When you enter Canada, the Canadian Border Services Agency will provide you with a Vehicle Import Form – Form 1. Keep this form in your vehicle until it is Licensed, as you may be asked to show it if stopped by a police officer.
- Once you have paid the required RIV fee online, the RIV will forward you an inspection form by e-mail, fax, or postal mail – depending on the communication method you have requested.
- This inspection form will contain all the information you will need to determine exactly what modifications will be needed to pass the RIV inspection.
- If modifications are required, you will need to have them done and inspected at a federal inspection location.
Once your vehicle has passed the federal inspection, the inspection centre will stamp your Vehicle Import Form – Form 1.
The Form 1 document must have 2 stamps:
- At the top from the Canadian Border Services Office, stamped at the border
- In either section 16 or 17 stamped at the federal inspection location that your vehicle was inspected at (eg. Canadian Tire)
Approximately 1 week after successfully passing the federal inspection, the Registrar of Imported Vehicles will send you a Canadian certification label with instructions on where to attach it to your vehicle.
For additional information about this process, visit the Registrar of Imported Vehicles.