How To Buy A Car In Canada As A Tourist (Or A Campervan)

Let me start this post by admitting I was a little scared about buying a car for our Canada and U.S.A. road trip.

We had never owned a car before, not even back home in the Netherlands. After all, why waste money on a car in a tiny country where you can reach everything by public transport.

That meant, however, we had no clue what to pay attention to when buying a car. Let alone buying a car we intended to drive all across North America…

Fun fact: we ended up driving 25.000 kilometers during our in 5 month road trip!

Moreover, we didn’t intend to use our car solely for transportation, we intended to live in it full-time. That’s the main reason we decided to get a small van, which we could easily convert into a small camper van.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning…

How to buy a car or camper van in Canada as a tourist/foreigner

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Do your homework

To get said (camper) van, I did some research. Okay, a lot of research. Fine, I obsessed with getting the perfect car for weeks;-). Yup, that’s me, I love to make checklists and Excel sheets, preferably a combination of those.

Now that I have successfully bought and sold a car in Canada, I want to share everything I learned with you!

I learned a lot about the car buying process and will walk you through it step by step. Good news: it may be scary to buy a car in Canada, but it’s not actually that complicated!

Note: I personally feel it's only worthwhile to buy a car if you plan on making an extended road trip. While a rental car is definitely a lot more expensive than buying one, buying and selling it takes (a lot of) time.

Time you may not have when you are planning a one month holiday. If you are traveling for less than 6 weeks I recommend renting a car or campervan instead.

Yes, that's more expensive but does save you the ‘hassle' of going through the steps described in this post. So altogether, it may be a better deal to opt for car rental in this scenario.

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The 4 steps to buying a car in Canada as a foreigner

• Step 1: Find the perfect car
• Step 2: Transfer ownership and get the car registered
• Step 3: Get the vehicle licensed and insured
• Step 4: Hit the road!

Keep in mind we bought our car in Vancouver and the process of buying a car described in this post only applies to British Columbia.

In BC, steps 2 and 3 can both be done at ICBC, making it even more straightforward to buy a car as a tourist.

However, Canadian provinces have their own rules and regulations so it's very important to check these before you fly to Canada to buy a car!

Step 1: the best websites to find your perfect car or camper van

First things first: finding the perfect car or camper van! As said before, we lived in our van for five months. Therefore, it was important there was enough room to build a comfortable bed.

We also wanted some storage space but didn’t want a big van (as you can read in my New Zealand post, I’m not that good at parking). We ended up buying a pretty red GMC Safari from the year 2000 and named her VANessa.

It may be silly to get attached to a car, but I miss our VANessa so much… She took us to amazing places and gave us a roof over our heads and a cozy place to sleep.

25.000 kilometers in Canada and the United States and not once did she let us down. I don't think I'll ever love a car like I loved our bright red house on wheels. But I digress…

The best websites to look for a car in Vancouver are:

• Kijiji 
• Craigslist (every city has its own Craigslist website, I mainly checked Craigslist Vancouver)
• UsedVancouver (similar to Craigslist)
• Facebook groups (I joined Canada Backpacker Cars and Vancouver Buy and Sell, but there are many more groups like these).

Some offline methods to find a used car are hostel notice boards and local papers.

Which car fits your travel plans?

Here are some questions to ask yourself and to keep in mind when buying a van in Canada:

• Do you plan to do a lot of off-road driving during your Canada RV trip?
• Where do you plan to travel to?
• Which season(s) are you traveling in?
• Will you be sleeping in the car?
• How much space do you need?

For example, you wouldn't want to buy a car like the one we bought if you plan to drive to the Northern Territories or the Yukon.

Also, Canadian winters are cold and usually involve lots of snow. If you intend to drive during these months, your best option is getting a strong 4×4 truck with proper tires and snow chains;-).

View several cars and buy the one you like the most

Once you have decided what type of car you want to buy and have found several options on the sites mentioned above I recommend viewing several cars.

As I mentioned, we had never owned a car before and didn’t know at all what to inspect during a car viewing and test drive.

Luckily, Google knows everything and we found some helpful checklists so as not to look like complete idiots during our car viewing appointments. You can find useful lists here and here.

Of course, it's always a bit of a gamble to buy a used vehicle…

That being said, if you are looking for a car in Vancouver feel free to send me an email. I have the contact information of two trustworthy Canadian people that I'm happy to share (the person we bought our car from and a great guy who helped us get the van ready for sale after our Canada road trip).

It's also a good idea to have the car you want to buy checked by an independent mechanic during a pre-purchase inspection, especially if you're buying a car from a private seller.

