Moving to Dubai & the UAE from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to the UAE works

It starts with a survey — in person for a house, by video for a condo — so the quote is based on your actual volume and so we can walk through the prohibited list with you before anything is packed. On packing day our crew wraps and packs everything for a long ocean transit through hot ports (export-grade cartons, paper, blankets and custom crates for art, mirrors and the TV) and builds the itemized inventory in English that UAE customs works from. The shipment comes to our North York warehouse, where it is loaded into a dedicated 20′ or 40′ container, or consolidated with other Gulf-bound shipments if you are moving a smaller volume.

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 Jebel Ali or Khalifa Port through a transshipment hub. Our UAE partner — an IAM member agent — files the entry with your residence visa, Emirates ID and inventory, attends the customs inspection, collects the container and delivers to your new home with unpacking and debris removal included in the door-to-door service. Towers in Dubai Marina, Downtown and Abu Dhabi require move-in permits and elevator bookings; the agent arranges them.

1. Free survey (home or video), prohibited-items review and fixed door-to-door quote
2. Packing, crating and the itemized English inventory at your home in the GTA
3. Loading into a dedicated container or UAE groupage at our warehouse
4. Rail to Montreal / Halifax and ocean sailing to Jebel Ali via a hub
5. Your residence visa is issued and the Emirates ID applied for before the container lands
6. Customs entry and physical inspection handled by our UAE agent
7. Delivery to your door with unpacking and packing-material removal

Customs in the UAE: residents, inventories and the prohibited list

Used household goods and personal effects imported by a UAE resident are cleared free of customs duty; the entry is made against your passport, your residence visa, your Emirates ID or its application, and a detailed inventory. New items, goods in commercial quantities and anything still in its retail packaging are treated as imports and pay 5% duty plus 5% VAT on the declared value. The shipment must be consigned to you, and you need to be in the country with the visa issued when it arrives — a container that lands before the visa exists waits at the port, and Jebel Ali storage is not cheap.

The prohibited list is where UAE moves go wrong. Alcohol cannot travel in a household shipment. Pork products, narcotics, gambling equipment, drones and radio transmitters without approval, weapons and replica weapons, e-cigarettes in quantity, and any material considered offensive on religious or moral grounds are prohibited or confiscated, and books, films and artwork can be reviewed. Prescription medicines are limited to personal quantities with the prescription, and some medications that are routine in Canada are controlled in the UAE and need Ministry of Health approval in advance. We go through all of it at the survey, because customs will open the boxes.

What it costs to ship household goods to the UAE

Cost is driven by volume, so the survey matters. A one-bedroom apartment in the GTA is usually 12–20 cubic metres and ships as groupage (LCL) or a lightly loaded 20′ container. A three-bedroom house is typically 30–40 cubic metres and fills a 20′ container; larger homes ship in a 40′ or 40′ high-cube. The long routing through a hub makes this a costlier lane than Europe, and delivery in the UAE is priced with the building in mind — tower move-in permits, loading-dock bookings and security deposits are normal. Professional packing and crating, storage at either end, and access at the Canadian address all move the price.

Our quotes are door to door and itemize what is included: packing and materials, loading, drayage and rail, ocean freight and port charges, UAE customs clearance and the standard inspection, delivery, unpacking and debris removal. The only items outside the quote are duty and VAT on goods that do not qualify, port storage if the container lands before your visa is issued, and storage beyond the free period at destination.

Timelines from the GTA to the Gulf

Ocean transit from Montreal or Halifax to Jebel Ali is 30–40 days, with the container changing ships at a hub on the way. Around it: two to five days from packing to sailing depending on the rail cut-off, and one to two weeks at destination for the customs entry, the inspection, container collection and the building's move-in appointment. A dedicated container typically arrives at your door in Dubai or Abu Dhabi eight to twelve weeks after packing day; groupage shipments wait for the consolidation to fill and add two to four weeks. We time the sailing around your visa, and if your home is not ready our agent holds the shipment in storage after clearance and delivers when you are.

What to leave behind, and what to think twice about

The UAE runs on 220–240 volts with British-style plugs, so Canadian 110-volt appliances need transformers or replacement. Furnished rentals are common in Dubai, and many families ship less than they own. Cars can be imported, but a Canadian-market vehicle without GCC specifications needs testing and may be hard to insure and resell; for most people it is not worth it. Alcohol, pork, weapons, drones without approval and anything on the prohibited list stay behind, and medicines travel in personal quantities with prescriptions. Summer heat in transit is real: candles, some cosmetics and vinyl records do not enjoy a container in August.

• Prohibited: alcohol, pork products, narcotics, weapons and replicas, gambling equipment, drones and transmitters without approval, offensive material
• Controlled: prescription medicines beyond personal quantities; some common Canadian medications need advance approval
• Usually not worth it: 110 V appliances, bulky low-value furniture, heat-sensitive items
• Vehicles: non-GCC-spec cars need testing and are hard to resell — ask us first

Why families moving to the UAE 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 unpacking your home in Dubai is vetted and financially accountable. The shipment is loaded in our Toronto warehouse by our own crews, not handed to a consolidator you never meet, and you can see it there before it sails. Because we run container logistics commercially every day, the drayage, rail and ocean legs are the same lanes and carriers we book for exporters — which keeps the cost honest on a long route.