Hi Alex:

Canada Customs (and, to a lesser extent, Agriculture Canada) are not inherently difficult to deal with, and don't have any known policies that make things difficult for a person temporarily importing a bike into Canada, but:

It is critical that you keep in the top of your mind the awareness that it is very rare for any one Canada Customs official to be presented with a visitor temporarily importing a motorcycle - this means that the officer that you will be dealing with has probably never been confronted with such a temporary import before, and that raises two potential problems:

1) They won't know what to do.

2) They might, in good faith, think that certain restrictions (for example, those that are applicable to a PERMANENT importation of a motor vehicle) apply to a temporary importation for tourist purposes.

So, you will need to be be mentally very relaxed when you go through the customs process, and be ready to be patient, gracious, and calm if the Customs officer accidentally heads off down the wrong paperwork trail.

I have participated in numerous "entries to Canada" of motorcycles in the past - sometimes involving my own Canadian plated, bought in Canada moto coming back from Europe, and sometimes helping out European visitors who have brought their own moto over for a temporary visit. It's always a bit of a cumbersome experience, not because of the actual Canadian rules, but because of the unfamiliarity that the Customs officers have with temporary importations of foreign vehicles for tourist purposes.

To be fair to the Customs employees, you have to understand that here in Canada, lots and lots of citizens go to the USA, purchase a car or moto, then bring it back to Canada with the intent of permanently importing it. Thus, the Customs folks are very familiar with the process for permanent importation - and subsequent registration of the vehicle to use Canadian licence plates.

This means that there is a fairly high probability that the Customs officer you first deal with will (in good faith, but due to lack of knowledge and experience with temporary tourist imports) try to put you through the process of permanent importation, or raise objections to your entry because your bike does not conform to standards (such as lighting, emissions, etc.) that it would have to conform to for permanent importation. These requirements do not apply to a temporary importation for tourist purposes.

So, having said all of that, here is a checklist of things you can do to facilitate the process, and to assist you in (gently and diplomatically) explaining the temporary importation process to the Customs officer if the need arises:

1) Make sure that you can easily and convincingly show to the Customs person evidence that you intend to only visit Canada on a temporary basis. This could include a copy of a return air ticket for yourself, correspondence (not necessarily official) with the shipping company discussing the plans to return the moto to wherever it came from at the end of your visit, some kind of route plan for your vacation, etc.

2) Do be sure to have ample evidence that the motorcycle is properly registered in your home country, and ample evidence that it belongs to you. This could include whatever kind of registration document your government issues (hopefully one that includes the licence plate number), your original receipt for purchasing the motorcycle, etc. It might be a good idea to make up a couple of 'photocopy packs' of these documents, so you can give a set of photocopies to the Customs official if necessary.

3) For sure, have the original copy of the Canadian insurance document available. This is referred to in Canada as a 'pink slip' (because it is pink). Be aware that in the USA, the colloquial term 'pink slip' refers to the registration of the vehicle (as in "we raced for pink slips, and I lost, so now I am riding a bicycle"), but in Canada, 'pink slip' means the Canadian Insurance Document.

It might be helpful for you to point out to the Customs person that your Canadian insurance is only good for 3 months, or 6 months, or whatever, because you only intend to stay in the country 3 months, or 6 months, etc. In other words, make sure that the insurance document is congruent with the plans you talk about that I mentioned in point 1) above.

4) Be sure that your moto has one of those white oval stickers on the back that identifies your country of registration, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Strictly speaking, if you have a new European style licence plate with the blue band on the left end, you don't need one, but don't assume that the Canada customs people will know this.

5) Be sure you have an International Driver Permit. Once again, this is primarily to be able to convince the Customs people that you are a bona-fide tourist. Strictly speaking, the Customs people should not need to ask to see your driver licence (it's the moto that is the issue, not you), but again, the more you can do to show them that you are a visitor, a tourist, the easier the process will be.

6) It is possible that the Customs person will say that they need to call an Agriculture inspector to look at the moto to see if there are any bugs on it, or any soil on it, etc. Unfortunately, it costs about $100+ to have this done, and it also sometimes delays the process by a day (resulting in storage charges in the air freight hall). If you ask the Customs person to inspect the bike themselves, they might reply by saying "I don't have the qualifications to identify bugs or soil". That is fair, but you should then respond "I respect that, I am just asking you to look at it to determine if there actually is any evidence of bugs or soil on the bike. If you find any bugs or soil, sure, let's call an agricultural person. But if you don't see any bugs or soil anywhere, then I think you might agree to release the bike without an agricultural inspection."

The Customs people are generally pretty reasonable, and if you put your request to them that way, they will probably see it as a way of fulfilling their obligations without causing you excessive inconvenience (and expense). Just be sure the damn motorcycle doesn't have any bugs or soil on it...

7) Lastly, if you have any choice in the matter, try and get served by the oldest possible Customs person, ideally a man. If you are lucky enough to find a guy who is 64 years old with 40 years of experience, hey, he will probably know the rules pretty well and whip you through pretty quick. The worst possible outcome would be to be served by a 20-something female who has only been working there for a year or so, and immediately thinks of everything she was taught about permanent importations.

I hope the above information helps.

Michael