Moving to Costa Rica from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to Costa Rica 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 Costa Rica treats household goods

Costa Rica is honest to plan for once you know the rule: there is no general duty-free entry for household goods. Shipments are assessed and taxed on depreciated value, and the sensible response is to ship what is genuinely worth the tax — quality furniture, tools, the things that make a house yours — and let the rest go. Certain residency categories have carried import benefits over the years; your coordinator confirms what applies to your residency status before you decide what goes in the container.

The paperwork side is straightforward with a resident's cedula or residency application in progress, a precise inventory, and a licensed customs agent at the port — our partner handles the clearance and the inland leg to the Central Valley or the coasts.

What it costs to ship household goods to Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica runs on 110–120 volts like Canada, so your appliances and electronics work without transformers — one of the few destinations where shipping the kitchen makes plain sense. The tropical climate still argues against particle board and anything mould-prone.

• Everything is assessed: ship what is worth the tax, sell what is not
• Good news: Canadian 110 V appliances and electronics work in Costa Rica
• Think twice: particle-board furniture and mould-sensitive items in the tropics
• Travel with you: documents, valuables, medications

Why families moving to Costa Rica 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.