Relocating from Poland to Canada is a two-country customs journey, and each half carries its own paperwork. On the Polish end you are exporting your belongings out of the European Union’s customs territory, deregistering your residence, and closing your tax affairs. On the Canadian end you are importing those same belongings as a "settler" and clearing them through the Canada Border Services Agency. This guide covers both sides using only official government sources, plus a short note for anyone moving the other way (Canada to Poland). It is written for a resident of Poland — a Polish citizen or a foreign national living there — who is making Canada their new home.

Key takeaways

• Your Canadian immigration status decides your customs treatment: people establishing a first permanent residence of 12 months or more import as settlers under tariff item 9807.00.00, with no per-item value cap (CBSA, Moving or returning to Canada; CBSA Memorandum D2-2-1).
• Canada records your goods on Form BSF186 (Personal Effects Accounting Document), completed at your first point of entry (CBSA, BSF186).
• Belongings shipped separately must be declared as "goods to follow" on the BSF186/BSF186A at first entry — you cannot add them later (CBSA, BSF186A).
• On the Polish side, an export customs declaration is filed electronically in the AES/ECS2 PLUS system through the KAS platform PUESC (PUESC, export declaration service).
• You must report your departure abroad to your Polish municipal office; a permanent move triggers automatic deregistration (wymeldowanie) from both permanent and temporary addresses (gov.pl, Report going abroad).
• Poland is not on Canada’s list of rabies-free countries, so dogs and cats aged three months or more need a valid rabies vaccination certificate in English or French (CFIA, Bringing animals to Canada).
• Cars bought outside the United States generally cannot be imported to comply with Canada’s safety standards unless the vehicle is 15+ years old or otherwise non-regulated (Transport Canada, importing vehicles from other countries).
• Carrying CAN$10,000 or more across the border — in any currency or monetary instruments — must be declared to the CBSA (CBSA, Travelling with CAN$10,000 or more).

1. Your Canadian status determines the customs treatment

Everything about how Canada treats your shipment flows from one question: are you settling permanently? The CBSA defines a settler as a person entering Canada intending to establish, for the first time, a residence for a period of not less than 12 months (one year or more). Settlers import their personal and household effects free of duty and tax under tariff item No. 9807.00.00, and — unlike former residents — face no maximum value per item (CBSA, Moving or returning to Canada).

The core condition is ownership: the goods must have been owned, possessed and used abroad by you before you arrive. Household goods you acquired to furnish your new Canadian home are treated more leniently, but the general rule is prior ownership (CBSA Memorandum D2-2-1, Settlers’ Effects). One catch worth planning around: goods imported duty-free as settler’s effects that you sell or otherwise dispose of within 12 months of importation become liable for the duties that were waived (CBSA D2-2-1). If instead you are a former resident returning to resume residence in Canada after living abroad for a year or more, you fall under the former resident rules, under which any single item worth more than CAN$10,000 on the day you import it is subject to duty and taxes on the amount over CAN$10,000 (CBSA, Moving or returning to Canada).

2. The Poland export side: customs, deregistration and tax exit

Customs authority and the export declaration. Poland’s customs and tax administration is the Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa (KAS – National Revenue Administration). Because your belongings are leaving the customs territory of the European Union, export formalities apply, and they are initiated by lodging an export customs declaration. This is done electronically through the KAS Platforma Usług Elektronicznych Skarbowo-Celnych (PUESC), using the AES/ECS2 PLUS system (Automatic Export System) (PUESC, export declaration service; PUESC, Export). In practice most private movers do not file this themselves — the moving company or a customs agent submits the AES declaration on your behalf, using your inventory, invoice/valuation and packing list. The EU does not levy export duties, but the declaration and its exit confirmation are what prove the goods lawfully left the Union.

Deregistration (wymeldowanie). Poland still has a residence-registration obligation. You must report your departure to the municipal or city office (urząd gminy/miasta). If you are leaving with the intent of permanent residence abroad, that report automatically deregisters you from both your permanent (pobyt stały) and temporary (pobyt czasowy) addresses. You must report no later than the day you leave your current place of residence, and from 1 January 2026 this matter can be handled online only through the e-Doręczenia electronic delivery system (gov.pl, Report going abroad).

