• About the Companies Listed
  • Major Importers
  • About the Database
  • Company Names
  • Confidentiality
  • Commercial Import Process
  • Customs Brokers
  • Non-Resident Importers
• About the Product Codes
  • Canada Customs Tariff
  • 6 and 10-Digit Product Codes (HS6 and HS10)

• Search Help
  • Product Search Help
    • Keyword Search
    • Code Search
    • Browsing through Product List
  • City Search Help
  • Country Search Help

• Import Statistics by Product

Only the "Major Importers" are listed, these being defined as the companies which collectively make up the top 80% of all imports (in terms of $ value) for a particular product or a particular city.

It should be noted that "Major Importers" are determined on a national basis (All Canada) for a given product. Company lists for a particular province or Canadian territory are subsets of the list generated for "All Canada".

Summary data showing the total dollar value for import transactions is also presented for each individual product. However, no values are associated with individual company names and the listings are alphabetical to protect business confidentiality.

The data is collected by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) from documentation supplied by the importers or their agents, and organized into a database summarizing all the transactions for a given year. The data in the Canadian Importers Database applies only to the calendar year 2006. The database will be replaced with information for the next latest year when it becomes available.

Also, the database EXCLUDES information for:

• Goods brought into the country by individuals;
• Imports of goods such as :
  • printed matter and films that are obscene, hateful,
    treasonable, or seditious;
  • narcotics;
  • certain offensive weapons;
  • used or second-hand automobiles and aircraft.

The names of the companies appearing in reports reflect the information captured from the source documentation (see section on the commercial import process) and as such may in certain cases contain spelling errors or differ from the legal name.

Also, because the information applies to transactions in the 2006 calendar year, any recent changes in company name or status will not be reflected herein.

Industry Canada's mandate to supply the information contained in the Canadian Importers Database is outlined in Section 16(3) of the Department of Industry Act which states that:

"The Minister may publish lists of names and addresses of some or all importers or exporters of a product or group of products with trade values aggregated in such a manner as to protect the confidentiality of data concerning individual importers or exporters."

To protect business confidentiality in accordance with this specific mandate, the Statistics Act and other pertinent legislation, the following rules are applied:

• Import quantities or dollar values for individual companies are not divulged.
• No list of names is given if one company accounts for 80% or more of the total imports AND unless there are at least three importers of the product.
• The names are listed in alphabetical order.
• Only company names are divulged. The names of individuals are not divulged.

The information contained in the Canadian Importers Database is collected within the framework of the existing commercial import process.

In order to bring non-prohibited goods into Canada, importers must:

• provide the proper documents to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) including
  • two copies of the cargo control document (CCD);
  • two copies of the invoice;
  • two copies of a completed Form B3, Canada Customs Coding Form;
  • a Form A - Certificate of Origin (when necessary);
• any import permits, health certificates, or forms that other federal government departments require;
• calculate and declare the value for duty of the imported goods (according to the valuation provisions of the Customs Act);
• make sure that the goods are properly marked with their country of origin;
• pay any duties that apply.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) licenses customs brokers to carry out customs-related responsibilities on behalf of their clients. A broker's services include:

• obtaining release of the imported goods;
• paying any duties that apply;
• obtaining, preparing, and presenting or transmitting the necessary documents or data;
• maintaining records; and
• responding to any Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) concerns after payment.

Clients have to pay a fee for these services, which the brokerage firm establishes.

Non-Resident Importers are companies that import goods into Canada but which have addresses outside of Canada.

These companies are required to have a Business Number (BN) and an import/export account registered with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Most non-resident importers have addresses in the United States. In these cases, the U.S. state is indicated in listings of "Major Importers" and no postal code information is displayed.

There are 3 method for finding specific products: a keyword search where a descriptor is entered, a code search where an HS code number is entered and the browse option where all the 6-digits HS codes and descriptions are listed by sections and chapters.

Search Results

In all cases, the result of a product search is a picklist of 6-digits HS codes. At this point, there are two options:

• Generating a Report for the Selected (i.e. highlighted) Product.
• "Drilling down" to display 10-digits HS codes (matching the Canadian Customs Tariff) which may offer a further breakdown.

In all cases, only ONE CODE CAN BE SELECTED at one time.

The keyword search helps you find a specific product (and the numeric HS code associated with it) by typing one or more words.

Instructions:

1. Enter one or more keywords in the search window.
2. The search is not case sensitive and you are not required to enter accented characters.
3. Multiple words must be separated by a space and the following operators can be used : AND NOT OR
4. Click on the SEARCH button and a picklist of results will be displayed.
5. If unsuccessful, try synonyms, alternate spelling or other combinations of related terms.

Keyword searching uses a built-in thesaurus. It is a string type of search which is not case sensitive. A limit of 500 returned codes has been put in place to keep the response time manageable.

