canadian customs-alcohol
 

I am not sure what the price of liquor is in Canada. My wife and I were thinking about bringing some liquour with us on our trip. Will with be a problem? Any other issues to be concerned about as we do not have a passport, but we do have our birth certificate.

Maybe you should attend a few AA meetings before your vacation

The best thing to do is buy your liquor at the "duty free" at the border. Then you avoid the taxes. There are some restrictions as to amounts but you can readily find out what when you purchase. I am assuming you are travelling from the USA. If so, the birth certificate and one piece of picture ID will suffice.

Alcoholic beverages <BR>If you meet the age requirements set by the province or territory where you enter Canada, you can include one of the following:<BR><BR>- 1.5 litres of wine;<BR><BR>- 1.14 litres (40 oz.) of liquor; or <BR><BR>- 24 × 355 ml cans/bottles (8.5 litres) of beer or ale<BR>

We just got back from Canada and they really didn't even check the kids birth certificates just the adults and then very quickly. Didn't ask about alcohol or anything else for that matter just wanted to know what we were doing "vacation" was the reply and that was it. We did need ID's though for the boat trip to Boldt Castle out of Kingston Ontario. The boat leaves Canada and ends up in US. The US customs wanted photos id's and the whole bit.

See, that's coz we're real neighbourly up here and don't figger our 'murican cuzzins mean us any harm. Funny they didn't ask you about firearms though. We're sorta nervous about those things.<BR><BR>Seriously though - the Canadian immigration people are trained to 'profile' and while it isn't an exact science it seems to have worked well. What they're most concerned about is drug and contraband smuggling and illegal immigrants and if they don't 'smell a rat' they don't tend to 'spin their wheels'. Like I said - it seems to have worked well so far.<BR><BR>And don't start with that red herring about terrorists sneaking in via Canada. Statistacly many, many more have come into the US direct than via Canada.

Last year we traveled in BC & Alberta and had no problem finding booze in designated liquor stores. Price about the same as in the USA and maybe a little cheaper considering the exchange rate. Hope we will find the same in the Quebec area in August!

Jim:<BR><BR>Quebec has the most liberal liquor laws in Canada. Beer & wine can be bought at convenience stores on just about every street corner. Better wines and hard liquor are found in government-owned SAQ stores which are found on almost any commercial steet, shopping malls, etc.

I have to ask. Canada is famous for the quality of it's beers, wines and spirits. Why would you want to take your own liquor into Canada?

My husband and I just returned from our vacation in the Rockies and we did bring a 1.75 liter bottle of "Early Times" bourbon (hard to find in most places)and some wine for me (which we declared on the customs form)and we were very glad we did because even w/the exchange rate, we found the prices of liquor in the resort towns to be very expensive. We pay about $11.95 US for the "1.75" liter bottle of Early Times in Maryland (it's about $19.00 in Virginia) and I think a "350" ml of Jack Daniels was approx. $30 Cdn. My parents live in Montreal and they always bring 2 bottles of alcohol back w/them. If you do have time to go to the Duty Free before landing in Canada, by all means do so as the prices for alcohol in the Duty Free shops are very good but we knew we would not have much time between our final US destination and Canada to shop. Do bring your driver's license and your birth certificates (they asked for both at customs). However, my husband's certificate was not the "official" copy and the ticket agent here made a point that we may have a problem getting back into the US w/o an "official" copy but we had not problem at all (both the Canadian and US customs officiers said it was just fine). Enjoy Canada!!

Hi Lila,<BR>My brother runs a bar and is always on the lookout for 'different' liquor. What is Early Times? Where is it made?Thanks!

Hello Catherine - I happen to enjoy Early Times Kentucky Whiskey also. According to the label on the bottle, it is distilled and bottled by Early Times Distillery Co., Louisville, Kentucky, established in 1860. I find it a very smooth tasting bourbon at a reasonable price. It is wonderful as part of a "Perfect Bourbon Manhatten". (I purchase it in Pennsylvania.

Sorry I goofed yesterday when I quoted the prices for the Early Times in Canada (my husband corrected me). The 350 ml was $15.00 and the 750 ml was $30 Cdn (but still a big price difference). Catherine, Early Times is a bourbon. It's not as sweet as Southern Comfort, very similar to Wild Turkey. This is my husband's drink of choice (he drinks it w/ginger ale) and although the many liquor stores here in Northern Virginia/Maryland carry it, many bars do not. We were surprised to see a small bottle of it in Jasper. I see that "Ace" knows more about Early Times than I do, so thank you for filling Catherine in!

Thank you both.