On August 19, 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency
("CBSA") posted on its web-site a "Checklist for Exporting Commercial Goods from
Canada". On January 25, 2016 (updated August 19,
2016), the CBSA also published a "Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting Commercial Goods
from Canada".
The first thing that exporters must know is what the CBSA
considers to be "commercial goods" – this word is
not defined in the Checklist or Step-by-Step Guide. The term
"commercial goods" is defined in the Accounting for
Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations as "goods
imported into Canada for sale or for any commercial, industrial,
occupational, institutional or other like use." There is
no definition in the context of exports. However, one can
expect the CBSA to consider "goods exported from Canada for
sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional
or other like use" to be commercial goods for export
purposes.