How to Find Importers in Canada: Reading the Canadian Importers Database

The Canadian Importers Database (CID) is published by ISED from Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) data. It lists importing companies in three ways: by product (HS code), by city, and by country of origin. Product lists use 2024 CBSA data. The city and country lists show 2023 data. The datasets are also published as open data on the open Canada website.

Each entry has four fields: company name, city, province and postal code. There is no phone number, email or contact person. The list includes customs brokers next to their clients. It also includes non-resident importers, which are companies with addresses outside Canada. For these, the postal code is left blank.

The database follows confidentiality rules. Know them before you read a report:

• No import value or quantity is shown for any single company.
• Names are in alphabetical order, so the list does not show who is largest. The next section shows how to rank the names yourself.
• "Major importers" means the firms that together make up to 80% of imports of the product. Smaller importers are not named.
• A city list is not released if the city has fewer than three importers, or if one company has 80% or more of the city's imports.
• Names of individuals are not shown, and importers whose importer numbers are unavailable are left out.

1. 1

   Search the 6-digit code

   Enter the HS6 code, for example 100630 for milled rice or 091030 for turmeric. The same search works for garments or any other goods: use your own code. If you do not know it, use the keyword search or browse the HS chapters. If a 10-digit code returns nothing, the help page says to try the more general 6-digit code.

2. 2

   Read the market concentration table

   It shows how much of Canada's imports the top 3, 6, 10, 15, 20 and 25 importers hold, and how many firms make up the 80% line.

3. 3

   Open the report by country of origin

   Use "By countries" and select India, Pakistan, Vietnam or Sri Lanka. You get the major importers of that product from your country, which is a shorter and more relevant list.

4. 4

   Filter by province

   Use "Display companies with addresses in" to see one province, or "Outside of Canada" to see the non-resident importers together.

Wooden furniture. Three importers hold 37.21% of a market worth about Can$1.06 billion. Ten hold about half. The 207 firms after rank 25 share only about 19.7%. So the market has a few very large buyers and a long tail of smaller ones.

Milled rice. The top is less concentrated: three importers hold 20.74% and ten hold 42.80%. The 46 firms ranked 26 to 71 share about 16.8%. About 20% of rice imports, roughly Can$111 million, belong to importers the report does not name: firms below the 80% line, and possibly individuals and firms without an importer number, which the footnote says are left off the list.

The CID cannot rank the names for you. Values per company are hidden and the list is alphabetical. Rank them yourself in this order:

1. Put first the names that also appear in the report for your country of origin. They already buy this product from your country.
2. Next, keep the names whose business matches yours: furniture retailers and distributors, or grocery importers and food distributors for rice. On each website, the product range and the number of stores or warehouses show the company's rough size. Note the contact details on the same website, because the CID gives none. If there is only a contact form, use it, and put your product and HS code in the subject.
3. Ask about yearly volume in your first message, and let the buyer's answer set the final order of your list.

• Customs brokers and couriers. Look for "customs", "brokerage", "logistics", "freight" or "express" in the name. The furniture list has at least two customs brokers, plus an express courier. If a name sounds like logistics, open its website and set it aside if it offers customs clearance.
• Non-resident importers. These have a city outside Canada and a blank postal code. The furniture list includes addresses in the United States, China and Europe. The rice list has 6, including rice companies in California and Texas. On each website, look for these signs. A mill or factory that sells into Canada is a supplier. A parent group of a Canadian chain is a head office. A company that lists stores, a warehouse or customers in Canada may buy for Canadian operations.
• Numbered companies. Some furniture entries are only a number and a province, in the form "1234567 Alberta Ltd." The name tells you nothing about the business. Check it in a corporate registry before you spend time on it.
• Firms that may import for their own use. In furniture, clothing retailers, hotels and a construction company appear, likely importing furniture for their stores and buildings. Keep them if your range and order size suit store or hotel fit-out work. In rice, a brewery and a multinational packaged-food group appear. Open each website to see whether rice is an ingredient or a product line they sell. That decides whether your grade and volume fit.

In the rice report, these checks mark at least 8 of the 71 names: 6 with addresses outside Canada and 2 whose use of rice needs checking. No name in the rice list identifies itself as a customs broker, and there are no numbered companies. A broker can still carry an ordinary company name, so check any name you do not recognise. For more on reading HS-based lists, see finding importers by HS code.

The table below counts companies in Canada that appear as buyers in supplying countries' export records (mirror data). This is a different source from the CID. The provider does not state the period the records cover. Each product page shows the date its numbers last changed. Use the counts to judge the size of the buyer pool and which origin dominates, not how recent the trade is. The methodology page explains the record type.

The supplier shares above describe the records the provider holds, not all of Canada's imports. For Canada's own totals by country of origin, use Trade Data Online. It builds reports by HS code from Statistics Canada data (current to July 2026 at the time of writing). If your country already dominates, do not sell the origin. Sell what you add: a grade the buyer lacks, a different crop or production timing, a shorter lead time, or private label packing. See writing a first email to an importer. Rice exporters can also read the rice importers guide.

1. 1

   Search Corporations Canada

   The federal corporation search accepts a corporate name, corporation number or Business Number (BN). Filter by province of registered office and by status: Active, Inactive or Dissolved. Use it for numbered companies too.

2. 2

   Try the provincial registry if the federal search is empty

   The federal database does not include companies created under provincial or territorial law. On the federal search page, follow the link to Canada's Business Registries to search those records. An empty federal result is not a warning sign by itself.

3. 3

   For food, check the CFIA licence search

   On the CFIA food licences page, "Find a food licence" shows whether a business is licensed under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The CFIA lists trade outside Canada among the activities that can need a licence. Its "Who needs a food licence" tool explains which cases apply.

4. 4

   Read the importer's side of customs

   The CBSA Guide to importing commercial goods into Canada sets out the steps a business follows to declare imports properly, calculate duties and taxes, and get the goods released. Read it before your first call so you know what the buyer has to do.

Useful first-call questions: Have you imported this product before? Who prepares your customs declaration, your own staff or a customs broker? Who pays duties and taxes on arrival? A buyer who cannot answer is new to importing. That is not a reason to refuse them, but plan for a slower first shipment and safer payment terms. More checks are in how to verify a foreign buyer.

Reevi finds companies from trade records and the public web and gives a short reason each one fits. This run was for leather handbags, not spices or furniture. The lesson carries over: weigh each fit reason against your minimum order. Company names and domains are removed and replaced by a buyer type; the fit reasons are Reevi's own lines, shortened.

To cross-check, search your product's HS code in the CID and look for each Reevi name in the major importers list. A name on both lists is among the firms that make up 80% of imports. A name missing from the CID may still import; the FAQ below gives the possible reasons.