Moving to Saskatchewan from the US

How much does moving to Saskatchewan cost?

The cost of moving to Saskatchewan from the US comes down to how much you're moving, where in the US the load starts and whether you'd like packing done. It's priced the way our other moves are, once a survey has measured the shipment, and only the route logistics differ. But no flat rate for Saskatchewan is published.

What drives a Saskatchewan moving quote?

1. Volume. The survey puts a cubic-foot figure on everything you're moving.
2. Where you load. The US road leg runs from your home to the border, so its length depends on how far south or east you start.
3. Packing before the truck leaves, if you'd rather not do it yourself (packing and unpacking).

Which car fees come with a Saskatchewan move?

Agency charges, billed separately from any moving estimate. The Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV), whose program covers cars under 15 years old, lists its Vehicle Import Form fee as CAN$325.00 plus GST/HST. A car with air conditioning also owes a CAN$100 excise tax, according to CBSA's vehicle memorandum. On top of that, US-origin motor vehicles, new and used, have carried a 25% surtax since April 9, 2025, under Customs Notice 25-15. The notice spares goods classified under a Chapter 98 tariff item unless Schedule 2 lists the item, and 9807.00.00, the settlers' effects item, isn't on Schedule 2. A car eligible under CUSMA (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) is surtaxed by default on 85% of its value for duty, with 15% excluded for Canadian and Mexican content. CBSA makes the classification call.

How do you start a Saskatchewan quote?

Call (855) 822-2722; the phones are answered from 08:00 to 20:00, seven days a week. From there we set a survey date and write up the estimate. If your home sits far from the border, see how a long US road leg is planned on our long-distance moving page.

Moving to Saskatchewan: what you should know

At the border, CBSA rules on your household goods, the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, a contractor of Transport Canada, handles the car's import, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency sets the rules for pets. Our Canada moving guide has the general rules. After the border, SGI, eHealth Saskatchewan and the provincial sales tax take over.

Which goods enter Saskatchewan duty-free?

CBSA's definition of a settler is someone coming to Canada to set up a residence for the first time, meaning to stay one year or more. The Definition of Settler Regulations carve out two groups: people entering for employment lasting 36 months or less, and students. Their household goods don't come in under the settler rules, so ask CBSA how yours will be handled. For a settler, duty- and tax-free entry depends on the goods having been owned, possessed and used before you arrived. But leased items fail that test.

Write a list of what you're bringing, in two copies, with the value, make, model and serial number wherever they apply. The border services officer at your first point of entry turns that list into Form BSF186, the Personal Effects Accounting Document, and hands you a copy, which is what you'll show later to claim anything that comes after you. You can fill in the form before you arrive, and CBSA's moving to Canada page gives the main conditions. One later trap: an item sold or given away within 12 months of import loses its exemption.

Everything above presumes you're entitled to live in Canada. That question belongs to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which says it manages the selection, settlement and integration of newcomers. No mover can settle it for you.

Can belongings follow you to Saskatchewan?

Yes, as goods to follow, but only if they were on the list the officer saw when you first crossed. They enter duty- and tax-free on that basis. The Customs Tariff names no deadline for them; confirm the details with CBSA. Three things never qualify as goods to follow: alcohol, tobacco and vaping products. Because the tariff counts them only when they travel with you, they have to cross at the same time you do.

What gets checked at a Saskatchewan crossing?

• Alcohol. Up to 1.5 litres of wine or 1.14 litres of other alcoholic beverages, if it travels with you. CBSA ties the minimum age to the province or territory where you enter Canada, and entering through Saskatchewan that's 19; it's 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec.
• Tobacco. A settler may bring 50 cigars, 200 cigarettes, 200 tobacco sticks and 200 grams of manufactured tobacco, but only in hand at the crossing. CBSA's I Declare page puts the age for tobacco at 18 under a personal exemption.
• Firearms. Declare each firearm to a border services officer when you arrive. Importing non-restricted firearms as a Canadian resident takes a Possession and Acquisition Licence, and CBSA says visitors can never bring in prohibited firearms, devices or weapons.
• Cannabis. Illegal to take across the border, Health Canada says, medical cannabis included.
• Food, firewood and soil. Food, plants and animal products all go on your declaration. Firewood can't come in without a permit, and goods carrying soil are usually turned away.
• Cash. CAN$10,000 or more in currency or monetary instruments has to be reported on arrival.

Bringing your car into Saskatchewan

Paperwork on the US side comes first. The export papers must be with US Customs and Border Protection 72 hours or more before a car departs by road, under 19 CFR 192.2. A leased or liened car also needs a letter from the leasing company or lienholder that expressly allows the export. Electronic Export Information for a used car is required whatever its value under 15 CFR 30.2, and it's filed on the same 72-hour schedule under 15 CFR 30.4.

Next comes Canada's federal check. A car under 15 years old on the date of import goes through the Registrar of Imported Vehicles. RIV needs it free of an inadmissible flag on the Vehicle Import Compatibility List, clear of outstanding safety recalls and accompanied by its original US title. Form 1, the Vehicle Import Form, is where the car gets declared. RIV expects its inspection done within 45 days of import; after that, it sends a delinquent or suspended notice to the importer. A financed car meets CBSA's settler ownership test. But a leased one doesn't.

