prohibited food items going into Canada

We have found big differences in border crossings. eg: Sumas/Huntington crossing usually quite reasonable both ways. Osoyoos/Oroville crossing, quite anal but at least generally pleasantly so both ways.

We crossed about a week ago. The border agent didn't ask any questions but we were prepared. We stocked minimal food before crossing. Remember, Canada is NOT a third world country, there are grocery stores readily available. We restock as needed and are better off not carrying the extra weight.

There are some food items that are less expensive in the US that you should consider bringing with you, Chicken, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit juice and bread produts top the list.

Alcohol, beer & wine of course and if you smoke cigs they cost over $10.00 per 25 pack up here (booze & smokes carry what we refer to as a "sin tax")

Check the CBSA website for quanities but all of the above are ok for import subject to limits

Most other products are not priced that much different and if you use your credit card when shopping here you should realize a 3 to 5% bonus on the exchange rate making things even cheaper. Exchange rates for cash transactions are not likely to reflect the best available rate.

Don't know what you are driving but fill your tank on the US side as close to the border as possible. Gas here is running about $4.86 per US gallon and desiel a little more!

That being said - you are about to visit one of the most senic and friendliest places on the planet.

Welcome to the Maritimes!!

Green onions and peppers are currently on the do not take to the USA list.
Any produce that is packaged and/or has something to indicate it is a product of Canada or US in admissible. Last week I took brocoli across and it had an elastic band around it that said product of USA so that was OK. Tomatoes are considered a citrus fruit and all citrus is banned. I did recently read though that tomatoes and peppers that are washed and sliced are OK but I would not take the chance with those. As far as meats - goat, mutton and lamb are all prohibited into US.
Also any sacks of rice from Asian countries are not allowed. Uncle Bens, Minute Rice and such are not a problem.

My experience is mostly with crossing from Ontario into NY and Michigan. Crossings in other areas of Canada could be different.

The onion is a root crop. It's sort of: how can you be sure that ordinary washing will remove the soil and all the little nematodes it contains.

Check the stickys at the top of this section.

:C

We have gone over several times and each is different. We'll be going again next week. One oddity about food is that the Canadians will allow you to bring in meat provided it is still in it's original wrapping. For us, we would purchase 10 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and freeze them individually so we would only have to remove one or two at a time for cooking and it turns out that they could have taken them from us but they did not that time. Upon returning to the US I had forgotten that my wife had just purchased a green onion and a pepper the previous day to make a certain meal and when we crossed back into the US they took away the onion but let us keep the pepper.....the onion did not have a sticker on it but the pepper did.....I feel much safer now!

Have fun and enjoy the trip!

We crossed many times from Canada and back but each time the crossing was different,sometimes they did not remove a thing and sometimes different food items were removed-so I suggest you check out the latest official regulations HERE and act accordingly.
We try to cross the boarder with very limited food in the trailer.
Have a great "crossing"