OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 16, 2025 /CNW/ - The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reminds travellers to plan ahead when travelling to Canada this holiday season.
Every day, CBSA officers play a crucial role protecting our communities. Between January 1 and October 31, 2025, the CBSA welcomed more than 70 million travellers while also intercepting over 30,790 kg of illegal drugs and 13,500 weapons and firearms. Find out more about how CBSA strengthened our border, protected our communities and our economy in 2025 by reading our Year-in-review.
As you prepare for holiday travels, knowing what you need to enter Canada will help ensure a smoother border crossing experience while also giving CBSA officers more time to continue focusing on stopping dangerous goods and inadmissible people from entering the country.
Here are some travel tips to help you plan for your trip:
- Have your travel documents readily available to present to an officer. This will speed up processing times at the border.
- When travelling with children who are not your own or for whom you don't have full legal custody, we recommend you have a consent letter from the parent or legal guardian authorizing you to travel with the child. We are always watching for missing children, and in the absence of the letter, officers may ask additional questions.
- Be prepared to declare. Declare everything you have with you upon entry into Canada. If arriving by land, you are responsible for everything inside your vehicle.
- Leave gifts unwrapped. If travelling with gifts, make sure they are unwrapped or in gift bags in case border services officers need to inspect the contents.
- Bringing poultry products, including turkey: Be sure to review current restrictions on poultry and birds from the United States before bringing these products across the border. Homemade food or leftovers containing poultry cannot be brought into Canada.
- Goods purchased abroad: If you are a resident of Canada, personal exemptions allow you to bring goods, including alcohol and tobacco (up to a certain value), back to Canada without paying regular duty and taxes. Make sure you know the value of goods you are bringing back in Canadian dollars and have your receipts available for the officer.
- Driving into Canada? Check border wait times to plan your route.
- Early mornings are the best time to cross the border to avoid wait times.
- The Monday of holiday long weekends tend to be the busiest.
- Consider an alternative port of entry with shorter wait times or less traffic. Check the port of entry's hours of operation on the official Directory of CBSA Offices and Services. If you are using a GPS application (such as Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze) to direct you to a port of entry, consider checking different navigation options (such as fastest and shortest routes) to determine the preferred route of travel.
- Flying into Canada? Use Advance Declaration and be able to make your customs and immigration declaration up to 72 hours in advance of your arrival into Canada (at participating airports.)
- Leave your firearms and weapons at home. You are encouraged not to travel with firearms. If you choose to do so, be sure to check the rules on importing firearms.
- Cannabis: Don't bring it in. Don't take it out. While cannabis is legal in Canada, bringing it across the border in any form, including oils containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD), without a permit or exemption authorized by Health Canada is a serious criminal offence subject to arrest and prosecution. A medical prescription from a doctor does not count as Health Canada authorization.
- Bringing fireworks into Canada? Consult Importing, exporting and transporting fireworks to ensure that the ones you are bringing in are authorized.
- Know before you go: review the restricted and prohibited goods to avoid the possibility of penalties, including fines, seizure or prosecution. Make sure you have the information you need before attempting to bring items into Canada.
We encourage you to read and follow all of our travel tips before arriving at the border.
Not sure? Ask a CBSA officer. The best way to save time is to be open and honest with the border services officer. If you are not sure about what to declare, you can call us at 1-800-461-9999.
Associated links
- Plan your trip across the border
- Guide for residents returning to Canada
- Travel tips
- Border reminder checklist
- Advance Declaration video
Follow us on "X" (@CanBorder), Instagram, join us on Facebook or visit our YouTube channel.
SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency
Contacts: Media Relations (https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/media/media-eng.html), Canada Border Services Agency, [email protected], 1-877-761-5945
Share this article