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Do You Pay Duty on Diamonds Shipped to Canada?

Do you pay duty on diamonds shipped to Canada? Loose stones enter duty free, but GST, PST and finished-ring tariffs still apply. Here is how the bill works.

A loose polished diamond shipped into Canada carries no customs duty. Under tariff item 7102.39.00 of the Customs Tariff (2026 edition, effective 1 January 2026), the Most-Favoured-Nation rate on non-industrial worked diamonds is "Free," and every preferential tariff listed beside it is also Free. What you will still pay is tax: 5% GST on the duty-paid value, plus your province's share. And the moment that stone is set into a ring before it crosses the border, you are on a different tariff line with a real duty rate attached.

What crosses the border matters more than what you paid

Customs does not care whether your stone cost $2,000 or $20,000. It cares what the goods are, where they were shipped from, and how they were carried. Here is how the four things a ring buyer might actually import are classified in the current Canadian tariff.

What shipsTariff itemMFN dutyDuty under CUSMA, CPTPP, UK
Loose polished natural diamond7102.39.00FreeFree
Loose polished lab-grown diamond7104.91.00FreeFree
Rough natural diamond7102.10 / .21 / .31FreeFree, but a Kimberley Process certificate is required
Finished ring, gold or platinum7113.19.906.5%Free (UST, MXT, CPTPT, UKT and others)
Finished ring, silver7113.11.908.5%Free (same list)

Rates are quoted from CBSA's published Chapter 71 schedule for the 2026 tariff. Note the gap between the stone and the ring: the diamond is duty free from anywhere, while a finished gold ring from a country Canada has no trade agreement with attracts 6.5% before tax.

Loose diamonds: no duty, but tax is not optional

CBSA's Memorandum D2-3-6, Non-commercial Provincial Tax Collection Programs (dated 8 April 2026), states plainly that "most goods imported into Canada are subject to the federal GST, which is calculated at the rate of 5% of the duty-paid value of the shipment." Duty-paid value means the value for duty plus any duty owing. On a diamond, duty is zero, so the two numbers are the same.

The value for duty is in Canadian dollars, and the conversion is not up to you or the shipper. CBSA Memorandum D13-2-3 sets the rule: "The rate of exchange to be used to convert the value for duty of imported goods from a foreign currency into Canadian currency shall be the Bank of Canada rate prevailing on the date of direct shipment of the goods to Canada." Not the rate on the day you bought it, and not your credit card's rate.

Here is the arithmetic on a US$4,000 loose diamond couriered from New York:

  1. Convert at the Bank of Canada rate on the date of direct shipment. The Bank of Canada published a USD/CAD rate of 1.3876 for 26 August 2026, which gives a value for duty of about CAD $5,550.
  2. Apply duty. Tariff item 7102.39.00 is Free, so this is $0.
  3. Apply GST at 5% of the duty-paid value: about $278.
  4. Add the provincial share. Appendix A of D2-3-6 lists British Columbia at 7% PST and Ontario at 13% HST on taxable casual goods. On this shipment that is roughly another $389 in BC.
  5. Pay whatever the courier charges to clear it, which is separate from the above.

So a duty-free diamond still lands with several hundred dollars of tax on it. Alberta residents, with no provincial sales tax, pay the 5% GST and nothing more.

A finished ring sits on a different tariff line

Once a diamond is mounted, it stops being a stone and becomes an article of jewellery under heading 71.13. A gold or platinum ring is 7113.19.90 at 6.5% MFN. On the same $5,550 value for duty, that is about $361 in duty, and because GST is charged on the duty-paid value, the tax base rises too. The total bill is roughly $400 higher than it would have been for the identical stone shipped loose and set here.

CUSMA does not automatically mean free

The Chapter 71 schedule shows the United States Tariff (UST) and Mexico Tariff (MXT) rates on 7113.19.90 as Free, along with CPTPP and the UK tariff. That relief depends on the goods qualifying as originating under the relevant agreement, which is a rules-of-origin question, not a "the box was posted from Texas" question. A ring assembled in a third country and drop-shipped through a US warehouse is not automatically CUSMA-originating.

Surtaxes move, and they move fast

Canada's counter-tariff measures on US-origin goods have been added and repealed repeatedly since 2025. Customs Notice 25-10 applied a 25% surtax on the value for duty of listed US-origin goods and was later revised to record that "effective September 1, 2025 this Order is repealed." Surtax lists are tariff-item specific and change on short notice, so check CBSA's current customs notices rather than assuming last year's answer still holds.

The $20, $40 and $150 thresholds will not save you

CBSA's low value shipment page (last modified 25 November 2025) sets out the de minimis rules. Postal shipments are duty and tax free at $20 and under from any country. Courier shipments from the US or Mexico are duty and tax free up to $40, duty free but taxable from $40 to $150, and fully assessed above $150. Courier shipments from anywhere else revert to the $20 line.

CBSA's Courier Low Value Shipment page also notes that "gifts with a value of CAD $60 or less may be imported via the CLVS Program." No diamond worth setting comes anywhere near $60. Declaring a $5,000 stone as a gift or undervaluing the invoice is customs fraud, and it also destroys your insurance position if the parcel goes missing. Do not do it.

Paperwork that can hold a stone at the border

Rough diamonds need a Kimberley Process certificate

CBSA Memorandum D19-6-4 (26 February 2025) defines a rough diamond as one that is "unsorted, unworked or simply sawn, cleaved or bruted" under subheadings 7102.10, 7102.21 or 7102.31, and confirms that diamonds "cut and polished and ready to be mounted, set or fitted do not fall under the provisions of the Act and do not require a KPC." Natural Resources Canada, which administers the scheme, adds that rough parcels must travel in a tamper-resistant container and that laboratory-grown diamonds do not require a certificate. For anyone buying a finished stone, this simply does not apply.

Russian-origin stones are prohibited, not just taxed

CBSA Customs Notice 24-05 (1 March 2024) implements Canada's sanctions on diamonds "mined or produced in Russia that are exported, processed and/or polished in a third country," covering classification numbers 7102.10.00.10, 7102.31.00.10 and 7102.39.00.30 for stones "greater than or equal to 0.5 carat." Legacy stones outside Russia before the relevant date are carved out, and personal effects carried by a traveller are excepted. In practice this means a serious seller should be able to tell you the country of origin of a half-carat-plus natural stone. If they cannot, that is a reason to walk.

Where the bill grows beyond duty and tax

  • Courier clearance charges. CBSA states that "customs clearance fees charged by couriers and customs brokers are separate and distinct from duties and taxes owed." These are the carrier's fees, and CBSA has no role in setting or refunding them.
  • Exchange rate drift between order and shipment, since the rate that counts is the Bank of Canada rate on the date of direct shipment.
  • Duty compounding into the tax base on a finished ring, because GST is charged on the duty-paid value.
  • Insurance and secure carriage for a high-value parcel, which is a real cost on a stone worth several thousand dollars.

None of this applies to a ring that is built and delivered inside Canada. If you are choosing a setting and a loose diamond that are already in the Canadian market, the price you are quoted in CAD is the price, with ordinary sales tax on top and no border to cross.

What to do next

If you are importing yourself, get three things in writing before you pay: the exact tariff classification the shipper will declare, the country of origin of the stone, and who is handling clearance. Then run the numbers using 5% GST plus your provincial rate on the converted value, and add duty only if the goods arrive already mounted.

If you would rather skip the exercise entirely, choose the stone and the mount separately and have the ring assembled here. You can compare stones on the diamond search, pair one with a mount, then finish the ring with metal, size and engraving. More on the buying side of this in our other guides.

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