Tax-residency exit. Under Polish law you are a tax resident — subject to unlimited tax liability (nieograniczony obowiązek podatkowy) on worldwide income — if your centre of vital interests is in Poland or you spend more than 183 days in Poland in a tax year. The Ministry of Finance’s official tax-residency guidance explains that the centre of vital interests (family, economic ties) can be decisive even independently of the day count, so genuinely relocating your life to Canada is what ends Polish residency (Ministry of Finance, tax-residency explanations; Ministry of Finance, PIT information for people living abroad). Note that filing the address-update form ZAP-3 does not, by itself, change your residency status. Keep evidence of your move (Canadian lease, employment, arrival date) in case the tax office asks.

3. Ports and transit times (industry estimates, not official figures)

Poland’s Baltic coast gives you real deepwater capacity. Baltic Hub at the Port of Gdańsk is the largest container terminal on the Baltic Sea; it can handle the world’s largest container vessels (over 24,000 TEU) and, after a third deepwater quay opened in 2025, has a capacity of about 4.4 million TEU a year (Port Gdańsk, Baltic Hub). Gdańsk has also gained a direct transatlantic container service (trade.gov.pl, Gdańsk direct container service). Gdynia and the Szczecin–Świnoujście complex are the other main Polish seaports. Most household moves leave from Gdańsk or Gdynia.

The following transit times are freight-industry estimates, not official government figures, and vary with routing, transshipment and season. Sea freight in a shared or full container to eastern Canadian ports (Montréal, Halifax) is commonly quoted at roughly 4–6 weeks port-to-port, and longer to the west coast (Vancouver) via transshipment. Air freight for a smaller, urgent consignment is usually a few days to about two weeks door-to-door once cleared. Treat any single number a carrier gives you as an estimate, and add time for customs clearance on both ends.

4. The Canada import side: the actual form and process

When you arrive, you clear your belongings personally with the CBSA. Bring two copies of a detailed inventory listing value, make, model and serial number where applicable, split into goods arriving with you and goods to follow (CBSA, Moving or returning to Canada).

At your first point of entry the border officer completes Form BSF186, Personal Effects Accounting Document, assigns it a file number, and gives you a stamped copy (CBSA, BSF186). That stamped copy is essential: when your shipped container later arrives, your mover or customs broker presents it to release the "goods to follow" duty-free. A longer inventory can be attached on Form BSF186A, Personal Effects Accounting Document (list of imported goods) (CBSA, BSF186A). The critical rule is that anything not listed as a good to follow at your first entry cannot be imported duty-free as a settler’s effect afterward — so list everything, even items still packed in Poland. Guidance for the whole arrival process is set out in the CBSA’s traveller guide (CBSA, I Declare).

5. Pets: the rules on both ends

Leaving Poland. Within the EU, dogs, cats and ferrets travel on an EU pet passport issued by an authorised veterinarian after the animal is identified by microchip; this is the standard Polish identification document, overseen by the Główny Inspektorat Weterynarii (Chief Veterinary Inspectorate) (GIW, identification documents). For a move to a non-EU country, the Polish veterinary authority is clear that the destination country’s rules govern, so Canada’s requirements are the binding ones (GIW, travelling with pets outside the EU).

Entering Canada. Import rules for animals are set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and enforced at the border by the CBSA (CBSA, Travelling with animals). Poland is not on Canada’s list of countries recognised as free of rabies, so both dogs and cats aged three months or older need a valid rabies vaccination certificate, written in English or French and signed by a licensed veterinarian; you should also carry proof that the pet is yours (CFIA, Bringing animals to Canada; CFIA, Travelling with a pet). You must declare the animal to the CBSA officer, who inspects the documentation on arrival (CBSA, Travelling with animals). Because requirements can change, confirm your exact case with the CFIA before you fly.

6. Vehicles, money and things people forget

Vehicles. This is where many Poland-to-Canada movers are caught out. A car bought under normal conditions while living outside the United States generally cannot be imported because it was not manufactured to the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; the Registrar of Imported Vehicles program is built around vehicles from the US. The main exception is age: vehicles 15 years or older (by month and year of manufacture) are no longer regulated under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and may be imported if they meet CBSA admissibility (Transport Canada, importing vehicles from other countries; CBSA Memorandum D19-12-1). For most people, selling the car in Poland is simpler than shipping it.

Money. There is no limit on how much you can bring, but you must declare CAN$10,000 or more — in Canadian or foreign currency, or monetary instruments such as cheques and drafts — to the CBSA on entry. Failure to declare can lead to seizure and penalties (CBSA, Travelling with CAN$10,000 or more).

