Movers to Vancouver from Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Your international moving company for Vancouver

Moving from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Vancouver? We are international movers who survey and pack your home here, prepare the paperwork for Canadian customs and ship your goods, and our destination partner clears them in Vancouver and delivers them to your new address, whether that is a condo in Yaletown or a house in North Vancouver.

We are based in Dubai Investment Park, and one coordinator stays with you from the first visit to the last box unpacked.

Packers and movers in Vancouver only see your goods once the container lands. The work that decides how they arrive (export packing, crating, the inventory and loading) happens weeks earlier in your home in the UAE, and that is our job.

What our moving services to Vancouver include

Your fixed, itemised quote sets out every part of the move:

• A free in-home or video survey anywhere in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah.
• Export packing by trained crews, crates for artwork, mirrors and other fragile pieces, and furniture dismantled for the voyage.
• Export documents prepared in Dubai, plus the valued goods list you need for your BSF186 declaration.
• Sea freight in a full or shared container, depending on volume, with air freight for the things you need first.
• Customs clearance in Vancouver with our destination partner.
• Delivery, placement of furniture room by room, reassembly and unpacking.
• Transit insurance available (terms confirmed with your quote).
• Storage in Dubai, short or long term, if your Vancouver home is not ready: see household goods storage.

Canadian customs: declaring your goods on the BSF186

If you are entering Canada to establish a residence for the first time, for one year or more, you are a settler (people coming for employment of 36 months or less, or to study, are not), and you can bring in household and personal effects free of duty and taxes, as long as you owned, possessed and used them before you arrive.

You declare everything on form BSF186, the Personal Effects Accounting Document, in person at your first point of arrival in Canada. If your flight connects in Toronto, that is where you declare, not Vancouver. The list must include the goods that follow by sea, because goods arriving later qualify only if they are on that original list.

• We prepare the export documents in Dubai and, from our packing inventory, your goods list in two copies, with each item's value, make, model and serial number and the goods to follow listed separately.
• You confirm the values, complete the BSF186 (online before you fly, if you like), declare in person on arrival and keep the original: it must be produced when the container arrives, or regular duty and taxes may apply.
• For 12 months after import, goods brought in free of duty must not be sold or given away, or the duty and taxes become payable.
• The per-item limit of 10,000 Canadian dollars mentioned on the CBSA website applies only to former residents, not to settlers.

Goods for business, sale or hire, company-owned or leased goods, and goods you had not owned, possessed and used before arriving are not covered. Food, plants, animals, firewood, firearms, weapons, fireworks and used mattresses are restricted or prohibited, and Canada has zero tolerance for foreign soil, so clean bicycles, garden tools and outdoor furniture before packing day.

Arriving at the Port of Vancouver

Since 28 February 2026 the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to commercial shipping, so containers from the UAE currently go by road to a port outside the strait, such as Khor Fakkan or Fujairah on the east coast or Sohar in Oman, and sail from there. Schedules are longer and less predictable than before, and we confirm routing and dates at your survey.

The Port of Vancouver has four container terminals: DP World Centerm, GCT Vanterm, GCT Deltaport and DP World Fraser Surrey. Which one your container uses depends on the sailing we book.

Vancouver is also one of the places where the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) examines marine containers. CBSA does not charge for an examination, but the facility operator's fees for moving, unloading and reloading the container are passed on to the importer.

If the container arrives before you, it is held in a sufferance warehouse for 40 days and then treated as unclaimed unless an extension is requested, so the sailing is planned around your flight.

How your move to Vancouver runs

• Survey: your coordinator walks through every room with you and agrees what goes by sea, what goes by air and what stays in the UAE.
• Quote: a fixed, itemised quote with the current routing.
• Packing day: crews pack, crate and load, and the inventory for your goods list is drawn up as they work.
• Departure: export documents are completed in Dubai and the container travels by road to the departure port.
• Arrival: you declare your goods when you first land in Canada; our destination partner clears the container in Vancouver against your original BSF186.
• Delivery: the partner crew delivers, reassembles furniture and unpacks.

Delivering in Vancouver, BC: neighbourhoods and access

We deliver to homes across the city and the wider Metro Vancouver area, including Kitsilano, the West End, Yaletown, North Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond. You won't have to hire a moving company in Vancouver, BC, as well: our destination partner's crew delivers, working to the plan your coordinator made with you in Dubai.

Before delivery day, your coordinator goes through access with you: elevator or loading-bay bookings in your building, where the truck can park, stairs and narrow entrances, and a delivery date that suits you. Moving somewhere else in Canada? See our page on moving to Canada from Dubai.

Pets and vehicles

Pets travel as a separate service: see pet relocation. Canada generally admits a vehicle from outside the US and Mexico only if it is at least 15 years old and not a bus, so most UAE cars stay behind; if yours qualifies, ask about vehicle shipping.

Book your free in-home survey

A reliable quote for Vancouver starts with a visit to your home. Ours is 100% free, with no obligation: a coordinator sees every room, answers your questions about the BSF186 and current sailings, and sends you a fixed, itemised quote.

Use the quote form on this page or our quote page, or call or WhatsApp +971 56 899 2011. Tell us your moving date and your Vancouver neighbourhood, and we will plan backwards from your flight.