What to take to India from Canada (2026): gifts, maple syrup, electronics, customs and shipping

Every autumn the same question goes round the WhatsApp groups in Brampton, Mississauga, Surrey and Calgary: what do I take home? The honest answer in October 2026 has three parts. The things worth their weight are the ones India cannot make or taxes heavily — maple syrup, ice wine, Canadian chocolate, supplements, a few branded clothes and, for the right person, an iPhone bought at a Canadian price. The things that are a waste of a suitcase are the ones that are cheaper, better or simply available in India — clothes from Indian shops in Canada, spices, basmati, cheap electronics, kitchen appliances that run on 120 volts, and a television. And the rules changed this year: India's Baggage Rules, 2026 came into force on 2 February 2026, raising the duty-free allowance for a returning resident or an OCI holder from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, making one new laptop duty-free for anyone over 18, and putting the jewellery allowance on weight alone — 40 g for a woman, 20 g for anyone else, after a year abroad. Everything on this page was checked against those rules and the Canadian ones on 17 October 2026; rupee figures use the Bank of Canada rate of 16 October 2026, C$1 = Rs 67.

What people actually pack

• Maple syrup — the one gift nobody in India can buy at a fair price, light in a tin, and fine in any personal quantity.
• Ice wine and Canadian whisky, inside India's two-litre alcohol allowance.
• Chocolate, maple cookies and maple candies for the office and the neighbours.
• Vitamins, omega-3, vitamin D, protein powder — licensed by Health Canada, far cheaper per capsule than the imported brands in an Indian pharmacy, and the present parents actually ask for.
• Branded clothes and shoes bought in a sale. A parka is pointless in Chennai; a fleece or a hoodie is a real present in Delhi in December.
• One iPhone or one laptop, depending on the arithmetic in the electronics section — and only one.

What is a waste of weight

• Anything from an Indian grocery in Canada. It was imported from India.
• Kitchen appliances. Canada runs on 120 V at 60 Hz, India on 230 V at 50 Hz. A Canadian kettle, pressure cooker, hair dryer or blender needs a transformer the size of a brick. Laptop and phone chargers are dual-voltage; almost nothing with a heating element or a motor is.
• A television. It is the one consumer item named in Annexure I of the Baggage Rules: no allowance applies, duty is 38.5% of its value, and Indian sets are cheaper anyway.
• Gold. India is where gold is cheap; the customs section explains why carrying it in became dearer still in May 2026.
• Cheap Android phones, headphones and accessories. Indian prices are usually lower.
• Generic medicines. India makes them. Carry your own prescriptions, not a pharmacy.

The rest of this page goes gift by gift, then through the two borders in order — leaving Canada, arriving in India — and the airline in between, then shipping, then the journey back. The Indians in Canada page has the community you are leaving for a fortnight: the events, the groups in each city and the Indian businesses.

A gift from Canada should be something the person cannot get in India, or cannot get at that price. The budgets below are planning bands for October 2026, converted at C$1 = Rs 67; sales tax (13% HST in Ontario, 12% in British Columbia, 5% in Alberta) is on top of every Canadian price tag, which is one reason the arithmetic on electronics is tighter than it looks.

Four rules that save the trip

1. Buy the food in Canada, not at the airport. Duty-free maple syrup and chocolate at Pearson or Vancouver cost more than the same brands in a supermarket, and anything over 100 ml bought before security has to go in the checked bag anyway. The exception is spirits, where the airport price can beat the provincial liquor store.
2. Count the alcohol. India lets in two litres per adult passenger, duty-free, of liquor or wine in any combination — a 750 ml whisky and three 375 ml ice wines is 1.875 litres. A second bottle for a second adult is fine; pooling two allowances into one bag for one person is not.
3. Keep the receipts for anything new and expensive — the phone, the watch, the perfume. Indian customs assesses duty on value, and a receipt settles the number; CBSA will want the same receipts if the item comes back to Canada with you.
4. Give money the modern way. Cash is the traditional gift in India, but you may carry only Rs 25,000 in Indian notes into the country, and anything above US$5,000 in foreign notes has to be declared on arrival. A bank transfer to the parents before you fly is cheaper and safer than an envelope of twenties.