The search engine looks through every "character string" (contiguous set of letters) in the product (commodity) descriptions as well as through a list of synonyms and other associated terms that Industry Canada has added for use in Strategis in a built-in thesaurus.

About the Keyword Thesaurus

For instance, the word "bovine" is the term commonly used in the Harmonized System (HS) - the word "cow" has been added in the thesaurus as a keyword. Thus, if a search is carried out using the word "cow", commodity codes using the term "bovine" will also be returned.

The word "animal" has also been added to the thesaurus. A user wishing to find all the codes for "live animals" (entered in the window as "LIVE AND ANIMAL") would thus pick up bovines (incl. cows), swines (incl.pigs) and equines (incl. horses) among others through inclusion of the latter term in the thesaurus. This allows retrieval of similar types commodities through use of more generic terms.

Spelling

As previously indicated, the search is not case sensitive, but is dependent on correct spelling.

In some cases, there may be differences between the British (or European) and the Canadian (or north American) spellings of a word; examples: "soyabeans" and "soybeans", "fibres" and "fibers", "colour" and "color". Also, some words may be hyphenated; examples: "man-made", "CD-ROMS", "non-alloy", "infra-red" (as opposed to "infrared"). While an attempt has been made to capture as many variations possible using the built-in thesaurus, you may need to try alternative spelling in some cases. Work on expanding and improving the thesaurus is ongoing.

Unsuccessful Keyword Searches

The most common reasons for unsuccessful keyword searches are:

• Spelling errors
• Entering a "company" name rather than a "product name" (e.g. Company ABC rather than Bicycles)
• Entering the name for a "service" rather than a "product name" (e.g. Repair Services)
• Entering a "brand name" rather than a generic "product name" (e.g. Brand X rather Beer)

Uses of "Operators"

You can search the commodity or industry descriptions using more than one word and with logical (boolean) operators such as "AND", "NOT" and "OR" spaced between your words. The keyword search also automatically consults the built-in thesaurus to help you narrow or broaden your search criteria as required.

• Search on: "engines AND aircraft"

  This will return only codes and descriptions related in some way to both these terms. The numerous types of engines not associated with aircrafts will not appear, although components of aircraft engines will be picked up.

• Search on: "sandals OR slippers"

  This will return codes and descriptions relating to both these terms. Other kind of footwear will be excluded by this more precise selection.

• Search on: "suits NOT track"

  This will return only codes and descriptions related to "suits", but will exclude "track suits" from the returned list.

• Do NOT include any "wildcard" operators!

  will NOT work!

The code search helps you find a specific product by typing one or more 6-digits numeric HS codes. This is useful only if you know specific numeric codes or have an idea of the code range.

Instructions

1. Enter a valid code making sure the digits are NOT separated by dots.
2. The code must have a maximum of 6 digits - to find a 10-digits code enter the first 6-digits, then "drilldown" from the "Search Results" screen.
3. A range of codes may be entered using the " : " as an operator
   (Example: 8403 : 8406)
4. A list of codes may also be specified using the " OR "operator
   (Example: 040310 OR 251010 OR 842511)
5. Click on the SEARCH button and a picklist of results will be displayed.
6. If unsuccessful, verify the correctness of the code(s), or alternatively use the "Keyword Search" option.

This option allows you to find a specific product by browsing through a complete list of all the 6-digits HS product codes used in the database.

How the List Works

On the Product search screen, you will first get a screen showing the sections and chapters of the Harmonized System (HS) - the international commodity classification system used to keep track of imports and exports of various products.

By choosing a section or chapter (or in some cases a sub-chapter), you can get on the next screen a listing of all the products classified under the heading you chose. This is most useful to those for prefer browsing.

A Section usually regroups several chapters and appears in upper case in the list. (e.g. LIVE ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS regroups Chapters 1 to 5). Choosing this selection will yield a picklist of all the products (6-digit HS codes) in that section.

Clicking on a Specific Chapter (e.g. 01 Live Animals) will yield a picklist of just the 6-digit Harmonized System codes (i.e.products listed) in that chapter. In either case (section or chapter), you can then select individual products.

Finding 10-Digits HS Codes

To browse through a list of 10-digits HS codes (matching the Canadian Customs Tariff), first highlight the desired 6-digits HS code in the picklist, then click on the "Drilldown" button.

Can't Find a Specific Product?

We suggest you try the keyword search. The built-in thesaurus will help with its synonyms and associated terms.

Also be sure you are looking for "generic" terms and not for "Brand Names"!
Thus, for example, in Chapter 22 - Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar, you will find HS 220300 - BEER MADE FROM MALT - but not any reference to "Brand X" or "Brand Y" of beer.

Not Sure You Have a Complete List?

