Moving to Colombia from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to Colombia works

It starts with a survey, in person for a house or by video for a condo, so the quote is based on your actual volume rather than a guess. On packing day our crew wraps and packs everything for ocean transit with export-grade materials, builds custom crates where glass, art or a TV needs one, and creates the line-by-line inventory that customs and your insurer will rely on. The shipment then comes to our Toronto warehouse, where it is loaded into a dedicated 20′ or 40′ container, or consolidated with other shipments on the lane if you are moving a smaller volume.

From there the move runs on the same commercial infrastructure we use every day: our own truck drays the container to the terminal, the ocean leg is booked with the steamship lines, and at destination our IAM partner agent clears customs, collects the container and delivers to your door with unpacking and debris removal included.

1. Free survey (home or video) and a fixed door-to-door quote
2. Packing, crating and inventory at your home in the GTA
3. Loading into a dedicated container or consolidation at our Toronto warehouse
4. Ocean leg booked with the steamship line; we send the tracking details
5. Customs clearance at destination handled by our IAM partner agent
6. Delivery to your door with unpacking and packing-material removal

Customs: how Colombia treats household goods

Colombia clears household shipments as menaje doméstico — a household-goods regime tied to your visa. Residents and returning Colombians import used household effects under it with favourable treatment, subject to timing windows around your arrival and taxes that depend on the current rules; your coordinator confirms the percentages and windows for your case before the quote is final. The regime expects one shipment, declared honestly, arriving inside the window — exactly the shape of a professionally managed move.

The inland legs matter here: Bogotá sits at 2,600 metres, a day's mountain drive from Cartagena, and Medellín likewise. Our partner runs the clearance at the port and bonded transport inland, with delivery and unpacking at your door.

What it costs to ship household goods to Colombia

Cost is driven by volume, which is why the survey comes first. A one-bedroom apartment in the GTA is usually 8–20 cubic metres and ships as groupage (LCL) or a lightly loaded 20′; a three-bedroom house is 30–40 cubic metres and fills a 20′ container; larger homes ship in a 40′. Access at both ends, professional packing, crating and storage all move the price, and the quote itemizes every line: packing and materials, loading, drayage, ocean freight and port charges, destination clearance, delivery and unpacking.

Outside the quote sit only the things no honest mover can fix in advance: duty or tax on goods that do not qualify for concessions, inspection fees if customs selects the container, and storage beyond the free period at destination. Each is named in the quote so nothing arrives as a surprise.

What to leave behind, and what to think twice about

Colombia runs on 110–120 volts like Canada, so appliances and electronics work without transformers. Between the coast's humidity and the altitude cities' cool climate, most goods travel well; particle board remains the perennial casualty.

• Timing matters: the menaje window is tied to your arrival — we book the sailing around it
• Good news: Canadian 110 V appliances and electronics work in Colombia
• Restricted: foodstuffs and plants face agriculture checks; standard dangerous-goods list
• Travel with you: documents, valuables, medications

Why families moving to Colombia choose Metropolitan Logistics

We are an IAM Core Member with IAMTrusted status, which means the partner agent unpacking your home at destination is vetted and financially accountable, not found on a forum. The shipment is packed by our own crews and loaded in our own Toronto warehouse, where you can see it before it sails. And because we run container logistics commercially every day, the drayage and ocean legs ride the same lanes and carrier relationships we book for exporters, which keeps the price honest.