Moving to Israel from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to Israel works

It starts with a survey — in person for a house, by video for a condo — so the quote reflects your actual volume and so we can go through your customs status and the inventory rules before anything is packed. On packing day our crew wraps and packs to export standard, crates what needs crating, and builds the itemized inventory that Israeli customs works from. The shipment comes to our North York warehouse and is loaded into a dedicated 20′ or 40′ container — or, for smaller Aliyah-sized moves, packed into a lift van or onto export skids and consolidated with other Israel-bound shipments.

The container is drayed to the CPKC Vaughan or CN Brampton rail terminal on our own truck, railed to Montreal or Halifax, and sails to Ashdod or Haifa, usually via a Mediterranean hub. On arrival our Israeli partner — an IAM member agent — files the entry under your rights, handles the security screening every shipment goes through, pays any assessed charges on your behalf, and delivers to your new home with unpacking and debris removal included. Deliveries in Tel Aviv towers and old Jerusalem streets have their own logistics — elevator bookings, parking permits, the occasional external lift — and the agent arranges them.

1. Free survey (home or video), customs-rights review and a fixed door-to-door quote
2. Packing, crating and the itemized inventory at your home in the GTA
3. Loading into a dedicated container — or a lift van / groupage — at our warehouse
4. Rail to Montreal / Halifax and ocean sailing to Ashdod or Haifa
5. Your documents and customs file are ready before the vessel arrives
6. Entry, security screening and clearance handled by our Israeli partner agent
7. Delivery to your door, unpacking and packing-material removal

Customs in Israel: oleh rights, returning residents and everyone else

New immigrants (olim) receive customs rights on Aliyah: used household goods and personal effects imported for your own use clear without the duty and VAT an ordinary importer would pay, across up to three shipments within the eligibility window that starts when you enter as an oleh. Returning residents who have lived abroad long enough — the basic threshold is two consecutive years, with better rights the longer you were away — get a parallel set of exemptions on used household goods. Temporary residents on an A-1 visa have rights of their own. Outside these statuses, household goods are an ordinary import: duty where applicable plus VAT on the assessed value, which is why the same container can cost very different amounts to clear for different people.

The rights come with conditions — the goods must be for your own household, quantities must be reasonable, and items imported under rights generally cannot be sold on for a period. Every shipment is security-screened, and a clean, itemized inventory is what keeps screening and assessment quick. The thresholds, windows and VAT rate are set by the Israel Tax Authority and do change, so our Israeli partner confirms your entitlements against your status and inventory before the container sails.

What it costs to ship household goods to Israel

Volume drives the price. Aliyah moves out of apartments — 5 to 15 cubic metres — usually ship as a lift van or palletized groupage and pay for the space they use in a shared container. Two- and three-bedroom homes fill a dedicated 20′ container; larger houses a 40′. On top of volume: professional packing and crating, access at both addresses (the external lift some Israeli apartments need is a real line item), and anything assessed at destination for goods outside your rights.

Our quotes are door to door and itemize everything: packing and materials, loading at our warehouse, drayage and rail, ocean freight and port charges, Israeli clearance and the standard security screening, delivery, unpacking and debris removal. Charges on goods outside your customs rights and storage beyond the free period at destination are the only items outside the quote.

Timelines from the GTA to Israel

Ocean transit from Montreal or Halifax to Ashdod or Haifa runs 25–35 days, usually with a transshipment in the Mediterranean. Around that: a few days from packing to the rail cut-off, and one to two weeks at destination for the entry, screening and delivery booking. A dedicated container typically reaches your door seven to eleven weeks after packing day; lift vans and groupage add about two weeks while the consolidation fills. If your apartment is not ready — common when Aliyah paperwork and housing do not line up — our agent stores the shipment after clearance and delivers when you are.

What to leave behind, and what to think twice about

Israel runs on 230 volts with type-H plugs, so Canadian 110-volt appliances need transformers or replacement — most families sell large appliances here and buy on arrival, rights or no rights. Cars are a separate, heavily regulated import and rarely worth it for a private move. Weapons, and anything on the prohibited list, stay behind; alcohol beyond personal quantities is assessed. Plants, soil and foodstuffs face agricultural controls. Medicines travel in personal quantities with prescriptions. And the things that cannot be replaced — documents, jewellery, valuables — fly with you, never in the container.

• Check your status first: oleh, returning resident or neither — it changes the cost of the same shipment
• Usually not worth it: 110 V appliances, bulky low-value furniture, the car
• Restricted: weapons, plants and soil, foodstuffs in quantity; alcohol beyond personal amounts is assessed
• Carry with you: documents, valuables, jewellery and medications

Why families moving to Israel choose Metropolitan Logistics

We run this lane constantly — lift vans built for Aliyah shipments are a routine sight on our warehouse floor — and the file that travels with your shipment reflects it: an inventory format our Israeli partner clears without back-and-forth and honest advice about what your rights do and do not cover. We are an IAM Core Member with IAMTrusted status and Receivable Protection Program coverage behind the agent relationship, your shipment is loaded in our Toronto warehouse by the crew that packed it, and the drayage, rail and ocean legs ride the same commercial lanes we book for exporters — which keeps the freight cost honest.