Wing Delivery
I am also building in Ottawa, Canada, and recently received my finish kit.(delivered to my door)
A few things to consider:
1. Look at Van's website for the size/weight of subkits - wing/fuselage and finish kits are big;
2. Van's get a good price on shipping charges (probably much better than you can) - and are cooperative - Van's checked with a few companies for me to get the best price, and will give you a price to your door/to a depot in Ottawa/to a depot in the U.S. - I had my fuselage and wing kits delivered to Watertown - there was a significant price difference among companies, and to different destinations - neither wing, nor fuselage , nor finish kit was Fedex or UPS;
3. I recall a couple of hundred dollars (at least) difference between delivery to Watertown, or across the border to Ottawa. Either way, you have to pay GST and PST, but no duty. For the finish kit, I had it delivered to Ottawa, but avoided brokerage charges by doing that part myself - the shipper delivers to its bonded warehouse, lets you know it is there, and you do the legwork to get a customs clearance, which lets the shipper release it/deliver it to you. Whether delivery to a U.S. destination is worth the hassle/gas/time is your call - be aware that some depots only operate Monday-Friday. I had the wing and fuselage kits delivered to Watertown, and brought them across myself - but, you need a friend, a trailer, and a few hours of your time on a Monday to Friday. I had the finish kit delivered to my door;
4. Ask Van's to mark the shipping documents/invoice "aircraft parts" - they are exempt from duty (but not GST/PST);
5. The shipper will deliver in a truck, probably with a high deck - and (in my (one) experience) the driver will not or will not be permitted by company policy to help unload - for a wing kit, two people can lift it off a truck. For a fuselage/finish kit, 3 would be good;
6. When you order your finish kit (won't be long, I'm sure!) order the firewall forward kit at the same time - there seemed to lots of extra room in the finish kit box. I didn't, and now am looking at another shipment and costs.
Bill Brooks
RV-6A, very slow build, fuselage in progress