How to Buy a Shipping Container in Canada

Buying a shipping container is straightforward once you know which four decisions actually matter: size, grade, site, and delivery. This guide walks through each, in the order you should make them.

1. Start with what goes inside

Most buyers over-buy on length and under-buy on height. Measure your largest item and your total volume before you look at listings. A 20 ft container gives about 1,170 cubic feet and holds the contents of a small house or a full workshop. A 40 ft gives about 2,390. If you are storing anything tall — a vehicle on a lift, racking, a quad — look at high cube units before standard height.

A useful rule: pick the size that is comfortably large for what you have now. Containers are cheap per cubic foot and expensive to replace, and a second delivery costs more than the extra length did.

2. Choose the right grade

Grade drives price more than anything else. There are four, and they mean specific things:

Grade	What it is	Best for
One-trip (new)	One loaded voyage from the factory. Near-new paint, square doors, clean floor.	Modifications, customer-facing sites, anything that must look good
Cargo-worthy	Certified fit for international shipping, valid CSC plate.	Export, shipping, buyers who want certification
Wind & watertight	Structurally sound and sealed, no longer shipping-certified. Cosmetic wear.	Static storage — the best value on the lot
As-is	Known faults, individually described.	Buyers who will repair, or who need a non-weathertight shell

For a container that will sit on a yard holding tools and equipment, wind and watertight is almost always the right answer — it does the same job as one-trip for roughly half the price. Read our full grade guide for what to inspect in each.

3. Check the site before you order

This is where deliveries go wrong. A tilt-bed truck slides the container off the back as it pulls forward, so it needs a straight run — roughly 18 m for a 20 ft unit and 30 m for a 40 ft unit, beyond the point where the container will sit. It also needs about 4 m of width, 5 m of overhead clearance, and firm level ground the whole way.

Walk the route the truck will take and look for: low branches and power lines, soft ground or fresh fill, septic fields and buried services, tight gateposts, and slopes. If anything is marginal, photograph it and send it to us — we review site photographs free of charge, and it is far cheaper than a failed delivery fee.

4. Prepare a foundation

A container does not need a slab, but it does need to sit level on something that drains. Railway ties, concrete blocks or poured piers under the four corner castings are the usual approach. Level matters because the doors are hung on the frame: let the box twist and the doors stop closing cleanly, which is the single most common complaint from buyers who skipped this step.

5. Confirm permits

Many Canadian municipalities require a placement or temporary structure permit, and rules vary sharply between urban and rural zoning. Condominium boards, landlords and HOAs often have their own rules. Checking takes one phone call; discovering the problem after delivery does not.

6. Understand the quote

Our prices are the unit, excluding tax and freight. Freight is quoted from your postal code because distance and access drive it. GST, HST, PST or QST is applied at checkout from your delivery province. There are no other charges unless you have asked for crane placement or a modification.

7. Inspect on delivery

Before the driver leaves: walk all four sides, check the roof line for dents that will pond water, open and close both doors, inspect the seals, then step inside and pull the doors to and look for daylight. Note anything wrong on the paperwork before you sign and photograph it. Once a clean receipt is signed, a transit-damage claim becomes very difficult.

Common mistakes

• Buying on price alone. An as-is unit that needs a new door seal and a patched roof is not a bargain.
• Skipping the site check. Failed delivery fees run $350–$900 plus redelivery.
• Setting it on bare soil. It will settle unevenly and the doors will bind.
• Forgetting ventilation. Sealed steel sweats. Vents or desiccant cost very little next to ruined stock.
• Assuming standard height is enough. One extra foot of headroom changes what the box can be used for.

Ready to look?

Browse shipping containers, storage containers and high cubes, or talk to our team and describe the job — we will tell you what fits.