Bringing camping food (dehydrated) into Canada (BC) from Europe?

It may mention only the USA but they are very strict on any meat and poultry items from anywhere. On the customs forum that you will fill out it specifically asks, "Meat, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, seeds" it then goes on to mention other items that don't pertain to your question. Be sure and answer this question honestly, as if you are sent to secondary and they find any of the above, you will face a heavy fine. The "I didn't know" scenario does not work.

I travel with processed packaged granola bars between Canada, USA and Mexico, without a problem. I don't consider them food, and neither do the custom's agents. But they don't contain meat. My guess is you won't have a problem, since they're processed and packaged.

Rules around meat can be complicated. There's some degree of harmonization between Canada and the US that doesn't exist between Canada and other countries, and so it doesn't surprise me that "meat and poultry products" is on the "from US" list but not the "from other than US" list.

I agree with mclarjh, I suspect you'll be ok. But best to check. I know CBSA encourages people to check first before bringing things back to Canada if they're not sure. I assume they'll advise visitors as well.

Canada Border Services Agency

Email: contact@cbsa.gc.ca

Telephone:
1-800-461-9999 (toll-free, calls within Canada)
1-204-983-3500
1-506-636-5064 (Long distance charges apply, calls outside Canada)
TTY:1-866-335-3237 (within Canada)

Mail:
Canada Border Services Agency
Ottawa ON
Canada K1A 0L8

Website: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

Thank you guys!! I will contact the agency via email and see if I can get a feedback/confirmation from them.
Cheers!

As an alternative, consider buying your camping food in Canada once you arrive. MEC is a popular outdoor store with lots of locations and a great website, so you can check and see if they have something suitable for you.

Jerky, which we think was invented here by First Nations on the plains, is available anywhere. Canadian Tire Stores, a national chain, carries outdoor supplies although stock varies according to the community; I saw freeze-dried lasagna (bleh) on their website. Health food stores might help too.

Yeah, good idea! I am planning to visit MEC in Vancouver in order to buy a cartridge for my camping gas stove, so I will look for some camping food as well. Thanks.

I think buying your food at MEC is a great idea - they have a variety of options for dehydrated food, plus a range of granola bars, energy bars, chocolate, drink mixes and even basics like freeze dried chicken. Check out their website to get an idea. In Vancouver, there's also a plethora of heath food stores that would have food & bulk items, plus Bulk Barn (for bulk items like nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, trail mix, pancake mix) and most grocery stores have bulk item aisles.

In general, the rules for bringing foods in from the US to Canada are quite different from the rules applied to any other country. Those rules allow many meats & produce, so long as the meat/produce is grown/raised in the US.

For food items from any other country, the rules is basically no meat, no fruits, no veggies. Doesn't matter whether it's fresh, frozen, dried or dehydrated. There are a few exceptions, but the rules change frequently depending on specific risks/seasons/threats, so it can be tricky to know exact what's legal and in what quantities.

It's not only fresh stuff that can be an issue - even items like rice or certain nuts, from certain countries, can be forbidden because of the risk of importing plant diseases and/or insects.

Granola bars are certainly food - they just generally aren't something you have to declare as per the food list on the customs form. Though, technically, if they contain any seeds, you should declare.

Also important to realize that processed and/or packages is definitely not synonomous with safe. Plenty of processed foods can still harbor pathogen bacteria/viruses and even insects. And certainly packaged foods can contain all of the above - think weevils in flour, bugs in rice (I've seen packages of rice teeming with insects in a grocery story.. ugh....)

There's a good general list of what is and isn't allowed (from outside the US) here:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/travellers/what-can-i-bring-into-canada-/eng/1389648337546/1389648516990#a2

Meat is not mentioned, which I assume means it's forbidden.

Note that they key is that you need to able to prove where the items were produced/grown/raised. That can be tricky in pre-packaged items where the meat may be from one country, the veg from another. So if you bring any food items, it's best to bring items that you can clearly prove country of origin. From the EU to US or CAN, I've been OK with items like chocolate, cookies, hard cheese. The rest I wouldn't bother bringing - frankly, I suspect food will be cheaper here anyway, given the exchange rate.