Importing into Canada. What a business needs before the goods arrive.

In one sentence. To import goods into Canada as a business you need a CRA business number with an import-export (RM) account, your own account in CBSA's CARM Client Portal, the goods classified under a tariff item and valued, an entry filed by you or by a licensed customs broker you authorize, and the duty and GST paid to CBSA. Without financial security posted in CARM, you pay at release, before the goods can leave customs.

Estimate the duty and surtax on one product, free: the tariff item, the rate for where it was made, and what GST adds.

This page is for commercial goods, meaning goods brought in to sell or to use in a business. For a parcel bought for yourself, the rules and the refund route are different; see Form B2G.

Get a business number and an import account from CRA

Every importer needs a 9-digit business number (BN9) from the Canada Revenue Agency and a 6-character import program account such as RM0001. Together they make the 15-character BN15 (for example 123456789RM0001) that identifies you on entries and payments. A Canadian sole proprietorship or partnership that needs no other CRA account can get the business number inside the CARM Client Portal; otherwise CRA points to its Business Registration Online. A business outside Canada starts with CRA:

"Non-resident importers must contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to receive their business number before registering in CARM."

Register the business in CARM yourself

CARM (the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management system) has been CBSA's system of record since 21 October 2024. Customs Notice 26-13, of 12 June 2026:

"Businesses who import commercial goods into Canada must first register in the CCP and obtain a business number (BN). Importers who want to benefit from electronic release prior to the payment of duties and taxes must also enroll in the Release Prior to Payment (RPP) program and obtain financial security."

The registration is yours to do. CBSA's CARM page says "Importers need to register their business in the CARM portal themselves" and "Customs brokers cannot register their client's business on their behalf." Once the business is in, you can delegate authority to a customs broker or a trade consultant, who then works on the account with the role you assign.

Without your own security, you pay before the goods are released

Release Prior to Payment (RPP) lets goods leave customs before duty and GST are paid. CBSA calls it "the most common release method used by commercial importers." It needs financial security in your own name; a broker's security no longer counts, and the transition ended in May 2025:

"As of May 20, 2025, all importers who require release prior to payment of duties must have posted their own financial security in the CCP. Importers that have not done so are not eligible for release prior to payment."

And for an importer without RPP, CBSA's Customs Notice 25-23 leaves one road:

"The only release option available to importers who are not eligible for RPP is to submit a Customs Accounting Declaration (CAD) C-type and pay applicable duties and taxes at time of release."

The amount is set in Memorandum D17-5-2. CARM calculates a requirement from your highest monthly balance owed to CBSA over the past 12 months, GST included; a new importer with no history gives its own estimate.

The two forms can be mixed, and CBSA reviews the requirement every year.

The tariff item and the value set the duty

Every good has a 10-digit classification number in the Customs Tariff, such as CBSA's example 9507.90.10.00. The first six digits are the international Harmonized System code; the first eight make the Canadian tariff item that carries the duty rate. The CARM Client Portal has a free classification tool ("Help me classify"), and an advance ruling is legally binding between CBSA and the business that asked for it.

The value for duty is, in most cases, the price paid to the seller, with some adjustments, backed by an invoice with a full description, the price and the terms of sale. It is declared in Canadian dollars at the exchange rate of the day the goods began their direct journey to Canada. GST is charged on the value plus the duty. CBSA's own example:

Some goods also owe excise tax, a surtax or anti-dumping duty. The free check gives the line, the rate and the surtax for one product before you order.

Where the goods were made can lower the duty or add a surtax

The country of origin is where the goods were made, produced or grown, which may differ from where they ship from. A free trade agreement, such as CUSMA for goods of the United States and Mexico or CPTPP for the countries that have ratified it, can cut the duty when the goods meet its rules of origin and shipping rules. Under both, the importer, the exporter or the producer can certify origin, in no set format. CBSA on timing:

"The importer must have valid proof of origin in their possession at the time of accounting to be provided to the CBSA upon request."

Origin also decides the 2026 surtax. Since 8 September 2026, listed goods that originate in the United States pay 15%, 25% or 50% of the value for duty, and CBSA says the surtax applies "even when exported from a country other than the U.S. into Canada." Goods made elsewhere and bought from a US seller do not owe it. The detail is in does the US surtax apply to your goods, and if it was charged on goods that were not US-made, in charged US surtax on goods not made in the US.

Some goods need another department's permit before release

Some goods need a permit, a certificate or an inspection from another department before release, and CBSA's guide says:

"The CBSA applies these requirements on their behalf."

CBSA's list of these departments names, among others, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for food, plants and animals; Health Canada for consumer goods, drugs, medical devices and natural health products; Transport Canada for vehicles and tires; and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for radio and telecommunications equipment. For alcohol and tobacco, CBSA also sends you to your province's or territory's authority. For vehicles, see importing a car from Japan and are kei trucks legal in Canada.

You can file the entry yourself, or a licensed broker files it for you

You do not need a customs broker. CBSA's guide says: "You can prepare and submit your own release and accounting documents directly to the CBSA." Without RPP, that means a Type C declaration: completed in the CARM Client Portal, printed twice, taken to a CBSA office with the carrier's cargo control document and the invoice, and paid there.

If someone else files for a fee, it has to be a licensed broker:

"only a licensed customs broker may account for goods and pay duties under Section 32 of the Customs Act as an agent of an importer or owner."

CBSA publishes the list of licensed customs brokers; since 1 April 2024 one licence covers every customs office in Canada. The broker acts under an agency agreement, a written authority signed in ink that names you, the broker and what the broker may do for you, and you then give the broker access in CARM. CBSA does not regulate brokerage fees. The liability stays with you: if a broker gives CBSA wrong information, the importer remains fully liable for the duties, taxes, penalties and interest.

A parcel by courier is a special case. Shipments with a value for duty of up to $3,300 can come in under CBSA's Courier Low Value Shipment Program, and still:

"Courier companies cannot complete the commercial accounting declaration (CAD) for commercial importers. The CAD must be submitted by the commercial importer or by a customs broker acting on the importer’s behalf."

CBSA bills once a month, on a fixed date

With RPP, each release is followed by the final declaration (a Type AB CAD), which CARM must accept within 5 business days of release; a late one draws an automatic penalty. The duties and taxes then land on a monthly Statement of Account, available in the CARM Client Portal on the 25th and covering goods released from the 18th of one month to the 17th of the next. CBSA's payments page:

"The payment due date is 10 weekdays, holidays included, after the 17th of the month."

For the rest of 2026 the dates are 30 October, 1 December and 31 December. Since 31 January 2026, an overdue balance draws late payment penalties and interest. Payment is in Canadian dollars, by online banking with the BN15 as the account number or in the portal; CBSA takes no wire transfers.

Keep every record for six years

The Imported Goods Records Regulations require records of the goods' origin, marking, purchase, importation, cost, value, payment and sale in Canada to be kept "for the period of six years following the importation of the commercial goods." A non-resident importer needs CBSA's authorization to keep them outside Canada. Most duty refunds can be claimed within four years of accounting (Customs Act, section 74); who can file a duty refund explains how.