Shipping from Canada to Syria

Corridor summary

Canadian exports for Syria, loaded at Atlantic and Pacific ports

This corridor carries commercial and industrial cargo from Canadian suppliers to consignees in Syria: plant and oil and gas equipment, vehicles and machinery, medical supplies, food, technology and raw materials. Most of it travels by sea from Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver or Prince Rupert to Latakia or Tartous; urgent consignments fly to Damascus.

Midtrans Shipping And Services was established in Damascus in 1998 on a family logistics heritage that began in Syria in 1960, and works from offices in Syria and the United Arab Emirates and a partner office in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. For Canadian cargo we work with our approved agent in Toronto at origin and with our own team in Damascus at destination, so both ends of the file are coordinated by one company.

Canadian exporters coming back to Syria need Syrian answers: which port, which documents, how duties are assessed and who can receive the goods. Our Damascus office answers them before the cargo sails.

Route options

Direct or relayed to Latakia or Tartous, or discharged next door and trucked in

Primary: a Canadian port to Latakia or Tartous. Full containers (FCL) move on direct or transhipment services to Latakia, or to Tartous, and smaller shipments travel as LCL in a consolidation. Breakbulk and out-of-gauge pieces are generally routed to Tartous. Where the service tranships, we name the relay port on the booking. A full container is not opened between the load port and the Syrian quay, so this routing has the fewest handlings; see LCL consolidation.

Where a direct Syrian call does not suit the cargo, the container can discharge at Mersin, Beirut, Aqaba or Jebel Ali and continue to Syria by road. Each adds a road leg and a border crossing.

Mersin. Turkey's principal eastern Mediterranean container port; the cargo then crosses at a gate such as Cilvegözü and Bab al-Hawa. There the normal case is a back-to-back handover onto a Syrian trailer, so goods are tallied twice and must travel palletised and marked.

Beirut. The cargo crosses into Syria at a Syria–Lebanon crossing such as Jdeidet Yabous (Masnaa): a port handling in Lebanon and a border crossing instead of a Syrian discharge.

Aqaba. Jordan's only seaport. The cargo runs north under customs transit, with no Jordanian import duty provided the transit file is opened at the port and closed at the exit office, and enters Syria at Nassib (Jaber). The cost is a road leg the length of Jordan and, where the trailer does not run through, a transfer at the border.

Jebel Ali. Cargo can be held at our Jebel Ali warehouse or combined with goods bought in the UAE, then trucked across Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Nassib (Jaber). The cost is a second leg and a second set of filings, a free zone exit bill or a re-export declaration; see customs clearance in the UAE.

Air. Spare parts for a stopped plant, medical supplies, electronics and samples leave Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver for Damascus through a connecting hub named in the quote. Large orders can be split between air and sea, with a separate invoice for each mode. See air freight.

Gateways and ports

Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver and Prince Rupert at origin; Latakia, Tartous and Damascus in Syria

Montreal is the main container port for Atlantic services and is linked by rail to the industry of Quebec and Ontario. Halifax is a deep-water, ice-free Atlantic port, and Ontario containers usually reach Montreal or Halifax by rail. Vancouver and Prince Rupert are the Pacific gateways for Western Canada; equipment from the west loads there or travels east by rail, depending on the sailing that serves the Eastern Mediterranean.

Toronto is the country's main air cargo gateway and the city of our approved agent, who handles collection, packing checks and delivery to the load port.

Latakia is the principal Syrian container gateway and the shorter road to Aleppo and the north. Tartous is the conventional and bulk port and the shorter road to Homs, Damascus and the south. In Damascus our Syrian office clears the cargo, handles air freight and runs road delivery, including to Adra industrial city.

Equipment and cargo fit

Which Canadian cargo goes in a box, on RoRo or as breakbulk

Container cargo moves in 20 ft, 40 ft and 40 ft high cube boxes as FCL, or as LCL. Polymers, metals, paper and chemicals travel in full containers, chemicals with a safety data sheet. Temperature-controlled medical cargo goes in reefer containers or as temperature-managed air freight, with the range stated on the booking. Chilled and frozen food ships with its origin and health documents.

