Travellers
Alcohol and Tobacco Limits

Alcoholic beverages

Alcoholic beverages are products that exceed 0.5% alcohol by volume. Certain alcoholic and wine products that do not exceed 0.5% by volume are not considered alcoholic beverages.

If you have been away from Canada for 48 hours or more, you are allowed to import one of the following amounts of alcohol free of duty and taxes:

Product	Metric	Imperial	Estimates
Wine	Up to1.5 litres of wine	Up to 53 fluid ounces	Two 750 ml bottles of wine
Alcoholic beverages	Up to 1.14 litres	Up to 40 fluid ounces	One large standard bottle of liquor
Beer or ale	Up to 8.5 litres	Up to 287 fluid ounces	Approximately 24 cans or bottles (355 ml each) of beer or ale.

You must meet the minimum age of the province or territory where you enter Canada. Minimum ages are established by provincial or territorial authorities: 18 years for Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec and 19 years for the remaining provinces and territories.

The CBSA classifies "cooler" products according to the alcoholic beverage they contain. For example, beer coolers are considered to be beer and wine coolers are considered to be wine.

The quantities of alcoholic beverages you can import must be within the limit set by provincial and territorial liquor control authorities that apply where you will enter Canada. If the amount of alcohol you want to import exceeds your personal exemption, you will be required to pay the duty and taxes as well as any provincial or territorial levies that apply. Contact the appropriate provincial or territorial liquor control authority for more information before you return to Canada.

Tobacco products

You can speed up your clearance by having your tobacco products available for inspection when you arrive.

Whether they are stamped or unstamped, if you bring in tobacco products that exceed your personal exemption, you will be required to pay the regular duty and taxes as well as any provincial or territorial levies that apply on the excess amount.

Note: You must be 18 years of age to bring tobacco products into Canada under your personal exemption.

Stamped Tobacco Products – Personal exemption amounts

If you wish to import cigarettes, manufactured tobacco and tobacco sticks duty free as part of your personal exemption, the packages must be stamped "duty paid Canada droit acquitté". You will find tobacco products sold at duty-free stores marked this way.

If you have been away from Canada for 48 hours or more, you may import all of the following amounts of cigars and stamped tobacco into Canada free of duty and taxes.

Product	Amount
Cigarettes	200 cigarettes
Cigars	50 cigars
Tobacco	200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco
Tobacco sticks	200 tobacco sticks

Unstamped Tobacco Products – Special duties rate

A special duty rate applies to cigarettes, manufactured tobacco and tobacco sticks that are not stamped "duty paid Canada droit acquitté".

For example, if you claim a carton of 200 cigarettes as part of your personal exemption and it is not stamped "duty paid Canada droit acquitté", you will be assessed at a special duty rate.

Unstamped Tobacco Products – Import limits

In addition to your personal exemption amounts, there are limits on the quantity of tobacco products that may be imported if it is not packaged and not stamped "duty paid Canada droit acquitté". The limit is currently five units of tobacco products. One unit of tobacco products consists of one of the following:

Product	Amount
Cigarettes	200 cigarettes
Cigars	50 cigars
Tobacco	200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco
Tobacco sticks	200 tobacco sticks