Anyone every used Form E99 or E29B when leaving a boat in Canada?

[DDW]

It is required according to CBSA, yet I've never heard of anyone doing it nor do the customs agents seem to know what I am talking about. Likewise a number of marinas and repair facilities in Canada I've talked to.

I'm curious if it has ever been done.

The last two times I've gone in to retrieve the boat, I was asked how long it had been there, first time that has happened. Failure to have the form and have it posted in plain sight on the boat theoretically caries a penalty of forfeiture.

 

[gsholz]

I tried looking up these forms and found only E29B (Temporary Admission Permit). Seems like a form for temporary import of goods.

Anyway, I have never been asked by customs when I bring in or return with the boat nor by customs when we come by car to visit the boat. I do post the Canadian Clearance number on the boat.

Who asked you for these forms?

 

[SteveK]

No, I have never used these forms, however I did stay at a Holiday inn Express once. I think you talked with a newbie going by the book. next time you go through customs tell them the plan and they will probably hand you the form.

E99 updates to BSF375 Temporary importation of baggage and conveyances by non-residents.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d2/d2-1-1-eng.pdf

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/fv-be/importation-eng.html

E29B – Temporary Admission Permit
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e29b-eng.html

 

[DDW]

I've left my boat in Canada many, many times. I've never been questioned about it until recently. If you are there with it, it is simply your conveyance, like a car, and can be used there for a limited period of time.

But if you leave it and leave Canada, the regulations seem clear enough - just never followed. You are exempt from import duties and taxes on exception 3)e(ii):

(e) where the baggage or conveyances are imported by a visitor, the visitor declares that the visitor intends
(i) to leave Canada on a specified date, or
(ii) to make a series of visits to Canada within the succeeding 12 months and specifies the date on which the visitor intends to leave Canada at the end of the final visit of the visitor;

But are required to obtain paperwork:

(g) in the case of a visitor referred to in subparagraph (e)(ii), the visitor produces, on each arrival in Canada during the period referred to in that subparagraph, the customs form issued to the visitor in respect of any baggage or conveyances that were imported on a previous visit and remained in Canada during the visitor's absence if the visitor is requested by a customs officer to do so.

This has never happened to me, but again the last two times into Canada I've been asked purpose of the visit (to visit and/or retrieve my boat), that has triggered the question "how long has it been here". I wonder if they are beginning to crack down on this. The penalty would be severe:

56. Owners are advised that operational checks are made from time to time at marina and service outlet locations. Non duty and tax paid pleasure craft, imported by visitors and remaining in Canada without being documented on a Form E99 or a Form E29B may be seized and forfeited under the Customs Act.

The problem with doing this is you mostly clear in by phone, no one is there to hand you a form and you'd probably be waiting a long time for that.

 

[gsholz]

The second document that Soo-Valley linked explains the difference between arriving via boat and using a land-based port of entry checkpoint.

Temporary Importation for Seasonal/Leisure Use
Visitors to Canada may import goods and conveyances, including private vessels, for their personal use while in Canada. Vessel owners may leave their vessel in Canada, including in a berth at a Canadian marina, for the duration of the boating season if they plan on making a series of visits to Canada to use the vessel for leisure.

At the time of importation, the importer must specify the date on which they intend to export the vessel from Canada. When arriving by water, the vessel operator will report through the Telephone Reporting Centre (TRC) and will be provided with a TRC report number. The declared export date will be logged in the CBSA's systems.

When arriving through a land port of entry, the importer will be provided with Form BSF375, CBSA Report (formerly known as Form E99) indicating the declared exportation date.​

When arriving by boat/sea you need to leave by the declared exit date (no BSF375 form) or you can ask for an extension which may then involve the BSF375 form.

 

[DDW]

That second reference is clearer on implemented policy (though seems somewhat at odds with written regulations). If you are leaving it specifically for storage, the documents are required, and you cannot return it to leisure use:

Non-residents may import their vessels specifically for the purpose of storage or repair. They may also be permitted to leave their vessel in Canada for storage or repair at the end of the boating season.

Vessels imported or left for storage or non-emergency repairs will be documented on Form E29B, Temporary Admission Permit. A refundable security deposit may be required.

A vessel imported or left for storage or repair cannot be used for leisure or any commercial purpose while it is being stored or repaired in Canada. Once a vessel is removed from the storage or repair facility, it must be exported. It cannot be returned back to leisure use by the service provider or remain in Canada at the end of the CBSA authorization period.

The change from intermittent leisure use to storage or repair apparently must be documented on an E29B (see the examples). From that in the future I guess I will say that the boat is there for intermittent leisure use, rather than storage or repair (it kind of is, though that distinction seems blurry). I'll also be clearer about the export date. There is talk about the "boating season" which in BC at least is all year.