Two things people regret buying: perfume for someone whose taste they do not know (it cannot be returned in India), and clothes in Canadian sizes for relatives they have not seen in three years. Two things people regret not buying: enough maple candies for the whole office, and a second tin of syrup for the cousin who was not on the list. If the trip is the Diwali trip, add a box of Canadian chocolates for every household you will visit; sweets travel badly, chocolate travels well.

Maple syrup

Canada makes more than 75% of the world's maple syrup; the 2025 crop was 113 million kilograms worth C$840 million, nine-tenths of it from Quebec. Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations retail syrup is Canada Grade A, in one of four colour classes — Golden, Delicate Taste; Amber, Rich Taste; Dark, Robust Taste; Very Dark, Strong Taste — and must sit between 66% and 68.9% sugar. For an Indian kitchen buy Amber or Dark: more flavour per spoon, and it stands up to being poured on paratha. A tin survives a suitcase better than glass; the decorative maple-leaf bottle is for the in-laws. Syrup is a processed plant product with no agricultural restriction at either border, and for Indian customs it is simply part of your Rs 75,000. It is a liquid, so it travels in the checked bag: CATSA's carry-on limit is 100 ml per container in one 1-litre bag, and its own guidance names maple syrup and wine as the souvenirs to check in.

Ice wine

Canadian icewine is, by the federal standard of identity, wine made exclusively from grapes naturally frozen on the vine, which is why Niagara and the Okanagan dominate the world's supply. A 375 ml bottle runs from the mid-C$50s for a standard Vidal to C$99.95 for Inniskillin's Gold Vidal 2024 on the LCBO's January 2026 release — Rs 3,700 to Rs 6,700 — and it is the Canadian gift with no Indian equivalent at any price, since imported wine attracts duty of 150% in India. It counts against the two-litre alcohol allowance along with whisky and beer; keep the total under two litres per adult, because the excess is charged at commercial rates, not the baggage rate. Wrap each bottle in clothing in the middle of the case and never in the overhead bin.

Chocolate, coffee, nuts and honey

Chocolate melts in an Indian October, so buy solid bars and boxed chocolates rather than filled ones, and keep them in the suitcase that goes into an air-conditioned room first. Canadian-roasted coffee, Canadian honey, almonds, walnuts and dried cranberries are all fine for personal use; they are packaged processed foods with no animal content and no Indian permit requirement, and they are the gifts that get eaten rather than displayed.

Vitamins and medicines

Supplements sold in Canada carry a Health Canada Natural Product Number, and parents trust the label. Carry them in the original sealed containers in reasonable personal quantities. Prescription medicines travel with the prescription; Canadian over-the-counter painkillers that contain codeine are controlled substances in India, so carry a prescription or leave them. Cannabis in any form — flower, oil, gummies — is legal in Canada and a serious crime to take across the Canadian border and into India; it does not matter that it was bought in a licensed shop.

What not to pack

• Meat, cheese, butter, ghee and anything dairy or egg. India requires a sanitary import permit from the Department of Animal Husbandry for meat, dairy and egg products, and a traveller does not have one. Leave the smoked salmon and the cheddar.
• Seeds, plants, fresh fruit and soil. "Plants and their produce" are on the restricted list in the CBIC traveller guide; they need a phytosanitary certificate and an import permit.
• Pet food and anything with meat in it, including jerky and chicken-flavoured snacks.
• Open or home-made food. Packaged and labelled is what gets waved through at both ends.

The arithmetic first, then the rules. Prices are Apple's own on 17 October 2026; Canadian figures include Ontario's 13% HST because the shelf price does not.

