Gotcha! Duties and customs ends up being quite a lot on items like amps.
There will be no duties on this amp as it’s made in the USA.
There will be a charge of HST/GST, etc, but that’s no different than if you bought locally at L&M.
There will be an uptick on foreign exchange. These days we are running about 1.36 (down from 1.39 last month). However, the hidden cost will likely be the extra 2-3% extra for foreign exchange depending on what credit card is used for the purchase. Some AMEX cards don’t charge the extra fees for foreign exchange.
As well, shipping will be high due to the size. This will likely mean ground shipping to make it economical. However, with ground shipping there is usually a brokerage fee associated with clearing the package through customs. $80-$100 wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. One needs to be careful using ground shipping for something like this as some shippers may want you to assign your own broker to clear it through customs. Sticking with UPS, FedEx, etc. should hopefully avoid this.
I have shipped a decent amount of stuff from the Us but I am spoiled as I can use our FedEx account with work. I get faster shipping at discounted rates and they clear all my packages through customs. A great little perk.
Although unlikely, the other thing to consider would be the unlikely event of damaged or non-working products. Getting the amp back to Humbucker and a new one back into Canada and paying taxes, etc., twice is a possibility.
Just wanted to give a heads up of the lay of the land in case you consider a US-based purchase.