We are in British Columbia, Canada, and have newly discovered Barths. We were eager to find a "vintage" model about 22'-24' to import from the US (where they are more plentiful) until we read Transport Canada's "Importing US vehicles into Canada" and discovered only models built since 1992 are allowed in. Does anyone know of anyway to get around this rule, or are we just going to face it that it could be a long wait until we find one in Canada?

No Amy, you are mistaken. The RIV (Registrar of imported vehicles) site is only for motor vehicles less than 15 years old. Motor vehicles (except buses) are exempt from any of the RIV regulations if older than 15 years from the date you import it.
We brought our 1990 Regency into Ontario from New York just last May 25th.
You should fax the owners title to the US customs office at the crossing point to Canada 3 working days before you come to the border to leave the US with the coach. They will stamp the export form and you then take it along with the title and your bill of sale to the Canadian checkpoint. They will then send you in to fill in the necessary form so you can take the coach to your prov. licencing office and get your new ownership and a plate. Of course they will also nick you for GST while you're there.
Nobody from either American or Canadian Customs even so much as looked at our Regency, they were only interested in the paperwork.
You can email and call both US and Canadian Customs and RIV for clarification and answers to your questions too. They were helpful and friendly. That's what we did.
Good luck.
Don

Thanks Don. The Canadian Registry of Motor Vehicles regs are badly written: "The program regulates passenger cars, trucks, vans, jeeps, chassis cabs, trailers, motorcycles, off-road vehicles and snowmobiles less than 15 years old ..." I guess "less than 15 years old" applies to all types of vehicles, not just snowmobiles!

So there are no federal regulations governing the importation of an older vehicle from the US -- but do you have to get some sort of inspection done in your home province before you can license a US-bought vehicle? As we are interested in "vintage" Barths (mid-late 70's), I am trying to make sure we won't end up with a vehicle that we can't afford to bring up to "code" once we bring it home.

Any insight appreciated.

Hi Amy
I have been in touch with RIV and basically any thing before 1992 are admissable without bringing them up to Canadian standards.( 15 years ) You have to pay the import fees for newer coaches(Barth 1992- 1998)and you have to make sure that the coach has metric speedometer and daytime running lights to bring it up to specs for CDN registry. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much Neil. I really appreciate the clarification.

Does anyone know if the vehicle has to pass a provincial inspection in BC before it can be licensed?

NOPE..just the federal inspection is needed.