The base iPhone 18 is not expected until 2027, so the phone people ask about is the 18 Pro, and that one is genuinely cheaper in Canada — Business Today's October 2026 comparison of 23 markets put Canada second-cheapest and India twenty-first. The iPhone 17 and the MacBook Air are not worth carrying for the price alone; buy them in Canada only if you want the Canadian keyboard, the warranty where you live, or the person wants it now.

The rules that decide whether the saving survives

• The Rs 75,000 allowance covers new goods carried on you or in your checked bags, per adult passenger, and it cannot be pooled: two travellers cannot add their allowances together to clear one Rs 1,32,600 phone.
• Duty above the line is 38.5% — 35% basic duty under Notification 26/2016 (amended for the 2026 rules) plus the 10% social welfare surcharge on that duty — charged only on the value above the allowance. A new iPhone 18 Pro declared at Rs 1,32,600 with the whole allowance unused owes 38.5% of Rs 57,600, about Rs 22,200, leaving a saving of about Rs 10,000. With the allowance already spent on gifts, duty is on the whole value and the saving is gone.
• One new laptop is duty-free for every passenger aged 18 or over, over and above the Rs 75,000 — rule 5 of the Baggage Rules, 2026. One. A second laptop, or a tablet, is ordinary dutiable baggage.
• Used is personal effects. The phone in your pocket and the laptop you work on are used personal effects and clear free; a sealed box with a receipt dated last week is new goods. Unboxing the phone and setting it up is what most people do, and it is exactly what an officer in the red channel is weighing when they ask how long you have had it. Declare what is new, on Form CBD-I through the ATITHI app or ICEGATE up to three days before landing, and pay; it is a few thousand rupees against a confiscation case.
• Taking an Indian device out and back. An Indian resident visiting Canada should get an export certificate (Form CBD-III) for their own laptop or camera before leaving India; it is valid until the first return or six months, and ends the argument on the way back.

Four practical caveats

1. Canadian iPhones are eSIM-only. Apple's Canadian page says the iPhone 17 models have no physical SIM tray, and the 18 Pro is the same. Jio, Airtel and Vi all issue eSIMs, but the gift needs a visit to a store, not a SIM swap in the car park.
2. Warranty. Apple's warranty terms allow it to restrict iPhone service to the country of purchase; Apple India has been reported to service unlocked foreign-bought iPhones since 2017, but AppleCare+ bought in Canada is another matter — check before you pay for it. Windows laptops vary by maker and model; look for "international warranty" on the product page.
3. Plugs. Canadian chargers are 100–240 V with a Type A/B plug; a cheap adapter is all that is needed.
4. Televisions, drones and satellite gadgets. A TV has no allowance at all (Annexure I) and pays 38.5% on its full value; drones have been prohibited imports since February 2022 except with a government authorisation and are a red-channel item on the declaration form; satellite phones and satellite messengers are prohibited outright. The customs section has the detail.

The honest list, with Indian prices where they can be checked. Canadian prices are tax-paid; the exchange rate is the Bank of Canada's C$1 = Rs 67 on 16 October 2026.

Three things people get wrong

• The sales tax. Canadian shelf prices exclude it. Ontario adds 13%, British Columbia 12%, Quebec close to 15%, Alberta 5%. The province you shop in changes the answer on anything expensive.
• The exchange rate. The rupee has moved several rupees against the Canadian dollar inside a year and sat at Rs 67 on 16 October 2026; a comparison from last Diwali is out of date.
• The duty. Anything new above Rs 75,000 per person pays 38.5% on the excess in India, and televisions pay it on the whole value. The Canadian saving on a phone is real; the saving on a second phone, a television or a sound system is not.

Electronics people do bring home without regret: a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones for a student, a Canadian-stock smartwatch when the model is late to India, and a compact camera — all within the allowance, all personal effects once they are in use.

The Baggage Rules, 2026 (Notification 14/2026-Customs (N.T.)) replaced the 2016 rules on 2 February 2026; most "duty-free allowance" pages still print the old Rs 50,000. These are the rules at the airport in October 2026.

