Moving to Nunavut from the US

How much does moving to Nunavut cost?

What a move to Nunavut costs depends on the volume of your shipment, where it starts in the US and which community it's going to. The method doesn't change for the North: a survey first, then a written estimate, and only the route is different. There's no flat rate for the North.

What shapes a Nunavut moving quote?

1. Volume, in cubic feet, measured during the survey.
2. Your starting point. The farther your home is from the border, the longer the US road leg.
3. The northern leg. Where no road reaches the community, the sea leg follows the sealift calendar.
4. Packing before the goods leave the US: see packing and unpacking.

Which fees come with importing a car?

Agency charges, separate from any moving estimate. The Registrar of Imported Vehicles charges CAN$325.00 plus GST/HST to declare a car under 15 years old on the Vehicle Import Form. Add a CAN$100 excise tax if the car has air conditioning, according to CBSA's vehicle memorandum. Since April 9, 2025, Customs Notice 25-15 has put a 25% surtax on US-origin motor vehicles, new or used. Goods under a Chapter 98 tariff item escape it unless Schedule 2 lists the item, and the settlers' effects item, 9807.00.00, isn't listed there. If the car qualifies for CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) treatment, the surtax applies by default to 85% of its value for duty, leaving out 15% for Canadian and Mexican content. CBSA decides how your car is classified.

Where does a Nunavut quote begin?

Call (855) 822-2722. The line is open 08:00 to 20:00, seven days a week. We'll set a survey date and put the estimate in writing. Starting far from the border? Our long-distance moving page explains how the US road leg works.

Moving to Nunavut: what you should know

Getting into Canada works the same way for Nunavut as for any province: the same federal agencies rule on your goods, your car and your pets. Our Canada moving guide sets those rules out. But what's Nunavut's own comes after you arrive: its deadlines for health coverage, licences and registration.

Which goods enter duty-free?

CBSA calls you a settler when you come to Canada to set up a home for the first time, intending to stay one year or more. People arriving to work for 36 months or less, or to study, are left out by the Definition of Settler Regulations. Their household goods don't come in under the settler rules. On a contract that short, ask CBSA how yours will be treated. A settler's household goods enter without duty or taxes when they were owned, possessed and used before arrival. Leased goods don't qualify.

Bring two copies of a list of your goods, giving the value, make, model and serial number where relevant. The border services officer at your first point of entry uses it to complete Form BSF186, the Personal Effects Accounting Document. And your copy of that form later claims anything that arrives after you. CBSA allows the form to be prepared ahead of time, and its moving to Canada page sets out the main conditions. One more: anything you sell or give away within 12 months of importing it brings the waived duty and taxes back.

All of this assumes you have status in Canada, which is IRCC's area. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada manages the selection of newcomers, through permanent residence programs such as Express Entry and family sponsorship, and a moving company has no part in it.

Can goods follow you north later?

They can, on one condition. CBSA calls them goods to follow, and they enter duty- and tax-free only if they were on the list you gave the officer when you first arrived. The Customs Tariff puts no time limit on them, though CBSA can confirm the details. But alcohol, tobacco and vaping products can't follow: they qualify only when they travel with you.

What gets a closer look at the border?

• Alcohol and tobacco. Settlers may bring 1.5 litres of wine or 1.14 litres of other alcoholic beverages, plus 50 cigars, 200 cigarettes, 200 tobacco sticks and 200 grams of manufactured tobacco, if these travel with them. The minimum age for alcohol follows the province or territory where you enter Canada: 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec and 19 elsewhere. So it depends on the crossing you use. For tobacco, CBSA's I Declare page sets 18 as the age under a personal exemption.
• Firearms must all be declared to a border services officer. A Canadian resident needs a Possession and Acquisition Licence to import non-restricted firearms. And prohibited firearms, devices or weapons can never come in with a visitor, CBSA says.
• Cannabis can't cross the border legally, Health Canada says, even for medical use.
• Food, plants, firewood, soil: declare food, plants and animal products. Firewood needs a permit. Anything with soil on it is usually refused.
• Cash worth CAN$10,000 or more is reported when you arrive.

Taking a car to Nunavut

With no road in, cars arrive the way other bulk goods do: Transport Canada's Kinngait example counts cars among the supplies brought in by yearly sealift. But the paperwork starts long before that.

On the US side, 19 CFR 192.2 has the export documents reach US Customs and Border Protection at least 72 hours before a car leaves by road. With a lease or a recorded lien on the car, the export also needs a letter of permission from the leasing company or lienholder. And the Electronic Export Information for a used car is filed on the same 72-hour schedule under 15 CFR 30.4.

