eeeeeeeelectric said:
Hi all,
I'm in the process of packing my border-town household up for the big move to BC. I've seen UHauls going through the boders, and I've got my Goods to Follow paperwork from my landing day.
Anyone have a story? I'm planning on using the Pacific Highway (Truck) Crossing.
Thanks!
It's uncanny how similar our circumstances were to yours. My wife and I made the crossing in April 2010 and just as yours was, our move was also "local" ... Lynden, WA (north of Bellingham) to downtown Vancouver! Our move actually began in Ohio more than one full year earlier but since we're both retired and don't have any employment issues to worry about, we decided to make an "interim move" to facilitate the ultimate move to Vancouver. We temporarily rented a home for a year in Lynden, just 3 km south of the border. It was truly a fantastic decision and allowed us to leisurely get to know the entire lower-mainland. Just after our arrival in Lynden we applied for NEXUS cards which made our frequent (often 4 or 5 times a week) jaunts into Canada much easier and saved us many hundreds of hours in border-crossing wait times. By the time we actually made the final move we had checking and savings accounts as well as credit cards already set up at TD Bank. Because we spent a considerable amount of time house hunting, we were able to find the right place for us with absolutely no stress or pressure to hurriedly sign a lease. Within three days of our arrival we had BC driving licenses (simple swap out for our old Washington state licenses), SINs, auto and rental insurance, and had submitted applications for our MSP cards.
A few thoughts ...
1. We rented a U-Haul truck for the move, rather than a trailer. As a result, it was significantly less expensive for us to rent the truck in and return it to Bellingham rather than dropping it off somewhere on the north side of the border. Not sure if trailer rentals involves the same price premium as truck rentals when dropping off elsewhere (especially out of the country.) Worth checking into, though.
2. We used Peace Arch (I-5/Hwy 99) rather than Pac Highway crossing. No commercial traffic allowed at Peace Arch but personal moves are exempt. Our rationale was that they're less well-equipped to handle big loads/cargo at Peace Arch so potentially lower odds of a thorough search/delay. As it turned out, no one ever even open the truck to look into the back. We were throuugh in 15 minutes.
3. Not sure if our NEXUS cards made it go more smoothly.
4. Like you, we had someone load the truck for us in Lynden and then arranged for another crew to unload the truck in Vancouver. If you're moving into a downtown condo/high-rise, don't forget to make arrangements with the building strata/concierge well in advance. In our case were given a 4-hour block of time for the unloading. The building's largest elevator was matted and reserved for our exclusive use during the timeframe locked down so that it could only be used between the loading dock garage level and our floor. Had a great crew of four that did all the unloading/carrying. Total came to $300 (including a very nice tip).
5. If you're bringing a private vehicle, I think you have to use Pac Highway because the U.S. only allows exportation there. Make sure you look into not just Canada's importation requirements but also the U.S. export requirements as well. U.S. needs vehicle paperwork at least 48 hours ahead of time (faxed documents are OK). We elected to wait with exporting our two vehcles and did that a few weeks later, separate from the move itself.
6. We made the actual crossing at around midnite. Stayed in a hotel overnite with truck in a well-lit and secured lot, then met the unloaders at our apartment building in time for the beginning of our four-hour moving window (8 a.m. to noon). Afterwards we dropped the truck off in Bellingham, had a nice dinner at the White Spot and were still back "home" in Vancouver by 7:00p.m. that same evening! A very busy day bvut everything went very smoothly.
Best of luck with your move!
She has helped me so much, I don't know what I would have done without her help! 