Can I send fresh tea to my friend in Canada?

Being an American, I can't give you a proper answer, but I know until a recent crackdown spurred by the scandals of 2008 quite a few Internet tea retailers sent their products to the US by courier (such as UPS). It's probably illegal without an expensive/troublesome permit but there might be an exception for personal gifts such as this and the risk of being caught (by American customs) is not high.