Buying a salvage vehicle in the US for Canada

A vehicle under 15 years old must be on Transport Canada's admissibility list and go through the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV), with a recall clearance and an inspection in Canada. Canada can accept a US salvage or rebuilt title, but not a non-repairable, junk, scrap, parts-only or flood title, and it treats any flood-damaged vehicle from the US as non-repairable. Your province decides how the US brand carries over and whether the vehicle can be registered.

DNF never handles the vehicle payment, the title or the transport. You and the seller settle the price between yourselves, and the export, the border and the RIV are yours to arrange, or a customs broker's.

Is it admissible?

Two things decide most purchases: the vehicle's age and its brand.

A vehicle 15 or more years old, counted from the date it was made, isn't regulated under Canada's Motor Vehicle Safety Act at import, so Canada's federal import standards don't apply to it. Customs, taxes and your province's rules still do. The border needs markings on the vehicle that show its age, and age counts from the month it was made, which can differ from the model year.

A younger vehicle has to be on Transport Canada's admissibility list and go through the RIV program.

Brands Canada accepts and refuses

A US vehicle on the admissibility list can be admitted with a title showing Salvage, Salvage-Rebuildable, Salvage-Rebuilt, Salvage-Repairable, Salvage-Repaired or an equivalent.

A title branded non-rebuildable or non-repairable, junk, scrap, parts-only, or flood or water damage, or an equivalent, makes the vehicle inadmissible as a vehicle. So does any sign of flood or water damage at the border.

Flood is non-repairable in every province

Every licensing jurisdiction in Canada treats a flood or water-damaged vehicle from the US as junk or non-repairable. On DNF, a US listing with a flood brand shows the state's brand and a high-risk notice: the state lets it be rebuilt and titled with the brand, but water damage can hide in wiring and safety systems, and Canada won't accept it as a vehicle.

Parts-only imports are permanent

A vehicle in any condition, including a non-repairable or flood one, can come into Canada for parts only. The parts-only declaration gives it a permanent non-repairable status that the RIV reports to every province and territory, so it can never be registered in Canada.

Leaving the US

The title (or the salvage, junk or scrap certificate) has to reach U.S. Customs and Border Protection at least 72 hours before the vehicle leaves: the original or a certified copy, and two complete copies. At a land crossing, the documents go in at least 72 hours ahead and the vehicle is presented when it crosses.

The export has to be filed electronically, as Electronic Export Information, whatever the vehicle is worth. That applies to used vehicles going to Canada too, though most other shipments to Canada don't need it.

If there's a lien, you'll also need the lienholder's written permission: a signed letter on its letterhead saying the vehicle may be exported. DNF doesn't arrange export, so check with CBP at the port you'll use or hire a customs broker.

At the Canadian border

You declare the vehicle on Transport Canada's Form 1 (or the RIV's e-Form 1). Bring the original US title or its equivalent: an RIV vehicle without one is refused entry. The vehicle must have no outstanding recalls.

Duty, excise tax and GST are assessed at the border and are due then. The CBSA's tariffs page, last modified on September 8, 2026, says a 25% surtax applies to 85% of the value for duty of a US-origin vehicle imported by an individual for personal use, and GST or HST is charged on the amount including the surtax. Rates like these have changed often since 2025, so check the CBSA's current pages, or ask a customs broker, before you buy.

The RIV inspection and the recall clearance

After the border, the vehicle has to pass one inspection at an RIV center in Canada, and you have 45 days to complete the RIV process. The recall clearance comes from the manufacturer, and some manufacturers won't issue one for a salvage vehicle, so ask before you buy.

Registering it in your province

Your province decides how the US brand carries over and whether the vehicle can be registered. Some provinces won't license certain salvage-branded vehicles once they're repaired, and a salvage title may severely limit licensing and insurance.

Ontario, for example, carries over the brand a vehicle had in another Canadian or US jurisdiction, except that a Rebuilt brand becomes Salvage until the vehicle passes an Ontario structural inspection: see the Ontario salvage rules guide. Alberta asks for an out-of-province vehicle inspection within three months and points importers to the RIV, and a salvage brand from elsewhere makes a vehicle Salvage there: see the Alberta salvage rules guide.

See every vehicle listed on DNF, or go back to buying across the border.