If you include cigarettes, tobacco sticks or manufactured tobacco in your personal exemption, you may only receive a partial exemption. You will have to pay a special duty on these products unless they have an excise stamp “DUTY PAID CANADADROIT ACQUITTÉ.” Canadian-made products with this mark are sold at duty-free shops. You can speed up your clearance by having your tobacco products available for inspection when you arrive.
If you bring in more than your personal exemption, you will have to pay regular assessments on the excess amount. These regular assessments can include duty and taxes, as well as provincial or territorial fees. When they calculate the amounts owing, border services officers will give an allowance for products that have an excise stamp “DUTY PAID CANADADROIT ACQUITTÉ.”
The Excise Act, 2001 limits the amount of tobacco products that may be imported (or possessed) by an individual for personal use if the tobacco product does not have an excise stamp “DUTY PAID CANADADROIT ACQUITTÉ.” The limit is currently five units of tobacco products. One unit of tobacco products consists of one of the following: 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, 200 grams of manufactured tobacco and 200 tobacco sticks.
