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.
CARM Portal Maintenance July 15: What the 3-Hour Blackout Means for Filings
The CARM Client Portal goes offline for three hours on July 15, 2026 from 3am to 6am ET. CBSA's contingency plan covers the gap, but if you file at odd hours or run overnight customs operations, the timing matters.
Read article →CFIA's Brazil Porcine Blood Meal Certificate: What It Tells Importers About Species Segregation
CFIA's new export certificate for porcine blood meal to Brazil reveals how the agency enforces species segregation and BSE controls on imported animal feed ingredients. If you're bringing in blood meal, poultry meal, or other rendered proteins, here's what the documentation and testing requirements look like at the Canadian border.
Read article →Steady Ocean Rates Don't Mean Steady Landed Costs — What Canadian Importers Miss
Stable container spot rates mask the duty, currency, and CARM compliance variables that determine your real landed cost per unit. Here's what we watch beyond the freight line.
Read article →Strait of Hormuz Disruptions and Canadian Import Clearance: What Brokers Are Watching
Middle East shipping reroutes are creating CBSA clearance complications Canadian importers need to plan for now—freight cost swings affect duty valuation, origin proofs strain under new transit patterns, and CARM filing windows tighten when carrier schedules collapse.
Read article →UK Joins CPTPP September 1 — What Changes for Canadian Importers
Bill C-13 brings the UK into the CPTPP tariff framework starting September 1, 2026. For most Canadian importers, CUSMA still beats CPTPP rates on UK goods, but the new TRQ allocations open narrow opportunities in dairy, poultry, and a handful of ag categories. Here's what actually matters at the CAD filing stage.
Read article →US aircraft trade talks shift Canadian aerospace import strategy
Trump administration postpones tariffs in favor of negotiation on commercial aircraft imports. Canadian brokers filing CADs for aerospace parts now face six months of policy uncertainty while CUSMA claims and HS classification remain under scrutiny.
Read article →When CBSA Cancels a Customs Notice, Check Your Filing Positions
CBSA cancelled a batch of customs notices in July 2026. For working brokers and in-house trade teams, that's not just housekeeping — it's a signal to audit your standing filing instructions, HS positions, and origin claims before the next verification.
Read article →When OEMs Move Lines: What Toyota's Texas Shift Means for Canadian Auto Parts Clearance
Toyota's decision to relocate Tacoma pickup production from Mexico to San Antonio triggers CUSMA origin recalculations for Canadian automotive importers and parts suppliers. Production location changes affect Regional Value Content calculations, Commercial Accounting Declaration filings, and CBSA verification exposure—particularly when the shift drops RVC below the 75% threshold required for preferential duty treatment under CUSMA automotive rules.
Read article →When One Mistake Becomes a Pattern: How CBSA Decides to Investigate
A recent immigration misrepresentation conviction shows how CBSA builds pattern cases over years. The same investigative approach applies to customs compliance — one mistake gets corrected, but the same mistake on every entry for two years triggers a formal investigation and penalty tier escalation.
Read article →Canada Pushed Back on Trump's Forced Labour Tariffs, But Your Compliance Work Isn't Done
Canada told the Trump administration that Bill S-211 and other forced labour measures should keep us off the tariff list. For Canadian importers, the compliance work is more involved than the diplomatic line suggests.
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