Hi zhak....


1. All Canon USA products include a Canada/USA warranty. It's all written in fine printin the warranty card under- Limited Warranty.


Also on the Warranty card, there should be a page that contains information about the Canon Sales and Service Centres, thus for Canada, we have both a Canon USA contact information and a Canon Canada contact information. Would you mind informing us who the vendor is/was and also is this a 'Grey Market' lens? If it is, then the lens is to be shipped back to the vendor for repair which I'm sure they will ship to a third party repair facility.


2. I guess it depends on how the lenses are handled. Similar to changing oil in a car. If you are hard on the car, then the oil change is required sooner than later. Every few years I guess is a good number but this is open for further comments/suggestions. As for pricing, you would have to call Canon and explain the issue, they'll inform you of an upfront fee possibly 60 bucks which I think they will apply to the final bill if more work is required. I'm sure other members in these forums can confirmor comment on this.


My 24-105 lens purchased was used, by aCanadian user who purchased the 5D Mark II and kit lens (24-105)via USA, but had no use for the lens, saved me about 325 in taxes!


Hope this helps...