CBSA classification, GST, documentation and Canada's bilingual labelling rules — what a Canadian brand or importer needs to have in order before the first container leaves the factory.
Sourcing the knitwear is the part most brands plan for. Getting it through the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) cleanly — correctly classified, properly invoiced, and labelled the way Canadian law requires — is the part that causes delays, unexpected duty bills and held shipments. None of it is complicated once you've done it once. This is a general orientation for a brand or importer bringing knitwear into Canada from an overseas factory, written from the manufacturing side, not the brokerage side. For the exact numbers on your file, confirm with a licensed customs broker before you ship.
The factory's job ends at the port of loading. From there, the importer of record — usually the Canadian brand or its broker — is responsible for declaring the shipment to CBSA correctly. Before your first order arrives, you'll need:
A good broker will also flag classification or labelling problems before the shipment sails, not after it's sitting at the border.
Knitted and crocheted garments — jumpers, cardigans, dresses, polos, most of what a flat-knit factory produces — fall under HS Chapter 61 of the Canadian Customs Tariff. Woven garments sit under Chapter 62, which doesn't apply to WHOLEGARMENT or fully-fashioned knitwear. Within Chapter 61, the exact ten-digit tariff line depends on garment type, knit construction and fibre content, and the applicable duty rate depends on that line and on tariff treatment — MFN (Most-Favoured-Nation) versus any preferential agreement.
Here's the honest point for Turkey specifically: Canada does not currently have a free trade agreement with Turkey. Talks toward one were only formally launched in July 2026, following a meeting between the two countries' leaders, and are at an early, scoping stage — there is no agreement in force and no timeline for one. That means knit garments from Turkey clear Canadian customs under the standard MFN tariff schedule, the same general treatment that applies to most non-FTA suppliers, China included. Unlike the UK or EU, where Turkey holds a customs-union or FTA advantage over China, in Canada there is currently no duty gap working in Turkey's favour. Don't factor a Turkey tariff discount into your landed-cost model — there isn't one yet. Ask your broker for the exact rate on your ten-digit line; it varies by product.
A clean commercial shipment typically travels with a commercial invoice (accurate FOB value, full product description, HS classification), a packing list, and a bill of lading. CBSA charges 5% federal GST on the customs value of most imported goods at the time of entry — separate from any duty owed — and provincial sales tax, where applicable, is generally handled at the point of retail sale rather than at the border. Country-of-origin marking is also required on imported apparel under CBSA's marking rules; for knitwear this is usually satisfied on the same label used for fibre-content disclosure, so it's worth confirming your labels handle both at once.
This is the requirement most first-time importers underestimate. Under Canada's Textile Labelling Act, administered by the Competition Bureau, fibre content information must appear in both English and French on every textile garment sold anywhere in Canada — this is a federal requirement, not a Quebec-only rule. Country of origin also needs to be marked. Care labelling — the wash-and-care symbols — is technically a voluntary program under the CGSB national standard, so it isn't a federal legal requirement the way fibre content is. In practice, most Canadian retailers expect it anyway, so it's worth including from the first run rather than treating it as optional.
The practical fix: build your bilingual EN/FR label artwork before your first production run, not after. A factory that has produced for Canadian or Québécois brands before will usually flag missing bilingual content at the sampling stage — worth asking about directly when you brief a new supplier.
Not automatically, and we won't pretend otherwise. Turkish FOB pricing generally sits above China and below EU makers, and — as above — there's no current tariff advantage for Turkey over China at the Canadian border. Where Turkey tends to win is order flexibility (lower MOQ, direct communication, WHOLEGARMENT capability) and quality consistency, not landed unit cost on commodity basics.
It depends which coast you're importing to. For West Coast entry (Vancouver), China's trans-Pacific routing is typically the more direct sea lane. For East Coast entry (Montreal, Halifax), a Mediterranean–Atlantic routing from Turkey is often competitive on transit time. If your distribution centre is on the West Coast, factor that into the comparison honestly rather than assuming Turkey is automatically faster.
Our MOQ is 250 units per colour, per size. A single style in 3 colours and 5 sizes is 15 SKUs — a 3,750-unit order at minimum. If that's larger than you want for a first Canadian test, narrow the colour or size range rather than the MOQ; a 1-colour, 3-size run at 250/SKU is a 750-unit order.
Not legally, but for a first-time apparel importer it's usually worth the fee. Misclassification under Chapter 61, missing bilingual labelling, or an incomplete CARM setup can each hold a shipment at the border. A broker who works with apparel importers regularly will catch these before the container ships, not after.
Send your spec, target quantity and the coast you're importing to. We'll quote ex-works so you and your broker can build the full landed-cost picture — duty, GST, freight and labelling — before you commit.
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