Vehicles travel RoRo where a RoRo sailing serves the route, or in a container; machinery that cannot be driven may need a flat rack or MAFI roll trailer. Our Damascus office first checks the Syrian import rules for the vehicle's age, type and specification, because those rules decide whether it can be imported. See vehicle shipping.

Plant equipment, generators, transformers and packaged units, including oil and gas pumps, valves, compressors, pipe and skids from Western Canada, are planned from the drawings: dimensions, weights, centre of gravity and lifting points, then flat rack, open top, breakbulk or RoRo on MAFI trailers. We move it as freight, not oilfield services. See project cargo and oil and gas logistics.

Telecom, network and power electronics can carry an export classification because of encryption or performance. We do not handle household goods, personal effects, relocation cargo or courier shipments.

Documentation set

Export permits, CERS reporting and the Syrian import file

A typical file has a commercial invoice with model and part numbers, a packing list with weights and dimensions per package, the bill of lading or air waybill, a certificate of origin legalised where the Syrian side requires it, the export permit where one applies, and the export declaration reference where one is filed. Add the safety data sheet for dangerous goods, ownership and export papers for vehicles, health or registration documents for food and medicines, and ISPM 15 marking on wood packaging.

Goods on the Export Control List need an export permit from Global Affairs Canada, and goods of United States origin need an individual Canadian permit for Syria, because General Export Permit No. 12 does not cover Syria. The export is reported to the Canada Border Services Agency through the Canadian Export Reporting System where the rules require it, with the permit number shown.

Our Damascus office prepares the Syrian import file and checks the HS code and documents before the cargo sails. The bill of lading names the consignee exactly as registered, and a licensed commodity needs the importer's prior import approval. Duties, taxes and import permits are confirmed with the Syrian customs authority and the appointed broker before shipment. See the customs clearance hub and customs clearance in Syria.

Conditions that change the plan

Canada's February 2026 amendment, permit checks and carrier terms we review

Canadian sanctions. Canada amended its Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations with effect from 13 February 2026. The amendment repealed the broad prohibitions on exporting and importing goods, on investment and on financial and petroleum-related services, and removed 24 entities and one individual from the sanctions list. Global Affairs Canada announced the change on 18 February 2026.

Some measures remain. Dealings with listed persons are still prohibited, including Bashar al-Assad and people associated with the former regime, and restrictions connected with chemical weapons and certain chemicals stay in place. Canadian export controls still apply, and US-origin goods can also remain subject to US re-export rules. Official sources: Canada Gazette, SOR/2026-23, Global Affairs Canada announcement and General Export Permit No. 12. This summary was last reviewed on 11 September 2026, is for shipment planning and is not legal advice.

Four checks with the exporter. Is the item on the Export Control List? Does it need a permit, including as goods of US origin? Are the buyer, consignee, end user and any intermediary clear of Canada's consolidated sanctions list and, where US goods or parties are involved, the US lists? What is the end use? The exporter remains responsible for its export decisions; we make sure none of the four is skipped, and plan the sailing to the permit, not the ready date.

Carrier and port terms. The Syrian port a service calls, its relay port and carrier acceptance of dangerous or out-of-gauge cargo are checked for each booking, with berth and crane availability for heavy pieces. Empty return terms and yard free time differ between Latakia and Tartous.

What we need to review a request

What to send: pickup point, control status and the Syrian consignee

Send the pickup address in Canada and any preferred port or airport, the commodity and HS code if known, the package count, gross weight, dimensions or CBM, the ready date and the Incoterm if agreed. Say whether any piece is out of gauge, temperature-controlled or dangerous goods, and send drawings for heavy equipment.

For the export check, send the Export Control List status, any permit held, whether any goods are of US origin, and the buyer, consignee and end user. For Syria, send the delivery point and the consignee name exactly as registered. If the cargo is already at sea, send the bill of lading and the invoice and we pick up the clearance from there.