The general free allowance (rule 5)

The allowance covers articles carried on the person or in accompanied baggage, excludes the Annexure I items below, and cannot be pooled between passengers. Used personal effects and travel souvenirs are free for everyone (rule 3). A passenger aged 18 or over gets one new laptop duty-free on top (rule 5).

Annexure I — never duty-free

Firearms; more than 50 cartridges; more than 100 cigarettes, 25 cigars or 125 g of tobacco; alcoholic liquor or wine over two litres; gold or silver in any form other than ornaments; and television sets. Within those quantities tobacco and alcohol are free; beyond them they are charged at commercial rates (the CBIC traveller guide quotes 150% on wine and spirits). A television pays 38.5% on its whole value.

Duty above the line

35% basic duty on the value above the allowance (Notification 26/2016, amended on 1 February 2026 to name the new rules) plus the 10% social welfare surcharge on that duty — 38.5% all in. Goods in commercial quantities are not baggage at all and are dealt with under the Customs Act.

Jewellery and gold

• Jewellery (rule 6): a resident or person of Indian origin returning after more than one year abroad may bring 40 g duty-free as a female passenger and 20 g otherwise. The old rupee caps are gone, though some bank and jeweller pages still print them. Jewellery you wear every day is a personal effect in any case; a trunk of wedding jewellery is not.
• Gold bars and coins: an eligible passenger — Indian origin or Indian passport, at least six months abroad — may bring up to 1 kg under Notification 45/2025-Customs (24 October 2025), paying duty in convertible foreign currency. The basic rate for that route doubled from 5% to 10% on 13 May 2026 (Notification 15/2026-Customs), the week India raised its standard gold duty to 15% plus 3% GST; confirm the all-in figure on the day. Anyone else pays the full baggage rate. Gold is a red-channel item whatever the quantity.

Cash

Under the RBI's Export and Import of Currency Regulations (amended to February 2026) a resident may take out and bring back Rs 25,000 in Indian notes, and a non-resident visitor other than from Pakistan or Bangladesh may bring in the same. Foreign currency is unlimited but must be declared on the Currency Declaration Form when notes exceed US$5,000 or notes plus travellers' cheques exceed US$10,000; the unspent balance can leave again only up to what was declared.

Prohibited and restricted

Narcotics, pornography, antiquities, wildlife products, counterfeit currency and maps showing India's borders wrongly are prohibited. E-cigarettes and vapes cannot be imported under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019 (first offence up to a year in prison or Rs 1 lakh). Drones have been prohibited imports since 9 February 2022 except with a DGFT authorisation, and are a red-channel item on the declaration form. Satellite phones (Thuraya, Iridium) and satellite messengers are banned without a Department of Telecommunications licence — the Consulate General in Vancouver and the High Commission in Ottawa both carry the advisory — and are seized at the airport. Meat, dairy and egg products need a sanitary import permit; plants, seeds and fruit need plant-quarantine clearance; pets need an advance NOC from Animal Quarantine.

Green or red

Nothing to declare means green: no dutiable goods beyond the allowance, no Annexure I excess, no gold bullion, drone, pet or currency over the thresholds. Otherwise red, with the electronic declaration (Form CBD-I) filed through the ATITHI app or ICEGATE up to three days before arrival. Walking through green with dutiable or prohibited goods is an offence: penalty, confiscation and, for the worst cases, prosecution. A box sent separately is unaccompanied baggage (see the shipping section) and gets no free allowance. Moving back for good is a different regime — transfer of residence, up to Rs 7.5 lakh of household goods after two years abroad, one unit each of the listed appliances, television included.

Canada does not tax what you take out, but it has three rules that catch Indian travellers every winter.

