Custom Sunglasses for Canadian Importers & Brands
Health Canada impact and labeling requirements, bilingual packaging, GST/HST and duty guidance, and reliable logistics for Canadian eyewear brands.
Selling sunglasses in Canada
Canada is a substantial eyewear market with a regulatory approach influenced by both US and international practice, plus its own bilingual labeling expectations. LumiShades supplies Canadian brands, opticians and distributors with conformant sunglasses, bilingual packaging support and flexible delivery into both coasts.
Canadian requirements: Health Canada & impact resistance
In Canada, sunglasses are overseen by Health Canada under the Food and Drugs Act and associated guidance. The core safety requirement mirrors the US approach: lenses must be impact-resistant, and products must not be misleadingly labeled regarding UV protection. While Canada does not impose a single mandatory performance standard as strict as Australia's, importers are expected to meet recognized standards — in practice conformance to ANSI Z80.3 and/or EN ISO 12312-1 is widely used to demonstrate due diligence, and many Canadian retailers require it.
Critically, Canada requires bilingual (English and French) labeling on consumer products under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. LumiShades supplies UV400-verified, impact-tested lenses with ANSI/EN test reports and prints bilingual packaging and swing-tags so your product meets Canadian labeling expectations out of the box.
Import duties & GST/HST
Sunglasses are classified under tariff heading 9004.10 in the Canadian Customs Tariff. The MFN duty rate on sunglasses from China is generally low (often around 2-2.5%, and some eyewear lines enter duty-free — verify the exact classification with your customs broker). On top of duty, GST at 5% (or the blended HST of 13-15% in participating provinces) applies on the duty-paid value for commercial imports, and is generally recoverable by GST/HST-registered businesses.
Landed cost = FOB price + freight + duty + 5% GST (or provincial HST) + clearance. A Business Number with an import-export account (RM) is needed to import commercially. We offer FOB and CIF for established Canadian importers and door-to-door DDP for smaller buyers and e-commerce sellers wanting a single delivered price.
Logistics & lead time to Canada
We ship to Vancouver and Prince Rupert on the West Coast and to Montreal and Halifax in the East, plus air freight into Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Indicative transit: express air 4-7 days for samples; air freight 7-11 days; ocean to Vancouver roughly 18-26 days port-to-port, with Eastern ports longer. Add clearance and inland delivery (Canada's distances are significant) to your timeline.
For a Canadian seasonal launch, allow 7-10 days for samples, 25-35 days production and ocean transit, plus a Chinese New Year buffer. West Coast routing into Vancouver is typically fastest; many Canadian importers consolidate with US West Coast flows for efficiency.
Why Canadian buyers source from LumiShades
- ✓Vertically integrated factory in Wenzhou — frame, lens, decoration and packaging in-house since 2009.
- ✓MOQ just 50 pairs, samples in 7-10 days, production in 25-35 days.
- ✓Full compliance documentation and correctly-labeled packaging for your market.
- ✓Flexible Incoterms — FOB, CIF or door-to-door DDP.
- ✓98.5% on-time delivery across 60+ countries; 5M+ pairs shipped a year.