Moving to Lebanon from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to Lebanon works

It starts with a survey, in person for a house or by video for a condo, so the quote reflects your real volume and so we can go through your customs status before anything is packed: a returning Lebanese citizen, a foreign national on a residence permit, or someone buying a second home. On packing day our crew wraps and packs to export standard, with cartons, paper, blankets and custom crates for art, mirrors and the TV, and builds the room-by-room inventory that Lebanese customs works from, with electronics listed by make, model and serial number. The shipment comes to our North York warehouse and is loaded into a dedicated 20′ or 40′ container or, for a smaller move, built into a plywood lift van and consolidated with other Beirut-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 Beirut through a Mediterranean hub. On arrival our Lebanese partner, an IAM member agent with its own customs broker, files the entry under your status, attends the customs examination, collects the container and delivers to your new home with unpacking and debris removal included. Beirut apartment buildings often need a furniture lift from the street and a word with the concierge about the elevator; the agent arranges both.

When a moving company sells an international move and then hands it to a broker, nobody owns the whole job. We work as international movers end to end: one coordinator from the survey to delivery in Lebanon, our own crews and warehouse in the GTA, and a vetted partner at the other end. If you are curious how the packing is done, here is how we wrap furniture for international shipping.

1. Free survey (home or video), customs-status review and a fixed door-to-door quote
2. Certificate of residence abroad from the Lebanese consulate, if you are a returning citizen
3. Packing, crating and the itemized inventory at your home in the GTA
4. Loading into a dedicated container or a lift van at our North York warehouse
5. Rail to Montreal or Halifax and ocean sailing to Beirut via a Mediterranean hub
6. Customs entry and examination handled by our Lebanese partner agent
7. Delivery to your door anywhere in Lebanon, with unpacking and packing-material removal

Lebanese customs: returning citizens, foreign residents and everyone else

Lebanon clears a household shipment according to who owns it. Lebanese citizens returning to settle after years abroad can bring their used household goods and personal effects in without duty, provided they obtain a certificate of residence abroad from the Lebanese embassy or consulate in Canada before the goods ship, confirming they have lived outside Lebanon for the required period, usually three years or more, and that they are transferring their residence. The exemption is granted once and covers a household's worth of used goods, not new items and not quantities that look like stock. Foreign nationals moving to Lebanon on a residence or work permit can also import used household goods under an exemption tied to the permit. Buying property alone does not create an exemption: without residence status a shipment is assessed as an ordinary import, with duty and 11% VAT on the declared value.

Lebanese customs examines household goods carefully and the inventory is central: it must be detailed, valued and match the boxes, and electronics are checked by model and serial number. Items still in their original packaging are treated as new. Alcohol is permitted in household quantities for non-Muslim residents but is assessed; weapons, drugs and anything of Israeli origin are prohibited outright under Lebanese law. Rules, thresholds and fees are set by regulation and do change, so our Beirut partner confirms the current requirements against your passport, your certificate or permit and your inventory before the container sails.

What it costs to ship household goods to Lebanon

Cost is driven by volume, which is why the survey comes first. Many Lebanon moves from Toronto are partial: a few rooms of furniture, the wedding gifts, the children's things, a family's worth of books and photographs, shipped in a plywood lift van of 5–15 cubic metres as groupage. A one-bedroom apartment in the GTA is usually 8–20 cubic metres and ships the same way or in 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 and crating, storage, and the furniture lift a Beirut building often needs all move the price, and the quote itemizes every line: packing and materials, loading, drayage and rail, ocean freight and port charges, Beirut clearance, delivery and unpacking.

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

Whether you are shipping furniture to Lebanon for a whole house or a few rooms of personal effects, the method follows the volume — so the survey, not a guess, sets the cost of shipping household goods from Canada to Lebanon. Not sure what is worth taking? Our guide on whether shipping furniture overseas is worth it runs the numbers.

Timelines from the GTA to Beirut

Ocean transit from Montreal or Halifax to Beirut is 25–35 days, including the change of ship at a Mediterranean hub. Around it: two to five days from packing to sailing depending on the rail cut-off, and one to three weeks at destination for the customs examination, collection and delivery scheduling, longer if the consular certificate is still in process when the container lands. A dedicated container typically reaches your door in Lebanon seven to eleven weeks after packing day; a lift van in groupage waits for the consolidation to fill and adds two to four weeks. Sailings and clearance times on this lane have been affected at times in recent years, so your coordinator confirms the current routing and schedule when quoting, and your shipment can wait in our Toronto warehouse until a sailing is confirmed.

What to leave behind, and what to think twice about

Lebanon runs on 220 volts, so Canadian 110 V appliances need transformers and are rarely worth shipping; the family apartment is often already furnished, which is worth settling before you pay to ship a sofa. Air conditioners, generators and solar equipment are common purchases on arrival rather than imports. A car can travel in a dedicated container with the household goods, but Lebanon limits the age of used vehicles it admits and charges duty and registration fees on import, so we run the numbers with you before recommending it.

• Prohibited: weapons and ammunition, drugs, and anything of Israeli origin or carrying Israeli marks
• Reviewed at customs: electronics in quantity, new items in original packaging, alcohol in household quantities
• Usually not worth it: 110 V appliances, furniture for an apartment that is already furnished
• Vehicles: possible in a dedicated container, subject to Lebanon's age limit and import fees; ask before packing day
• Travel with you: medications with prescriptions, documents, jewellery and valuables

Storage before or after your move

International moving and storage are one booking with us. If your home in Lebanon is not ready when you leave Toronto, your packed and inventoried shipment can wait in our North York warehouse until the sailing date suits you. On the other side, our partner can hold it after customs clearance and deliver when you have the keys. Ask your coordinator before planning long storage on either side: some customs reliefs set a deadline for when your goods must arrive.

Why families moving to Lebanon choose Metropolitan Logistics

We are an IAM Core Member with IAMTrusted status and the Receivable Protection Program behind our agent relationships, which means the partner clearing your shipment in Beirut is vetted and financially accountable, not found on a forum. Lift vans for Beirut are built on our own warehouse floor by the crew that packed them, and you can see your shipment there before it sails. And because we run container logistics commercially every day, the drayage, rail and ocean legs ride the same lanes and carrier relationships we book for exporters, which keeps the price honest on a lane where freight rates move.