1). However, if you've imported under a business license or had a customs broker handle it for you, chances are they have filled out a B3 form. This is one of the documents that will definitely give your Service InsertYourProvinceHere representative a bit of an issue. If you don't have the Casual Goods Accounting Document, make sure you have the B3. They bear the same information and may be swapped with each other.
Contact your customs broker and see which form they have on record for you.
Vehicle Import Form aka 'Form 1' Online or Double Stamped on Paper
"Form 1," also known as the Vehicle Import Form, is a crucial document for individuals importing vehicles into the country. This form is required by Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to declare a vehicle at the border upon its entry into Canada. This form records specific details about the vehicle such as the make, model, year, VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), and the country of export. It serves as a declaration by the importer that the vehicle complies with Canadian standards or that it will be brought into compliance.
It can be completed in print or online through the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) website. And that is where the difference lies. If you’re presenting a paper copy, you need to make sure there are two stamps on the copy you have. No stamps, no love. Online, well, if it’s online you’re fine as Service InsertYourProvinceHere should be able to check that online with CBSA.
This should conclude your paper ordeal. Now you just have to wait an hour (yeah,... it will take time) while phone calls are made to Transport Canada, documents are checked, doubled-checked, stamped and photocopied. I recommend getting copies of everything after it is stamped, because you never know when you will need those original documents again.
After that, you pay 13% Retail Sales Tax on your vehicle (plus plates) and you are free to go!
Life moves at the speed of bureaucracy, but it does move,... eventually
And finally,... done
Let's face it, dealing with government paperwork is about as thrilling as watching a documentary on watching paint dry—narrated by a sloth. Yet, here you are, a champion of forms and a warrior of waiting rooms, armed to the teeth with every document imaginable. From valuation to safety checks, you've got it all, plus a side of 'please let this be over soon'. Who knew that importing a car could feel like assembling furniture with missing instructions?
So, slap on those license plates, rev up that engine, and prepare to show off that Japanese steel—or any international metal, really—on the pothole-laden, snow-salted paths we call roads. Remember, every trip to the Service Ontario (or insert your province's equivalent) is a story to tell, even if it’s just to your steering wheel.
~ DREAM
Links for reference
Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) - Importing a Vehicle
Canada Border Services Agency - Importing a Vehicle
Has something like this happened to you? Did you manage to slip past the MoT without an ATIO paper? Comment below and share your story!
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