Then Saskatchewan's rules. SGI lets a new resident keep using the previous registration and insurance for up to 90 days before the car has to be registered here, and a vehicle last registered elsewhere must first pass a mechanical safety inspection, with some exceptions. The exemption from that inspection applies only to owners moving from British Columbia or Alberta, so a car coming from a US state goes through it. SGI also says Canada won't register a vehicle whose history mentions flood damage, even one repaired and registered since.

Basic plate insurance isn't optional. SGI provides it, the law requires it, and you buy it with your plates and registration; it carries up to CAN$200,000 in liability coverage. Registration is also where PST comes in. Saskatchewan's settler's effects exemption waives the 6% PST on a vehicle only when all of these hold:

• you lived outside Saskatchewan for at least 6 months;
• you owned the car for at least 30 days before taking up residency;
• it was registered for personal or farm use where you came from;
• you take out a Saskatchewan driver's licence and hand in the old one;
• you register it for personal or farm use within 12 months of taking up residency.

Leased vehicles and business assets don't qualify. And the 12-month window is only for the PST exemption: SGI still wants the car registered within its 90 days.

What do pets need to enter Saskatchewan?

A rabies vaccination certificate, in most cases. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency keeps the United States off its list of rabies-free countries, so cats from 3 months of age and dogs older than 3 months need a valid certificate. And a dog's vaccination only counts if the dog was at least 3 months old when it got the shot. If a dog under 8 months crosses without its owner, a Veterinary Certificate of Health is required as well. Canada doesn't require a microchip or tattoo.

Does the 2026 surtax touch your belongings?

That depends on how CBSA classifies them. The rates are 15%, 25% and 50% of the value for duty, and they've applied to certain US-origin goods since September 8, 2026, under Customs Notice 26-23. Chapters 98 and 99 of the tariff sit outside it unless Schedule 4 to the Order names a specific item, and Schedule 4 doesn't name 9807.00.00, the line for settlers' effects. And anything you're unsure about is a question for CBSA.

Your first weeks in Saskatchewan: a checklist

1. Apply for a health card right away. The Government of Saskatchewan advises applying as soon as you arrive. For people coming from outside Canada, eHealth Saskatchewan says coverage may begin on or before the first day of the third month after arrival in Canada, for eligible groups such as permanent residents and international students. The rules are on eHealth Saskatchewan's eligibility page.
2. Gather the documents. eHealth asks for proof that you can legally be in Canada and proof that you live in Saskatchewan. To stay covered, you generally need to live in the province, plan to keep living there and be physically present at least five months of each year.
3. Expect no premiums. The provincial government says Saskatchewan has no personal premiums or personal charges for basic and needed health services.
4. Exchange your licence. Apply for a Class 5 licence at a motor licence issuer before your US licence expires or within 90 days of becoming a resident, whichever comes first. SGI lists the United States among the places whose licences it exchanges, and with more than 2 years of driving experience, not counting time as a learner, you're eligible without any testing. You surrender the old licence and pay the fees.
5. Bring your claims history. A letter from your previous auto insurer showing your claims history lets SGI check your standing under its Safe Driver Recognition program.
6. Register the car after its safety inspection, inside SGI's 90-day window.
7. Expect two sales taxes. Saskatchewan has no HST; the Canada Revenue Agency shows 5% GST and a 6% PST instead. Provincial income tax for 2026 starts at 10.5% on the first CAN$54,532 of taxable income, on top of federal tax, and the provincial rate follows where you live on December 31, 2026.

Is Saskatchewan a good place to live?

Living in Saskatchewan means cold prairie winters, two metro areas in Saskatoon and Regina, and an economy that leans on potash, uranium and farm exports. Here's what official sources say about the work behind the province, the rent in its two biggest cities, the winter normals and how fast the population has grown.

What does Saskatchewan's economy run on?

Its official figures lean on mining and farming. Beyond the potash and uranium rankings, the provincial government says northern Saskatchewan holds the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits, and that in 2023 the uranium sector recorded CAN$1.6 billion in sales revenue and 3,420 direct employees and contractors. Agricultural exports have grown 28.86 per cent since 2014, by the province's count.

What does rent cost in Saskatoon and Regina?

In its October 2025 Rental Market Survey, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) put the average two-bedroom private apartment at CAN$1,548 a month in the Saskatoon metro area and CAN$1,473 in Regina's. Vacancy across all units stood at 3.3% in Saskatoon and 2.7% in Regina. And two-bedroom vacancy was lower in both: 3.1% and 2.2%.

How cold is a Saskatoon January?

Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1991-2020 normals give the Saskatoon airport a January daily average of -15.4 °C and a July average of 18.3 °C, with annual snowfall of 91.0 cm. At Regina's airport, January averages -14.7 °C, July 18.6 °C, and annual snowfall comes to 104.6 cm.

How fast is Saskatchewan growing?

It has grown since the last census, on Statistics Canada's numbers. The 2021 Census counted 1,132,505 people, up 3.1% from 2016. The preliminary estimate for July 1, 2026 is 1,278,402, but estimates add people the census missed, so the two figures aren't a like-for-like measure of growth. Fresh census counts for 2026 are due on February 10, 2027.

Thinking about Saskatoon, Regina or somewhere in between? Ring (855) 822-2722: we'll set up the survey, then put the estimate in writing. USDOT #4176875 and MC #1607491 are the numbers to check for our US road leg. For the federal rules, read the Canada moving guide; for other countries, start at our international moving page.