Crossing the border between the United States and Canada is typically straightforward. Unless you appear suspicious, your only aggravation will be waiting in line. Certain items are restricted when crossing the border, and alcohol is one of them. Knowing the regulations before you go will help smooth your way through customs.
The border between the United States and Canada serves to keep track of millions of people traveling to and from Canada each year. The border patrols check for illegal drugs and suspicious people and regulate the amount of legal items that can be transported across the border. Alcohol may be taken across the border, but certain rules apply.
All types of alcohol are regulated at the border crossing. Beer, wine and spirits each have certain content limits and can only be carried by people of legal drinking age. Legal drinking age is defined by the province or state into which you are entering, not the province or state in which you live. In most Canadian provinces the legal drinking age is 19. In the United States it is 21.
When entering Canada, you can bring in duty free up to 24 12-ounce cans of beer, 1.5 liters of wine or 1.14 liters of liquor. Or you may bring a total of 1.14 liters of wine and liquor combined. When entering the United States from Canada, you are allowed 1 liter of alcoholic beverage duty free. Individual states regulate how much alcohol can be brought in beyond this first liter so it is important to check with your state's liquor board if you plan to bring back more than one liter.
You are allowed to bring more alcohol than the limits mentioned above except when entering Nunavut or The Northwest Territories in Canada, where you can only bring the duty free amount. In other provinces and states if you exceed these amounts, the excess amount will be taxed from 3 to 7 percent depending on how much extra and what type of alcohol you are bringing across the border.
Alcohol purchased in duty-free stores at border crossings is only duty free in the country the store is located. The same rules apply for the amount of liquor you are allowed to carry across the border, and the liquor may be taxed upon return to your home country.
