There is so much confusion surrounding "duty" charges that I thought it might be helpful to start a thread to collect information concerning the topic.
The CBSA webpage is a good place to start:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/po...roits-eng.html
and here is the tariff that applies to toys:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-com.../ch95-eng.html
You will note that some toys require duty at 8% and some toys are duty free. Trying to figure out which is which is a challenge, but I suspect that the secret to whether duty is charged or not, is the categorization of whatever you shipped by the CBSA somewhere into this tarrif.
To be sure, this is not the answer, but the answer is in here somewhere.
Toys appear to fall under Chapter 95 of the blah blah blah Act and, as such, should not attract any duty. Depending on how they are labelled though, may change how they are categorized by the CBSA. For instance, identifying and item as "gift" on the packaging will result in a $60 personal exemption and 8% on everything above that.
Another key point, is that your package will contain a statement indicating how the toy was categorized and what duty charges were levied. This is a good way to tell if those extra charges at the door are in fact "duty" or whether they are handling fees imposed by Canada Post or the delivery agent (looking at you USPS).
