90 days. Not optional after that.

Section 32.2 of the Customs Act does not leave this to judgment. Once an importer has reason to believe that a declaration of origin, tariff classification or value for duty is wrong, the Act gives them ninety days to correct it, not the option to correct it.

"Under section 32.2 of the Act, an importer shall make a correction to a declaration within 90 days after the importer has reason to believe that the declaration is incorrect, and when the adjustment request would result in either an amount payable to the CBSA or would be revenue neutral."

The second half of that sentence is the half that gets dropped when the rule is repeated. What section 32.2 compels is the correction that leaves money with CBSA, or that changes the total by nothing. A correction that would hand money back is a refund claim instead, and nobody is obliged to file one of those.

The obligation sits in subsection 32.2(2) for tariff classification and value for duty, and in a parallel subsection 32.2(1) for a declaration of origin used to claim preferential tariff treatment. Both run on the same ninety-day clock. What starts that clock is not a feeling that something might be off. CBSA's own memorandum lists exactly what counts.

What counts as reason to believe

Memorandum D11-6-6 defines it by source, not by degree of certainty. Specific information that gives an importer reason to believe a declaration is wrong has to come from one of seven places.

Does having an entry checked start the clock

Not by itself, and not for every entry a check touches. What starts the clock is a report finding a specific error, on a specific issue, in a specific entry, not the act of reviewing a file. A check that runs before an entry is filed catches a wrong code before there is a declaration to correct at all, so section 32.2 has nothing to attach to yet. The obligation only reaches a declaration that has already been made and turns out to be wrong.

Memorandum D11-6-6 also narrows when a report from an importer-initiated audit or review counts as reason to believe. It only does when three things are all true: no reason to believe already existed before the report, CBSA had not already opened its own trade compliance verification on the same issue, and the report identifies only corrections owed under section 32.2, not a claim for money back.

How far back does a correction have to reach

Once the ninety-day clock starts on a specific issue, the correction is not limited to the entry that triggered it. Memorandum D11-6-10 requires the importer to correct every incorrect declaration carrying that same issue, going back to the date the specific information existed, up to four years. The Act itself sets the outer boundary.

"The obligation under this section to make a correction in respect of imported goods ends four years after the goods are accounted for under subsection 32(1), (3) or (5)."

CBSA can also re-determine a declaration on its own initiative within a comparable window. Section 59 of the Act gives an officer up to four years from the date of the original determination to re-determine origin, tariff classification or value for duty.

What happens if you do not correct it

Missing the ninety days is a named contravention, C082, with a published penalty ladder.

"Authorized person failed to make the required corrections to a declaration of tariff classification within 90 days after having reason to believe that the declaration was incorrect."

Per issue counts each uncorrected classification error once, no matter how many CADs repeat it. Per occurrence counts errors per CAD, not per line on the CAD. Where the same correction also means duties are owed to CBSA, a separate contravention, C352, applies to that amount. Where the correction would instead produce a refund, no penalty applies to it.

How is this different from a section 74 refund

Section 32.2 and section 74 sit on opposite sides of the same ninety-day period. Section 32.2 is a duty to correct, triggered by reason to believe, backed by C082. Section 74 is a refund claim, and CBSA's own memorandum says plainly that filing one is a choice, not a requirement.

"While corrections to declarations under section 32.2 are obligatory, refunds under section 74 of the Act are voluntary."

The two can point at the same entry and produce opposite outcomes: a correction under section 32.2 can raise the amount owed, while a claim under section 74 lowers it. What comes back and what does not covers the GST side of a section 74 claim. Subsection 32.2(5) keeps the two apart procedurally too, and does not allow a correction filed under section 32.2 to be used to ask for a refund.

What to do if a correction is required

A correction under section 32.2 is filed against the original entry using the reason code that matches why the declaration was wrong, not a generic amendment. The ninety-day period starts on the date the importer has the specific information, not the date they get around to acting on it.