Things people forget. Alcohol, tobacco and firearms have their own rules and are not covered by the general settler exemption (CBSA D2-2-1). Keep your BSF186 file number safe until every "goods to follow" shipment has cleared. And confirm your Polish deregistration and final PIT settlement are done — loose ends there are easier to fix before you leave than from Canada.

Reverse direction: Canada to Poland

Moving the other way, you re-enter the EU customs territory, and Poland offers relief called mienie przesiedlenia — an exemption from customs duty (and import VAT) on personal property when you transfer your normal residence from a third country to Poland. The relief requires a genuine physical transfer of residence, that you had lived abroad, and that the goods were owned and used by you; they can be imported in stages within 12 months of establishing residence in Poland (podatki.gov.pl, mienie przesiedlenia). Pets returning to Poland follow EU entry rules administered by the GIW (GIW, identification documents).

How Flyto handles your Poland to Canada move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — so the Polish leg of your move (collection, packing, export documentation and getting your container onto a ship at Gdańsk or Gdynia) is handled by people we manage directly. For the legs we do not run ourselves we rely on a carefully chosen network of vetted partners and subcontractors, and on the ground in Canada we work with trusted local partners for customs clearance and final delivery, so the BSF186 hand-off and last mile are in experienced hands. We do not claim to do everything ourselves — we combine what we operate directly with the right partners at each end.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay Canadian duty on my household goods?
Not if you qualify as a settler and the goods were owned, possessed and used abroad before you arrived. They enter duty- and tax-free under tariff item 9807.00.00, recorded on Form BSF186 (CBSA, BSF186; CBSA D2-2-1).

What if my container arrives weeks after I land?
That is normal. List those items as "goods to follow" on your BSF186/BSF186A at your first entry and keep the stamped copy; your mover uses it to clear the shipment later. Items not listed at first entry lose the duty-free treatment (CBSA, BSF186A).

Do I have to formally deregister in Poland?
Yes. Report your departure to your municipal office; a permanent move abroad automatically deregisters you from both permanent and temporary addresses, and you should report by the day you leave (gov.pl, Report going abroad).

Can I bring my dog and cat?
Yes, with a valid rabies vaccination certificate in English or French for animals three months or older, since Poland is not a rabies-free country by Canada’s classification. Declare the pet to the CBSA on arrival (CFIA, Bringing animals to Canada).

Can I ship my Polish car to Canada?
Usually not for road use, because it was not built to Canada’s safety standards; the clearest exception is a vehicle 15 years or older. Check with Transport Canada before shipping (Transport Canada, importing vehicles from other countries).

How much cash can I carry?
Any amount, but declare CAN$10,000 or more to the CBSA to avoid seizure or penalties (CBSA, Travelling with CAN$10,000 or more).

Sources

• CBSA — Moving or returning to Canada
• CBSA — Form BSF186, Personal Effects Accounting Document
• CBSA — Form BSF186A, Personal Effects Accounting Document (list of imported goods)
• CBSA — Memorandum D2-2-1, Settlers’ Effects (Tariff item 9807.00.00)
• CBSA — I Declare: guide for residents returning to Canada
• CBSA — Travelling with animals
• CBSA — Travelling with CAN$10,000 or more? Declare it
• CBSA — Memorandum D19-12-1, Importing Vehicles into Canada
• CFIA — Bringing animals to Canada: importing and travelling with pets
• CFIA — Travelling with a pet
• Transport Canada — Importing vehicles purchased in countries other than the United States (FAQ)
• gov.pl — Zgłoś wyjazd za granicę (Report going abroad)
• PUESC (KAS) — Lodge an export customs declaration
• PUESC (KAS) — Export (Wywóz towarów)
• Ministry of Finance — Tax-residency explanations (Objaśnienia podatkowe dotyczące rezydencji podatkowej)
• Ministry of Finance — PIT information for people living outside Poland
• podatki.gov.pl — Mienie przesiedlenia (customs relief on transfer of residence)
• Port Gdańsk — Baltic Hub Container Terminal
• trade.gov.pl — The Port of Gdańsk with a direct container service
• Główny Inspektorat Weterynarii — Travelling with pets outside the EU
• Główny Inspektorat Weterynarii — Identification documents (pet passport)