FRANADA - Friends in Canada

I see the border will be opening again Nov 8th for vaccinated Canadians to cross the US land border for non-essential travel. It is about time. The continuation of the requirement by our government of a negative molecular test to re-enter Canada seems excessive at this point though, still not worth the cost for short trips in most cases. Hopefully as both countries numbers decline this will be changed soon.

 

Hi friend, I'm going to try touring around Toronto for the first time soon (instead of just visiting friends per usual).

Suggestion on what to eat, see and do please? A bit trickier with the winter but I have strong faith in the taste of SBAFers (still very grateful for the Banff and Vancouver suggestion last summer). Cheers!

(so far I only plan to go the big market, eat around. will grab the city pass if there is a good deal)

 

Looks like the molecular COVID test requirement for Canadians to re-enter by the land border is back after a short hiatus.

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/covid/menu-eng.html

Right when I was thinking of ordering some tires from TireRack and driving down to Pembina to pick them up, damned Omicron comes along.

 

First an exemption for Point Roberts WA, Hyder AK & Northwest Angle MN, now an exemption for all BC crossings (for trips of less than 24 hours):

https://www.delta-optimist.com/loca...r-bc-borders-for-short-shopping-trips-4891256

Supply issues after the rainstorm-induced interior highway closures are mentioned as part of the reason - so this might not be extended to other provinces.

 

I'm rather shocked our government can do something so sensible so quickly.

 

Is there any interest in a Canadian tour group? I have an Isabellae & Timeless I'd be willing to send out o a little Canadian tour. If there's interest I will set up a loaner thread in the appropriate section.

 

There's a local group here (Winnipeg) who would be interested to get in on that .

 

Yep - would like to hear both of those!

 

Thinking about it here in Calgary...

 

I would be interested. Lethbridge, AB

 

Hi, my colleague Erik Ikomori in Quebec is looking for Canadians interested in a tour of the Kinera IDUN and the Kinera URD.

I am interested but also in negotiating that the reviewers have their shipping expenses paid for by Kinera as they have solicited Erik.

 

I'd be interested. Vancouver so there's a couple of us

 

Might be bad timing for me as I'm away for the next ~6 weeks, but yeah, lower-mainland & island people, speak up!

 

Any Canucks here able to help Rhythmdevil's question about sending loaners to Canada?
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...blo-portable-dac-amp.12154/page-2#post-380352

 

It would be great to attend a little gathering around here but we are still testing at much more than a thousand positive tests a day in my smallish city (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Wanted to put my name on a list in case we ever get back to some kind of normal. My current gear is:

Office: SMSL SU-8, Liquid Spark and Vanatoo T0's

Mobile: 7th gen iPod Classic (160GB) and Sony NW-ZX300

Main system: Schiit Bifrost 2, Schiit Loki, Violectric V220, iFi Pro iCAN, Xduoo MT-602 (For Sale), Little Dot MK9, HiFiman HE6se V2's, Grado GH2's, Fostex T60 Argons, CFA Cascade's, Focal Elegia's, LSA HP-2's and Focal Elex's.

 

I don't know anything about the customs form but I'm currently running two Canadian tours at the moment based out of Head Fi-- one for the Vision Ears Phonix & EXT and another for the Fir Ne4, Kr5 and Xe6. If any of you Canadians are interested and have HF accounts feel free to sign up. Failing that if there's enough interest I can look into doing a SBAF Canada tour after the HF tour are finished.

 

Speaking of importing review gear (including loaners) into Canada. The rules have not changed since the early 1980s: $20 CAD are tax free, anything above triggers taxes. The problem is not the tax but the self indulgent couriers who award themselves hefty brokerage fees.

For example, one iem was declared at $15 USD, which amounted to $20.06 CAD according to DHL. They then charged ca. $19 brokerage fee for the paperwork and and inflated $1.50 in taxes (they even made a cut on that). CBSA does not charge any amount owing below $2.

Last week, I self-cleared such a shipment coming into Calgary with the CBSA, then provided the stamped document to DHL in the adjacent building...and no brokerage fee. In order to self-clear, DHL had emailed me the paperwork which I had to print out. Was easy.

What can also be done: if the international shipper has a DHL account, they can pay all import fees up front. And, I am sure, FEDEX and UPS also have this option.

Not sure why the Canadian governments have not upped the free amount. $20 is not realistic anymore. The US has a much higher threshold of either $80 or $100 USD.

 

This is why I prefer to use USPS for deliveries from the US (or the equivalent government service from overseas, eg. Royal Mail) for items up to around a couple hundred CAD. Canada Post rarely charges any taxes or fees under that amount, regardless what the regs say.

For more expensive stuff CP does require payment, but the actual threshold for that is far above $20.

 

Not sure if anybody heard about Chitchats shipping. They are partnered with Canada Post, USPS etc. I used it once for return and it was almost half the price of Canada Post. But you do need to drop off the parcel at designated locations.

 

I have noticed a lot of companies use "shipping partners" for what would be classified as "first mile", where they accept the parcel and take it part way, then all the cross border/customs/last mile delivery is with USPS/Canada Post. I assume if you ship a lot of stuff the saving is probably significant. My objective observation is that they tend to be slower than just using the regular post to begin with. Whether that is worth the saving for occasional ad-hoc shipments is going to be a subjective thing.