Every year, a portion of the Valley's homeowners head north. Some are Canadian snowbirds deciding it's time to sell their Phoenix home, and some are Americans relocating for work, family, or a partner.
Either way, moving from Phoenix to Canada is not the same as moving from Phoenix to Denver, and most of the friction has nothing to do with boxes.
It has to do with two governments, several forms, and a sequence you can't rearrange after the fact.
This guide is an overview of the parts that catch people out. It is not tax or legal advice. Cross-border moves genuinely warrant a cross-border accountant and, where property is involved, a real estate professional who has handled foreign-seller transactions before.
Part One: The Sale
If You're Canadian, FIRPTA Applies to You
This is the single biggest surprise for Canadian sellers, and it's almost always discovered too late.
The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act requires the buyer of U.S. real estate to withhold a percentage of the gross sale price when the seller is a foreign person and remit it to the IRS. Not the gain, not your net proceeds after paying off the mortgage, the whole sale price.
The standard rate is 15%.
On a $600,000 Phoenix-area home, that's $90,000 going to the IRS at closing, even if your actual tax liability is a fraction of that, and even if you sold at a loss.
A few things worth knowing:
- The buyer is legally on the hook for the withholding, which is why title and escrow companies hold the funds even when everyone in the room agrees an exemption applies. They will not take your word for it.
- Selling at a loss doesn't exempt you. Only paperwork does.
- Owning through an LLC doesn't avoid it. The IRS looks at who owns the entity.
- Reduced rates exist. If the price is $300,000 or under and the buyer signs an affidavit that they or a family member will live in the property for at least half the time it's in use over the next two years, withholding can drop to zero. Between $300,000 and $1 million with a buyer who intends to occupy, the rate can be 10%.
- You can apply to reduce the withholding with a withholding certificate, IRS Form 8288-B, but it must be filed before closing and can take 90 days or more to process. That's the whole reason to talk to a cross-border accountant months before you list, not the week before closing.
- Getting a refund is slow. You file a U.S. nonresident return to reconcile what you actually owe.
Also, check whether the state adds its own withholding requirements on top of the federal rule.
Canadian ownership is particularly common in seasonal and retirement properties around the Valley. If that's the type of home you're selling, our Phoenix 55+ relocation guide covers many of the communities, locations, and things buyers and owners should know about retirement living in the Phoenix area.
If You're American, This Section Doesn't Apply
U.S. citizens, green card holders, and anyone meeting the substantial presence test aren't foreign persons for FIRPTA purposes. Your sale is a normal sale. Your complications are all on the Canadian side.
Part Two: Getting Your Belongings Across
First, Figure Out Which Category You're In
The Canada Border Services Agency treats new arrivals differently depending on their history with the country:
- Settler: You're entering Canada to establish a residence for the first time, for one year or more.
- Former resident: You're moving back to resume residence after a continuous absence of a year or more.
Both categories can bring owned, used personal and household goods in free of duty. The requirements differ slightly.
As a former resident, your goods generally need to have been owned, possessed, and used abroad for at least six months before you return, though that six-month requirement is waived if you've lived outside Canada for five years or more.
Two things apply to everyone: leased goods don't qualify because CBSA doesn't consider you to own them, and anything you sell or dispose of within twelve months of importing it loses the exemption.
The BSF186 Is the Form That Matters
Also called the Personal Effects Accounting Document, and still known to many people as the B4, the BSF186 is where most cross-border moves go wrong.
You complete it at your first point of entry into Canada, listing your belongings and their values in Canadian dollars. If you have more items than fit, the BSF186A continuation form handles the overflow.
The border officer assigns a file number, stamps it, and gives you a copy, which your moving company or customs broker later uses to clear your shipped goods without duty.
You prepare two lists:
- Goods accompanying you: What's physically with you when you cross.
- Goods to follow: Everything arriving later by truck or container.
Here is the part that hurts people: you cannot add to the goods-to-follow list after your first entry.
If your grandmother's dining table isn't on that list when you cross the border, it cannot come in later as duty-free settler's effects.
