Field notes from the Canadian border.
Practical playbooks and case studies from our brokers. No thought-leadership fluff — just the stuff we wish every importer knew before they called us in a panic.
Why your ocean-freight rate lock doesn't protect your CAD filing or landed cost
Long-term ocean contracts with major carriers give you rate certainty, but they rarely cover the variables that control clearance speed, duty exposure, or CARM security posting. A locked box rate still leaves CAD classification, RPP bond sizing, and CBSA exam risk on your side of the table.
Read article →CARM Late Accounting Penalties Issued in Error — May 19, 2026 System Glitch
CBSA cancelled all late accounting penalties issued May 19, 2026, after a system error on the Victoria Day stat holiday. More erroneous LAPs may appear through May 26 but will show zero dollars. What this means for your CAD cycle and appeal queue.
Read article →CBSA Adds Regulated Commodity Matching Tables to IID — What It Means for Your CAD Filing Workflow
CBSA's new SWI IID regulated commodities matching criteria tables change how brokers identify PGA-controlled goods at the line-item level. If you file CADs against Health Canada, CFIA, or NRCan program codes, the matching logic just got more prescriptive.
Read article →Duty drawback after a tariff rollback: what Canadian importers should know
When U.S. tariffs get struck down or reduced, importers scramble for refunds. In Canada, the duty drawback mechanism exists, but CBSA's four-year window and documentation standard mean most claims fail on missing paperwork. If you paid duties under a tariff schedule later amended or overturned by CITT, you have options—if you kept the CADs and invoices.
Read article →eManifest Portal Maintenance May 23–24, 2026: What the One-Hour Re-Login Window Actually Means
CBSA scheduled forced re-logons on eManifest Portal for two one-hour windows in late May 2026. Most importers can ignore this. If you file ACI yourself or run weekend customs releases, here's what changes.
Read article →Terminal Switches in India and What They Mean for Your Canadian CAD Filing
When overseas carriers shuffle terminal calls mid-voyage, Canadian importers face cargo-control mismatches, late PARS updates, and delayed release. Here's what to watch when origin-port congestion rewrites your inbound manifest.
Read article →What DavidsTea's U.S. fulfilment pivot tells Canadian exporters about Section 321 dependency
DavidsTea moved U.S. fulfilment in-house after Section 321 de minimis ended. Canadian exporters selling into the U.S. now face formal entry filings, duty exposure, and new CAD-side reporting when goods cross the border as commercial shipments instead of low-value parcels.
Read article →What Montgomery Means for Cargo Insurance and Canadian Import Bond Structures
The Montgomery Transport v. Everest National Insurance decision is forcing U.S. brokers to rethink liability coverage, and Canadian importers using NRI structures need to review their own RPP bond and freight forwarder insurance arrangements before CBSA asks harder questions.
Read article →CBSA May 20 Maintenance Window: What Actually Changes for CAD Filing
CBSA's scheduled three-hour maintenance window on May 20, 2026 carries no planned outages, but the System Outage Contingency Plan still applies. Here's what that means for CAD filing, PARS release, and cargo control before 06:00 ET.
Read article →CTIF membership applications close May 22, 2026 — why former BCCC members can't skip it
CBSA's Customs Trade Industry Forum replaced the old BCCC structure in 2025. Even if you held BCCC credentials, you need to reapply to CTIF by May 22, 2026 to stay on CBSA consultation lists, early-notice circulation, and the working group rotation that shapes everything from CARM release logic to SIMA verification timelines.
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