There is a lot of "information" floating about regarding the requirements for bringing plants into Canada, and they are pretty strict. And for those of us who like bananas - or any other tropical plant - it is just about impossible to find what we are looking for here in Canada so we look longingly to our neighbors to the south and try to think of ways to get what we want.
Well, I just found out some interesting information about bringing bananas into Canada. I discovered that some nurseries in the US suggest having plants shipped to a US address and then bringing them across via car, as per the Canadian Food Inspections website:
[i]2.2 Import Requirements. The import of houseplants under these
specified conditions must be for personal and non-commercial use only.
For a shipment to be considered non-commercial, the total number of
plants must not exceed 50 houseplants. The houseplants must accompany
the importer at time of entry into Canada, in baggage or as part of
household effects. This directive does not include mail and courier
importations of the regulated commodities intended for personal use and
these importations must meet the standard plant import requirements.
Because the soil might be a source of quarantine pests, the houseplants
must not be planted outside at any time even if they might not survive
Canadian winters. Note: Houseplants of some plant species must comply
with the CITES requirements (See section 2.6)
2.3.1 Houseplants for personal and non-commercial use from continental
US.
A Permit to Import or a Phytosanitary Certificate is not required,
except if the houseplants are from SOD regulated areas (refer to policy
directive D-01-01 for details on regulatory requirements)..."
[i]
I forwarded this information to the CFIA in Ottawa and posed the question: is this an acceptable option?
The response I received is the following:
Yes, that would be an acceptable option. Please see Section 3.1 of
D-08-04 for the all the information on importing houseplants. In brief, the
important thing is to have no more than 50 plants, and for the plants to
accompany you at the time you are crossing the border. They would need
to be free of pests and would be subject to inspection, but you would
not need a Permit to Import or a Phytosanitary Certificate. Banana
plants are not one of the examples of houseplants listed in Appendix 7
of D-08-04, but they are ok.
As D-08-04 says, this exemption does not apply for plants coming from
areas of the U.S. regulated for Phytophthora ramorum (sudden oak death).
Please see Appendix 2 of D-01-01 for the list of regulated areas.
(I have been able to determind that the "SOD" area are counties in California and Oregon.)
The long and the short of this means that bananas can be shipped to a US address and then picked up and driven across the border without any permits or certificates required. You simply have to find a US address.....and for those Canadians living in the Vancouver BC or Lower Mainland area there is just such an address in Point Roberts, WA.
So watch out......I will be perusing US nurseries this winter and come spring, will be having some of the more exotic bananas shipped to Washington state before coming north to joining my collection. After all, isn't that what a greenhouse if for....?
