Two rulebooks, one parcel. Both have to say yes before the box crosses.
What CFIA lets through for personal use
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's “Bringing food into Canada for personal use” page uses one baseline number and then makes several US-specific exceptions above it. Numbers read from inspection.canada.ca on 2026-08-11.
| Food category | Limit per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Condiments, dressings, confectionery, snack foods, multi-ingredient foods | 20 kg / 20 L | Shelf-stable and commercially packaged. This is the baseline category most gift parcels sit in. |
| Processed fruits and vegetables (canned, frozen, dried) | 20 kg / 20 L | Frozen items still need to survive transit; canned is the safe bet by mail. |
| Dairy products from the US (cheese, yogurt, butter, milk, ice cream) | 20 kg / 20 L | Commercial packaging only; unpasteurised cheese is restricted. |
| Baked goods without meat | 20 kg | Bread, pastries, cakes, fruit pies and biscuits. Anything with meat filling falls under the meat prohibition below. |
| Retail-packaged eggs marked Product of the USA | 5 dozen | Farm eggs are not permitted; the retail label is what qualifies the shipment. |
| Non-alcoholic beverages | 50 L | The highest cap in the personal-use table, per CFIA read 2026-08-11. |
| Food-grade oils | 50 L | Same 50-L cap as beverages. |
| Spices, tea, coffee | 20 kg | Shelf-stable dry goods, generally straightforward. |
CFIA also stresses that all food products must be declared at the border by whoever the recipient is. On a courier parcel, that declaration lives on the commercial invoice attached to the box and mirrored in the carrier's electronic manifest.
What Canada refuses when the parcel is sent by mail
The CFIA writes the meat rule as a mode restriction, not a quantity one. Meat can enter Canada only when a traveller carries it in person.
Meat, in every form
Fresh, cured, dried and vacuum-packed. CFIA wording read 2026-08-11: retail-packaged US meat is “permitted only if accompanied into Canada by you (cannot be brought in by mail or courier)”. That includes salami, jerky, prosciutto and sausages.
Unpasteurised dairy
Restricted. Raw-milk cheeses and any unpasteurised dairy sit outside the standard 20 kg personal-use dairy allowance.
Fresh produce, most of it
Fresh fruits and vegetables need a check against Canada's Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). CFIA states products may be restricted or prohibited from entry depending on the country of origin, and country-specific pest concerns move that list.
Carrier rules mirror this at the pickup counter. FedEx Canada's SFCR guidance and UPS's international regulatory pages send shippers to CFIA and to AIRS before selling a service on any perishable or meat parcel; a box declared “food gift” without further detail is a box that gets held.
The paperwork every US-to-Canada parcel needs
Every commercial and non-commercial parcel crossing into Canada carries a commercial invoice or a Canada Customs Invoice equivalent. The fields Canadian customs and CFIA actually read are the product description, the value, the quantity, the country of origin and, on food, the HS code. Vague descriptions like “grocery items” slow a parcel down more than most senders realise; naming the actual products keeps the clearance in the fast lane. When SMKlog's calculator offers a Canada rate, the carrier requires this data before printing the label.
Value on the invoice matters for two reasons. Canada applies duty and tax above the low-value threshold published by CBSA for most items, and CFIA's personal-use exemption itself is written for casual, non-commercial parcels. A parcel that looks like a resale shipment loses the personal-use exemption and enters the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, which have their own licensing and labelling requirements.
A gift parcel that clears the border easily
The classic US-to-Canada gift box that moves without incident: commercially packaged shelf-stable snack foods and candy in a taped carton, one commercial invoice listing each product line by line with values in USD, total weight under 5 kg, tracked ground service through UPS or FedEx, delivery address to a residence. Add a note on the invoice that the contents are a personal gift, not for resale, and every carrier's clearance broker has what it needs.
The version that stalls: an unlabelled box of “US groceries” declared at nil value, dropped into USPS International First-Class, mixing chocolate with a small vacuum-sealed sausage a friend asked for. The sausage triggers a CFIA hold on the whole box, and the nil-value invoice invites its own customs scrutiny before anyone opens the top flap.
Where these rules come from
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Bringing food into Canada for personal use. Read 2026-08-11.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Importing food, plants or animals — quantity limits and AIRS look-up. Read 2026-08-11.
- FedEx Canada, CFIA Safe Food for Canadians Regulations — commercial-shipper implications. Read 2026-08-11.
- Canada Border Services Agency, Memorandum D19-1-1: Food, Plants, Animals and Related Products. Read 2026-08-11.
CFIA policy and CBSA memoranda are revised without notice and pest-response rules change fastest. Treat the wording above as what those pages published on the date each was read, and confirm the current position with the AIRS look-up before shipping anything perishable.
Common questions
Can you ship food from the US to Canada?
Shelf-stable commercially packaged food, yes, within the CFIA personal-use limits of 20 kg per person and with a commercial invoice on the parcel. Meat is not permitted by mail or courier at all.
What food is the easiest to send?
Commercially packaged shelf-stable products: condiments, dressings, snacks, confectionery, dried spices, tea and coffee, and canned or dried fruits and vegetables. From the US specifically, dairy and meat-free baked goods are also permitted up to 20 kg or 20 litres per person.
Can I ship meat to Canada from the US?
Not by mail or courier. CFIA states retail-packaged US meat is permitted only when accompanied into Canada by the traveller, and mailed or courier-shipped meat is refused at the border.
What paperwork does the parcel need?
A commercial invoice naming the product, value, quantity, country of origin and where possible the HS code. Incomplete or inconsistent paperwork is the most common cause of a Canadian customs hold.