How to Ship Medicine to Cuba From Montreal (Legally)
If you have family in Cuba, you already know the hard part: pharmacies are empty, prescriptions are hard to fill, and the couriers you'd expect to help — DHL, FedEx, UPS — refuse to touch medicine bound for the island. So how do you actually get it there without breaking any law? Here's the exact step-by-step process, from your kitchen table in Montreal to your relative's door in Havana or Santiago.
Before You Start: Yes, It Is Legal
Shipping personal-use medicine from Canada to Cuba is legal when it's done under the right authorizations and with the right paperwork. That's the whole issue. The rules exist. Most couriers just don't want the compliance work.
EasyCargo Express is the only service in Montreal authorized to legally ship medicines to Cuba, and we've completed more than 200 medicine shipments so far. So the process below isn't theory. It's what we do every week.
You are not smuggling anything. You are using a special customs regime that Cuba created specifically to let families send food, medicine, hygiene products, and medical supplies to relatives.
Step 1: Gather the Medicine (and Keep the Packaging)
The single most common reason a medicine shipment gets flagged at Cuban customs is loose pills in a plastic bag. Don't do that.
Cuban customs requires finished medicines to arrive in original, sealed, labeled packaging. That means the pharmacy box, the intact blister pack, and the pharmacy label if there is one.
- Keep every medicine in its original box.
- Do not break blister packs into smaller pieces.
- If it's a prescription, keep the pharmacy label attached.
- Check expiry dates — anything close to expiring may be refused.
If you're mixing several medicines in one shipment, group them together and keep them separate from any food, clothes, or gifts.
Step 2: Understand the Weight and Value Rules
Under Cuba's special regime for food, medicine, hygiene and medical supplies (Resolution 139/2025), courier shipments of these items are exempt from duties up to 20 kg and $200 USD in declared value. Ordinary personal-use medicine also has a standing exemption of up to 10 kg.
Anything over the exempt limit is taxed at 30% on the excess. Not the end of the world, but worth knowing before you pack.
Two practical tips:
- If you're sending medicine plus other items, ship the medicine in a separate, sealed, clearly labeled parcel. That's what unlocks the exemption.
- Don't inflate declared values "to be safe." Cuban customs values goods in USD, and higher declarations push you into tariff brackets you don't need to enter.
Step 3: Book Your Free Pickup
You don't need to drive anywhere. Free home pickup covers Montreal, Laval, Brossard, Longueuil, Saint-Hubert, and the surrounding North and South Shores. If you're in Quebec City, Ottawa, or Toronto, drop-off options work too.
To book, message us on WhatsApp at +1 (438) 873-3589. A real human (in Spanish, French, or English) will:
- Confirm what you're sending and roughly how much it weighs.
- Give you a fixed price in Canadian dollars — that's the final price.
- Schedule a pickup time that works for your day.
Step 4: Let Us Handle the Paperwork
This is the part that stops most people from ever attempting a shipment on their own. Cuba requires a chain of documents: customs declarations, the D'Viajeros digital pre-declaration on the recipient's side, tariff classifications, and, for medicines specifically, legal authorization paperwork proving the shipment complies with Canadian export rules and Cuban import rules.
We prepare all of it. You just hand over the box.
The reason DHL and FedEx say no isn't that it's illegal. It's that the paperwork is too specialized for a global network to bother with. That specialization is our whole job.
Step 5: Track Every Step to the Door
Once your box is in our hands, you'll get WhatsApp updates at every milestone: pickup confirmed, departure from Canada, arrival in Cuba, customs cleared, out for delivery, and a delivery confirmation photo the moment your family receives it.
Typical delivery time to Cuba is 7 to 14 days, door-to-door. Pricing for standard shipments starts from $7 CAD, and the recipient pays absolutely nothing on arrival — no surprise duties, no "release fees," nothing.
What Not to Include With the Medicine
A few quick things that will slow down or block a shipment:
- Loose pills or repackaged medicine.
- Expired products.
- Controlled substances without a matching prescription.
- Non-vacuum-sealed fresh meat or raw dairy in the same box (prohibited outright).
- Satellite phones, GPS units, or drones — restricted, and they'll flag the whole parcel.
When in doubt, ask before you pack. A two-minute WhatsApp check saves a two-week headache.
A Real Example
Maria, a nurse living in Laval, sends her mother in Camagüey a monthly parcel with blood-pressure medication, ibuprofen, and vitamins. Everything stays in original packaging, sealed in one small box, declared honestly at about $85 USD. Under the special regime, it clears customs duty-free, arrives in about 10 days, and Maria gets a WhatsApp photo of her mother holding the box. Total cost: predictable, in Canadian dollars, paid once at pickup.
That's what "peace of mind" actually looks like when you break it down step by step.
Ready to Send Your First Shipment?
If you've been putting this off because it seemed complicated or risky, that's exactly why we exist. Message us on WhatsApp at +1 (438) 873-3589 or visit easycargoexpress.ca and a real person will walk you through your first shipment in the language you're most comfortable with.
Your family is waiting. Let's get that medicine on its way.