Be exhaustive. Be boring about it. List the contents of boxes generally rather than itemizing every fork, but don't leave whole categories off.
The upside is that once that form is stamped, there's no deadline for the goods to arrive. Your belongings can sit in storage for months.
"The most common cross-border trap we see is under-reporting on the 'Goods to Follow' list. You do not have to itemize every single fork, but if a broad category like 'home office furniture' is missing when you cross the border, you will be paying duty on it later."
- Relocation Expert, mercmovers.ca
You Have to Arrive Before Your Belongings Do
You cannot ship your household goods to Canada and follow them later. You cross first, file the form, and your shipment clears against it afterward.
Plan your flight or drive accordingly, and don't let a moving company talk you into a schedule that reverses this.
Vehicles Are Their Own Project
Bringing a car across is a separate process with its own admissibility rules, and not every U.S.-market vehicle is admissible to Canada.
Check before you assume the car is coming with you. This is worth researching early because the answer sometimes changes the plan entirely.
Part Three: Hiring the Mover
Cross-border household moves are usually handled one of two ways: a van line that runs the whole route door to door, or a container that gets loaded in Phoenix, shipped, and delivered at the other end.
Whichever you choose, ask directly:
- Do they handle the customs clearance, or are you expected to arrange a broker?
- Do they provide a mover's inventory suitable for attaching to your BSF186?
- Is the quote a binding estimate, and what triggers it changing?
- Who is liable if something is damaged, and what does the valuation coverage actually cover?
"Plenty of people arriving in Canada land in a rental first, put belongings into storage, and do a second local move weeks or months later once they've bought. That local move is a separate hire from a mover in your destination city, and it's worth lining up early rather than scrambling."
Archit Goyal, President Movers CA
A Rough Sequence
- Six months out: Talk to a cross-border accountant, especially if FIRPTA applies. Start the withholding certificate process if you're going to.
- Three to four months out: List the property. Get moving quotes. Check vehicle admissibility.
- Two months out: Build your goods-to-follow inventory. This takes longer than anyone expects.
- One month out: Confirm the shipment schedule and confirm you're crossing before your goods.
- Crossing day: BSF186 and BSF186A in hand, not packed in a suitcase. Keep them with your passport.
The Bottom Line
None of this is difficult in isolation. It goes wrong when people discover FIRPTA at the closing table or realize at the border that half their belongings aren't on any list.
Both are avoidable with a few months of lead time and the right professionals involved early.
Moving the other direction? Our Moving to Phoenix guide covers what to know before relocating to the Valley, including neighborhoods, housing, weather, costs, and some of the things newcomers don't realize until they're here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need a Visa to Move to Canada as a U.S. Citizen?
Yes, Americans can visit Canada easily, but living there requires status whether you are a permanent resident, a work permit holder, or on a study permit.
Being able to cross the border freely as a visitor is not the same as being able to stay. Many Americans move on a CUSMA professional work permit, which covers a defined list of occupations and is generally faster to obtain than permanent residence, then apply for PR from inside Canada afterward.
Do I Still Have to File U.S. Taxes After Moving to Canada?
Yes. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live, so your U.S. filing obligation follows you.
In practice, the Canada-U.S. tax treaty, the foreign earned income exclusion, and foreign tax credits usually prevent genuine double taxation, but they only work if you file.
You will also likely need to report your Canadian bank accounts to the U.S. Treasury once the combined balance passes the reporting threshold. Once you're a Canadian resident, Canada taxes your worldwide income too.
This is the single strongest argument for hiring a cross-border accountant rather than your usual preparer.
Can I Bring My Dog or Cat?
Yes, but with proper documentation.
Dogs and cats entering Canada from the U.S. need proof of current rabies vaccination, and requirements differ for young animals that aren't old enough to be vaccinated. Rules are set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and are worth checking directly for your animal's age and species.
Should I Sell the Phoenix House or Rent It Out?
That's a tax question more than a real estate one. Keeping it makes you a U.S. property owner with ongoing U.S. filing obligations, and FIRPTA will still be waiting whenever you eventually sell.
If selling is part of the plan, you can learn more about how we help Phoenix-area homeowners on our home selling page.