In Canada, the Registrar of Imported Vehicles accepts a car under 15 years old on the date of import, as long as it has no inadmissible flag on the Vehicle Import Compatibility List, no outstanding safety recalls and its original US title. It's declared on Form 1. The inspection has to be done within 45 days of import, or RIV sends a delinquency notice. Financing is fine: CBSA's vehicle memorandum says a financed car meets the settler ownership test. A leased car doesn't.

Then Nunavut's own registration rules apply. A private vehicle brought into the territory must be registered in Nunavut within 90 days of entering it, and a car on a public road needs valid insurance and a Vehicle Registration Certificate. For an out-of-territory vehicle, the registrar may ask for the previous registration and proof of insurance.

Dogs and cats heading north

Pets follow the same federal import rules whichever province or territory they're bound for. The CFIA leaves the United States off its list of rabies-free countries. Because of that, a dog older than 3 months and a cat aged 3 months or more need a valid rabies vaccination certificate. And the dog has to have been vaccinated at 3 months or older. If a dog under 8 months travels without you, it also needs a Veterinary Certificate of Health. Your pet won't need a microchip or a tattoo either.

What does the 2026 surtax cover?

Certain US-origin goods have carried a surtax since September 8, 2026, under CBSA Customs Notice 26-23: 15%, 25% or 50% of their value for duty. But goods in Chapters 98 and 99 of the tariff are exempt unless Schedule 4 lists the item. The settlers' effects item, 9807.00.00, isn't on that schedule. CBSA decides how your goods are classified, so ask it about anything you're unsure of.

Your first weeks in Nunavut: a checklist

1. Apply for the Nunavut Health Care Plan. The territory offers it under the Canada Health Act and uses one application form for everyone, whether you come from another province or from outside Canada. Health coverage may become effective on the first day of the third month if you meet all the requirements. Confirm your effective date with the Health Insurance Programs Office. Details are on the Nunavut Health Care Plan page.
2. Assemble the documents. Arrivals from outside Canada attach a copy of their official immigration documents. Everyone adds a proof-of-residency document showing Nunavut will be their main home for over 12 months and that they aren't a temporary or rotational worker.
3. Send it in. Applications go by email to nhip@gov.nu.ca or by mail to the Nunavut Health Insurance Programs Office in Rankin Inlet, which manages the plan.
4. Know what the plan leaves out. It doesn't cover prescription drugs or yearly physicals between ages 10 and 65. If a Nunavut health professional refers you out of your community, medical travel benefits may pay your airfare to the nearest treatment centre, less a CAN$250 round-trip co-payment, after any other insurance you have.
5. Get a Nunavut driver's licence. New residents must apply within 30 days of moving to the territory. Bring the completed application remittance slip and two pieces of acceptable identification to a Motor Vehicle service provider, and ask what your US licence needs. If your licence expired more than 12 months ago, expect an examination.
6. Register your car within 90 days of bringing it into Nunavut.
7. Plan for tax. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) lists a 5% GST and no PST in Nunavut. The territorial income tax rate for 2026 starts at 4% on the first CAN$55,801 of taxable income and reaches 11.5% above CAN$181,439, on top of federal tax.

Is Nunavut a good place to live?

Life in Nunavut is shaped by language, cold and distance more than by anything you'll pack. Inuktut stands alongside English and French, Iqaluit's January averages -26.0 °C, and every community depends on air links and the summer sealift. Here's what official sources say about each, so you can judge the fit.

Which languages does Nunavut use?

All Nunavummiut, the people of Nunavut, may use and receive services in Inuktut, which covers Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, or in English or French, the Languages Commissioner says. So English works with government services. The Commissioner adds that Nunavut is the only jurisdiction where an Indigenous language has equal official status with English and French. Those rights rest on the Official Languages Act and the Inuktut Protection Act.

How cold is Iqaluit?

Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1991-2020 normals give Iqaluit a January daily average of -26.0 °C and a July average of 8.1 °C. Annual snowfall averages 190.0 cm. Ready for that? You'll want winter gear where you can reach it.

What keeps Nunavut's economy going?

Mining, above all. The Government of Nunavut says the mineral sector grew from 2% of the economy in 2009 to 41% in 2021, and its 2026-2030 Business Plan counts four operating mines. Statistics Canada put real GDP growth at 0.1% in 2025, as iron ore fell 27.2% and construction rose 21.8%, mostly on a new gold mine.

How does Nutrition North help with food costs?

It's the federal program that helps with the cost of food in isolated northern places. Nutrition North Canada says 124 such communities benefit, in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and several provinces. It counts a community as isolated when it lacks year-round surface transportation, meaning no permanent road, rail or marine access, not counting isolation caused by freeze-up and break-up.

Planning around your community's cutoff date? Start with a call to (855) 822-2722, and the survey and written estimate come next. USDOT #4176875 and MC #1607491 cover the US road leg, and moves overseas are on our international moving page.