Again, try the keyword search, as sometimes similar products are located in different chapters because of their construction or constituent materials.

The City Search option allows you to see the "Major Importers" for a given city in North America.  Enter the city name - in part or in full - and click on Search to obtain a list of possible cities for which there might be data.

Reports by City

Please note that only the "Major Importers" (the Top 80%) are shown and that the following confidentiality provisions apply:

• Import quantities or dollar values for individual companies are not divulged.
• No list of names is given unless there are at least three importers for the given city, and the names are listed in alphabetical order.
• Only company names are divulged. The names of individuals are not divulged.
• If one company accounts for 80% or more of the total imports for a given city, no names are released.

No market concentration summary is given in the reports by city. However, the total value of imports is shown under the city name. No reports are available for many smaller cities - particularly those outside Canada for non-resident importers - because the import market is often dominated by only one or two players.

The Country Search option allows you to see the "Major Importers" for a given country of origin. Countries may be selected (one at a time) from an alphabetical picklist.

Country of Origin - Imports of All Products

When the country selection module is accessed from the homepage or through the side menu, the list of 'Major Importers' will pertain to all products imported from the selected country.

Country of Origin - Imports of a Specific Product

When a product has already been selected using the Product Search option, it is also possible to view the "Major Imnporters" of that specific product by country of origin. In these cases, the picklist of countries will only include the countries for which there are imports - and not the complete list of countries in the world.

Country Classification

The identity of the countries appearing in the Country of Origin Selection list is a reflection of the country classifications used by Statistics Canada to tabulate trade statistics.

It should be noted that :

• The country classifications used in Canadian Importers Database, which are derived from ones employed by Statistics Canada, are designed for the purposes of economic geography and therefore do NOT reflect the views or intentions of the Government of Canada on international issues of recognition, sovereignty or jurisdiction.

• To assist search and display in selection lists, country names appear in short form. For example, the People's Democratic Republic of Laos will simply appear as Laos for ease of use. Similarly, the Republic of Korea will appear as Korea, South in the list and so on.

The product codes used in Canadian Importers Database are based on the Harmonized System (HS) codes as described below.

Canadian Customs Tariff

The most detailed product codes used in Canadian Importers Database are those that are published annually by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in the Canadian Customs Tariff. These are also the ones used by Canada Customs to track imports into Canada.

The Canadian Customs Tariff is based on an internationally approved Harmonized System (HS) of classification. It consists of about 10,000 classification numbers. In Canada, the tariff classification number consists of 10 digits:

• the first six digits are standardized with all countries using the international tariff;
• the seventh and eighth digits distinguish break-outs for Canadian trade purposes; and
• the last two digits are for statistical purposes.

Commercial invoices, prepared by the exporter and sometimes the importer, have to provide enough detail to identify the goods, determine the quantity, and correctly establish the tariff classification. Establishing the rate of duty for an imported good depends, in part, on determining the proper classification.

The Canadian Customs Tariff is revised and re-published every year, and amendments are issued in the course of a year. Numeric codes and descriptions are subject to change from year to year in addition to duty rates.

The codes and descriptors used in the Canadian Importers Database reflect those that were in use during the year 2006 and therefore may differ from those currently used in the latest Canadian Customs Tariff.

6 and 10-Digit Product Codes (HS6 and HS10)

The first 6 digits of the Harmonized System are international and this is the first level of detail (HS6) for which importer lists can be generated. More details may be available by "drilling down" to the 10-digit level specified in the Canadian Customs Tariff (HS10).

An illustration of this is shown below:

In some cases, the HS6 classification doesn't break down further - in which case the tariff code in use consists of the 6-digit code followed by four trailing zeros:

In the Canadian Importers Database, short-form descriptions are used at both the HS6 and HS10 level for ease of reference. The product descriptions may contain abbreviations, of which the most common is:

• n.e.s. or NES = not elsewhere specified

Please note that these short-form descriptors are NOT official and are employed to facilitate searches. They also apply to the tariff classification in use in 2006. For all purposes of interpreting and applying the law, the user should consult the official Customs Tariff and the Customs Act.

The reports on a product basis include a Market Concentration Summary that shows the distribution of imports for the "Major Importers" up to or near the 80% threshold. As the name implies, this shows how "concentrated" the import market is.

The total value for all imports for the specific product is also shown. This value also reflects goods brought into Canada by individuals and the total number of importers is not disclosed because of this.

Import Statistics are revised regularly by Statistics Canada. The latest revised trade statistics at the 6-digit Harmonized System level are available free of charge on Strategis in Trade Data Online. Import statistics at the 10-digit level may be purchased for a fee from Statistics Canada's Canadian International Merchandise Trade database. These other databases also offer several years of information on exports, the countries of origin (or destination) as well as breakdowns by province and U.S. state.