Money

Anyone carrying C$10,000 or more — in any currency, cash or monetary instruments such as bank drafts, traveller's cheques, money orders or bearer bonds, added together — must report it to the Canada Border Services Agency before leaving, on Form E677 for your own money (E667 if you carry someone else's or send it by mail or courier). At the airport the CBSA office is on the arrivals level; go there before you pass through security on departures. There is no limit on the amount, only on not reporting it: unreported money is seized and comes back, if at all, after a penalty. The same rule applies on the way home. A gift of rupees is better sent by bank transfer anyway, since India lets you carry in only Rs 25,000 in notes.

Batteries and liquids

CATSA's rules, updated in August 2026, are the ones at the screening line: - Power banks and spare lithium batteries go in the carry-on, never the checked bag. Up to 100 Wh needs no approval; 101–160 Wh needs the airline's approval and is limited to two spares; over 160 Wh is not allowed in the cabin at all. Tape the terminals or keep each battery in its own pouch, and expect a bank with no printed Wh rating to be taken off you. - E-cigarettes also travel in the carry-on in Canada — and are then illegal to bring into India. Leave them. - Liquids in the carry-on: 100 ml per container, in one 1-litre bag. Maple syrup, wine, perfume and pickles over 100 ml go in the checked bag; CATSA names maple syrup and wine specifically. Duty-free alcohol bought after security is fine in its sealed bag, but if you connect through a third country check that airport's rule on sealed bags before you buy two litres in Toronto. - Cannabis in any form cannot leave Canada by air, however it was bought.

Before you leave with your own valuables

If the jewellery, camera or laptop is coming back to Canada with you, CBSA's advice is to carry proof that you owned it before you left: receipts, or for jewellery an appraisal report with signed, dated photographs from a Canadian jeweller or gemologist, validated at a CBSA office before you travel. Ten minutes at the airport office on the way out saves a duty assessment on the way back.

Packing for 23 kilos

Weigh the bags at home; every airline on the route caps a checked piece at 23 kg in Economy and refuses anything over 32 kg. Syrup tins and bottles go in the middle of the case wrapped in clothes, the heavy things low and near the wheels, the gifts you cannot replace in the cabin bag. A soft duffel as the second piece is the Indian traveller's oldest trick — it weighs nothing empty and comes home full.

The two-suitcase assumption that every Indian family in Canada grew up with no longer holds on the cheapest fares. The checked allowances below are as published in 2026; the line on your own e-ticket overrides every table, including this one, so read it before you buy a third tin of syrup.

What changed, and what it costs

Air Canada's notice of 14 May 2026 applies to Economy Basic, Standard and Flex fares sold from that date for travel between Canada or the United States and Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America — India included. Basic now pays C$90 for the first bag and C$120 for the second; Standard and Flex get one bag free and pay C$120 for the second, before tax. That second bag is roughly Rs 8,000 each way — the price of forty jars of Indian pickle, or two ice wines. Air India's piece system charges per extra piece rather than per kilo, and an oversize piece from Canada is a flat fee per item; nothing over 32 kg is accepted at the belt by anyone and has to go as cargo.

How to use the allowance

• Price the fare, not the bag. On Air Canada the step from Basic to Standard can cost little more than the first bag and brings a seat choice and a changeable ticket; on Emirates and Qatar the step from Special or Lite to the next fare can be less than the second-bag fee.
• 23 kg is 23 kg. A 24 kg bag is an overweight fee at every counter on the route; move a tin into the cabin bag rather than argue.
• Two 23 kg pieces beat one 32 kg piece — and 32 kg is a Business-class allowance, not an Economy one.
• A connection on a separate ticket means two allowances, two check-ins and no protection if the first flight is late.
• Children on their own ticket get their own allowance; infants on a lap do not, beyond the stroller and a small bag.

Air India's winter schedule gives Canada twenty flights a week to India, including the only Toronto–Mumbai nonstop; the Gulf carriers add Montréal and the smaller Indian cities with a change at Doha, Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The fare that gives you two free bags is not always the cheapest fare, but with two tins of syrup, five ice wines and a laptop it is usually the cheapest trip.

