I'm American and waiting on my permanent residency to Canada which was applied for in January and I understand it takes about two years.. How can I go back to my daughters there in Nova Scotia iin August and stay through the school year about 9 months (to babysit while my daughter teaches)?

Question No 2: How can I take a few of my belongings when I go back to visit (like a china cabinet and a pickup load of things) and find out beforehand how much import tax I would need to pay, or is that a no-no to cross the border with a moving van before I'm legal?

Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

Both are a bad idea, you can enter Canada as a visitor at any time before your papers are processed but there is a 6 month maximum stay. If you remain in Canada longer than 6 months you'd be living here illegally and this may affect your current application.

It's also a bad idea to enter the country with a moving van when you are not legal yet. Maybe use an international moving service to send some items to your daughter (if they are items that will remain with her). She will be charged taxes on the items of 5% of their value (this can be based on the actual retail value if you have the receipts or they will determine a value if they don't believe the figure you give) plus a bit more more if they are not made in USA.