This usually costs between $100-$200 but it can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, as you really don't want to buy a car that breaks down in the middle of your road trip.

Step 2: Transfer ownership and get the car registered

In British Columbia, you can get the vehicle registered, licensed, and insured at the same time at ICBC.

On their website, you can find the office nearest to you. The best thing to do is to go to ICBC with the seller of the car.

The seller should provide you with:

• The original vehicle registration, with the owner's signature on it.
• A transfer/tax Form (APV9T), which the seller should have already filled out partially (there is also a part you'll have to fill out).

With these forms, you can acquire ownership of the car. Once you have transferred ownership you have to register the vehicle. You need a Canadian address to register the car which can be a bit tricky.

We used our Airbnb address in Vancouver for registration. I was a little apprehensive about this but no documents are ever sent to the address and you will need to provide a valid Canadian address to ICBC.

You'll also need a Canadian mobile number to register with ICBC, Telus is a good provider though unfortunately, their plans are pretty expensive.

Note that the BC sales tax on car sales is currently 12% (of the purchase price of the vehicle) so take this into account when budgeting for your Canada campervan.

When you're going to ICBC, also bring a valid driver's license. A foreign license should be fine, we were never asked for an International Driving Permit during our trip. However, we did get an IDP in the Netherlands just in case…

Step 3: Get the vehicle licensed and insured

The next step is to get your car licensed and insured, you can also do this at ICBC (though there are many other insurance companies as well). I didn't know this before, but in Canada, the license plates belong to the seller.

That means you'll have to buy new license plates if this is the first time you are buying a car in Canada. For us it was, so we got new plates.

Tip: when we sold the car we kept one BC license plate as a unique souvenir!

The final step is to get your car insured, car insurance is mandatory in Canada, and having good auto insurance will give you peace of mind.

Important things to consider are the coverage of the third-party liability insurance and whether or not to add additional insurance for collision and comprehensive.

Third-party liability insurance

You can read more information about third-party liability insurance here, basically, it means the amount of money the insurance company will pay if you cause an accident.

The standard coverage is 200.000 Canadian dollars, we choose to upgrade our third-party liability insurance policy to 1.000.000 CAD.

Collision coverage

Collision coverage means the insurance company will pay for any damage to your vehicle, even if you caused the accident yourself.

We choose a 500 CAD deductible, meaning we would have to pay the first 500 CAD in case of any damage, and the insurance company would cover everything over 500 CAD.

Comprehensive coverage

Comprehensive coverage means the insurance company will pay for things like a chipped windshield, vandalism, or hitting an animal. Again, we choose a 500 CAD deductible.

Car insurance costs in BC, Canada

In total, we paid 1361 CAD to ICBC. This included the sales tax (for buying the vehicle), registration fees, costs for the license plates, and 6 months of insurance.

These additional fees add up, so be sure to budget for this! When we sold the van we got a one-month refund for the insurance (we only had our car for 5 months).

An important thing to know: if you owned a car in your home country, bring a claim history letter from your car insurance company.

If you are lucky you can get a significant discount on your insurance in Canada!

Step 4: Hit the road!

Now that you've got your own vehicle it's time to hit the road! In my opinion, Canada is one of the best places in the world to make a road trip.

The scenery is phenomenal, the roads are in excellent condition, there are plenty of beautiful (free) campsites (check out the free iOverlander app), and traveling, in general, is very easy.

Having your own car is the best way to explore this huge country and with this guide, you now got all the information to make that happen!

Plan your Canada trip like a pro with these tools:
✈️ Find the best flight deals with Kiwi.com.
? Rent a campervan for your Canada road trip (or a car via Rentalcars.com).
? Arrange your Canada working holiday with Global Work & Travel.
? Plan your journey with the Canada Lonely Planet.
?️ Find the best hotel deals on Booking.com.
? Join the best tours in Canada via Get Your Guide or Viator.
?️ Travel safely and get reliable travel insurance from Safety Wing.

How to buy a camper van in Canada: in conclusion

I hope this post has given you an idea of the steps involved when you plan on buying a car in Canada as a non-resident. If you have any questions, leave a comment below or send me a message!

Read my other Canada post for more Canada travel inspiration:

• 15 great Vancouver day trips
• Beautiful lakes in Canada
• Charming small towns in Canada
• Drive the Sea to Sky highway
• How to travel Canada on a budget
• Calgary sightseeing itinerary
• Drumheller sightseeing itinerary
• Nanaimo sightseeing itinerary
• Nelson sightseeing itinerary
• Vancouver Island sightseeing itinerary
• Victoria sightseeing itinerary
• Winnipeg sightseeing itinerary

This post was updated in February 2023.