The first thing to know is that a box sent from Canada is not a gift in the eyes of Indian customs, whatever the label says. The second is that it is usually dearer than a second suitcase.

Canada Post

Canada Post sells five services to India. From the cheapest: Small Packet International (surface or air, up to 2 kg, no tracking), Tracked Packet International (up to 2 kg, tracked), International Parcel (surface or air, up to 30 kg), and Xpresspost International — "as few as 4 business days between major centres", tracking included, up to 20–30 kg depending on the destination, C$100 of loss cover included. Posted rates in October 2026 for a half-kilo parcel to India ran from C$18 (Small Packet surface) through C$38 (Tracked Packet) and C$46 (International Parcel surface) to C$54 (Xpresspost); a courier's express service for the same half-kilo was C$85–157. Prices climb steeply with weight and the fuel surcharge changes weekly, so price the exact box in Canada Post's rate tool. Gold, silver, precious stones, plants, perishables and e-cigarettes cannot be posted to India at all, and India Post will not release a parcel until the addressee produces KYC — an Aadhaar, PAN, passport or voter card showing name and address.

Couriers and cargo agents

DHL, FedEx and UPS are faster and track to the door, and add their own clearance fee to whatever customs charges. For anything over about 20 kg the cheaper route is a cargo agent — the shops in Brampton, Mississauga, Surrey and Calgary that have moved students' boxes and pressure cookers for decades. They quote per kilo door to door on the chargeable weight (volume counts, so a box of pillows costs what a box of books does), with a minimum weight, and file the Indian side as unaccompanied baggage. Get three written quotes that include Indian clearance and delivery; the duty is yours to pay. Unaccompanied baggage under the Baggage Rules, 2026 must have been in your possession abroad and be dispatched within one month of your arrival in India (or land up to two months before you); it is declared on Form CBD-II, charged at the 35% baggage rate plus surcharge, and — the point agents do not advertise — gets no Rs 75,000 free allowance, which attaches only to baggage you accompany.

What India charges on a parcel

Personal-use parcels by post or courier are assessed under tariff heading 9804. Since 1 April 2026 that is 10% basic duty, a 1% surcharge and 18% IGST on the lot — 30.98% of the landed value, as Mumbai's foreign post office sets it out (gifts paid 20% basic duty, 41.6% in all, until March 2026). Only a parcel worth about Rs 1,000 or less escapes duty, and the recipient pays the postman or courier at the door.

Why "gift" on the label does nothing

Until 2019 a bona fide gift worth up to Rs 5,000 came in duty-free, and half of Shenzhen used the exemption. DGFT Notification 35/2015-2020 of 12 December 2019 prohibited the import of goods "as gifts" through post or courier altogether, except life-saving medicines and rakhis; CBIC Circular 4/2020 then clarified that a gift may still come in on payment of full duty. So write the real contents and a realistic value, keep the receipt in the box, and tell the family what the duty will be — a C$200 box of chocolates and syrup lands with a bill of at least Rs 4,000, and a declared "gift, no value" lands with an argument and a reassessment.

The arithmetic

A second checked bag on Air Canada is C$120 for 23 kg. The same weight by Xpresspost costs several hundred dollars and pays duty at the other end with no allowance; by cargo agent, a fraction of that but weeks rather than hours, and the same duty. If you are flying anyway, pay the airline.

The suitcase that went out full of syrup comes back full of spices, and the Canadian rules on the way in are stricter about food than India's. These are CBSA's and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's rules as published in May 2026.

