you should not have a problem getting seeds from the US - If you want to ship live plants into Canada you will need what is called a Phytosanitary certificate the shipper will provide this for a fee 50 bucks and up on average - you may need additional import papers depending on type of plant and the amount of plants being shipped

Tova, seeds are generally not a problem. The only time they might be is if the plant was on the list of a banned seed/plant in Canada, such as some weeds or plants prone to certain diseases I suppose.

In fact, usually seeds are just shipped in a single envelope and arrive direct in your mail box. Sometimes, however, customs ask you to pay duty/GST but most times they don't, especially if it's a low value item. (I think in theory they have a right to collect for every item, but usually a small item they'll let go by without paying). Another great source to buy seeds from (in general) is the UK. I found the shipping from the UK to Canada to be faster than the service from the USA. Not sure why. Though you may want to buy from the USA because of the favorable exchange rate.

Unfortunately, it sounds like a hassle to actually order live plants. If you check the internet, you will see a lot of unique nurseries but most are located in the USA. I've been tempted many times, they have a lot of specialty nurseries. Some won't ship live plants to Canada. Others might, but charge a fee for a phytosanitary certificate which possibly makes it expensive cost-wise.

I think another potential problem is that the plant might arrive dead by the time it clears customs. Even though they might not necessarily charge duty, they reserve the right to inspect each package and sometimes a package will spend a week or more at customs waiting to be searched. All during which time the poor plant is probably drying out.

Glen

Further to importing seeds from the US, sometimes this is the only option versus buying in Canada. I recently searched for Banana seeds and most of the websites found were USA firms. I found one Canadian website carrying banana seeds, and it really had a pretty good selection, but not the type of banana I was after.

As for live plants, it's frustrating. That one Cdn website carried one live cavendish banana, but no others. In the states I found a neat nursery in Florida with many different types of bananas but of course even if they did ship to Canada it's a hassle with live plants for the reasons mentioned previously and I'm not willing to pay a fortune for a simple plant.

Anyways, the internet has certainly helped the seed buyer, you can now buy seeds from all over the world in an instant.

Glen