Your personal exemption

After seven days or more out of Canada you may bring back C$800 of goods per person duty- and tax-free, and under that seven-day exemption goods may follow you by mail or courier — tell the officer on arrival, ask for Form BSF192, and claim them within 40 days. After 48 hours the figure is the same C$800 but everything must be with you. Exemptions cannot be combined and a family's cannot be pooled into one carpet. On the next C$300 above the exemption, after a trip of 48 hours or more, duty is a flat 7% plus GST/HST; beyond that, the full rate for the item. Within the exemption you may include 1.5 litres of wine or 1.14 litres of spirits or 8.5 litres of beer, and 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 200 g of tobacco, if you are of age in the province you land in. Declare everything you acquired abroad, gifts included; undeclared goods are seized with penalties of 25–70% of their value, and undeclared alcohol and tobacco are not returned.

Food, under the CFIA's personal-use rules

- Spices, tea, coffee, honey, pickles, chutneys, dried fruit, packaged snacks, biscuits and flour mixes: allowed, 20 kg per category, no permit. - Rice, pulses, nuts and whole seeds: "may be restricted or prohibited depending on the country of origin"; India is a khapra-beetle country, so check the CFIA's AIRS tool for the exact item before you pack a ten-kilo bag of basmati. Processed grain foods are not restricted. - Milk sweets, ghee, paneer, khoya and milk powder: the only dairy permitted from any country is ice cream, yogurt, kashk and pasteurised cheese. Everything else on the mithai counter is not on the list — declare it and expect to lose it. - Meat: fresh, dried and cured meat is not permitted; only sealed, cooked, shelf-stable commercial products, and no snack or sweet may contain meat. Eggs are not permitted. - Fresh fruit and vegetables, plants, seeds and soil: by origin, through AIRS; mangoes and curry leaves are the usual losses at Pearson. - Ayurvedic and herbal products: personal quantities for your own use, declared. Declare every food item on the arrival declaration. Not declaring means confiscation, a fine or prosecution, and the food goes in the bin either way.

Gold, jewellery and cash

Jewellery bought in India counts towards the C$800 and is dutiable above it, plus GST/HST; carry the receipts and the purity certificate. Jewellery you took out of Canada comes back free if you can show the appraisal or receipts you prepared before leaving. Pure bullion and coins are a separate tariff line but must be declared like anything else. On the Indian side, a resident may take out at most Rs 25,000 in Indian notes, and foreign currency only to the extent it was declared on arrival or bought from an authorised dealer; change the leftover rupees before immigration. Arriving in Canada with C$10,000 or more in cash or instruments is a report to CBSA, on the same Form E677, with the same seizure for silence.

What people actually bring

Spices in sealed packets, tea, pickles in leak-proof jars inside two bags, cotton clothes and bedsheets, brass and wooden handicrafts (no ivory, no animal parts — CITES applies), books, and the one thing no Canadian shop sells: the tailor's work. The Indian businesses in Canada stock most of the groceries anyway, which is the best argument for leaving the atta in India.

The rules on this page were checked on 17 October 2026, but duty rates, airline allowances and the mood of a particular customs hall change faster than any page. The people who flew last week know what the officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar and Ahmedabad are asking about this month, which fare on which airline still gave two bags, and which cargo agent in Brampton delivered in nine days and which took five weeks. Ask them.

• The groups for Indians in each Canadian city are where "landed at IGI with two iPhones, here is what happened" is posted first, and where the Diwali-week flight deals are shared.
• The Ask page takes a question in writing — the gold allowance for a mixed Canadian–Indian family, whether a particular supplement is allowed, what a cargo agent should charge Toronto to Hyderabad — and keeps the answer for the next person.
• The Indian businesses directory lists the cargo agents, the sweet shops that pack for travel and the jewellers who issue the purity certificates CBSA will ask for.
• The Indians in Canada page has the events, groups and city pages, and the paperwork guides sit beside this one: the OCI card from Canada — which decides whether a Canadian spouse gets Rs 75,000 or Rs 25,000 at the airport — Indian passport renewal from Canada, and jobs in Canada for Indians for the people flying the other way.

If something on this page has gone stale — a new baggage notification, an airline that has quietly changed its fare rules, a duty rate that moved — use the report link on the section and say what you saw and when. A guide like this is only as good as the last traveller who corrected it.