Non-resident importers. A US company that imports into Canada can claim the duty back.

In one sentence. A US company that imports into Canada as a non-resident importer is the importer of record: the entries carry its business number, it paid the duties, and section 74 of the Customs Act lets it apply for a refund within four years, as an adjustment to the Commercial Accounting Declaration in CARM, filed by the importer or by a customs broker it authorizes.

This page is for a business in the United States, or anywhere outside Canada, that sells into Canada and takes care of the import itself: the goods arrive delivered duty paid, the Canadian customer never sees a customs bill, and the entries are in the seller's name. CBSA calls that business a non-resident importer, and the rules below are the same ones that apply to a Canadian importer. The difference is who is allowed to ask for the money.

Who the importer is when a US seller ships delivered duty paid

Customs Notice 25-01 draws the line. The buyer who orders for personal use and has a courier bring the parcel in is a casual importer. The seller who imports the goods as owner is not:

"If the foreign seller or eCommerce vendor imports the goods as owner, it is a commercial importation by an NRI."

And once the non-resident importer clears goods under its own business number, every one of those shipments is commercial, whoever the goods are going to:

"The importation of goods by that NRI is deemed commercial, regardless if the shipment is destined to a casual importer."

Commercial means the full set of commercial obligations: the goods must meet the other government department requirements that apply to them, and the importer keeps the records required by section 40 of the Customs Act. A non-resident importer outside North America has to designate a licensed customs broker, accountant or other authorized agent to keep those books and records in Canada; a US importer is inside North America, so that designation rule does not reach it, but the record-keeping obligation does.

The refund belongs to the person who paid the duties

Section 74 of the Customs Act does not say "Canadian importer". It says:

"A person who paid duties on any imported goods may, in accordance with subsection (3), apply for a refund of all or part of those duties."

The grounds that matter for a recheck are three of the list that follows: paragraph (d), the duties were calculated on a clerical or typographical error; paragraph (e), the goods were declared under the wrong origin, tariff classification or value for duty and too much was paid as a result, where CBSA has not already decided the point under sections 59 to 61; and paragraph (g), duties overpaid or paid in error for a prescribed reason. The time limit is in subsection 74(3): the application must be made within "four years after the goods were accounted for under subsection 32(1), (3) or (5)". Four years, entry by entry.

For a non-resident importer the person who paid is the non-resident importer. The broker that accounted for the goods and paid at the border did so as its agent: Customs Notice 25-01 puts it as "the importer or owner can authorize a licensed customs broker to account for the goods and pay applicable duties and taxes" under section 9 of the Act. So the claim is in the US company's name and the money comes back to its account, not to the Canadian customer who bought the goods.

What a non-resident importer needs in CARM

Since 21 October 2024 the refund is an adjustment to the Commercial Accounting Declaration, and the declaration lives in CARM, which CBSA defines as "the official system of record for the collection of duties and taxes for commercial goods imported into Canada". Two things on the CBSA registration page apply to a business outside Canada:

"Non-resident businesses must request their BN9 from the CRA before attempting to register their business in the portal."

"Importers need to register their business in the CARM portal themselves."

So a US company that has been importing through a broker already has the business number; the adjustment goes in against its own CARM account, through the portal, by EDI or by API. A company that let the broker clear goods under the broker's own number, which CBSA allowed for casual goods in the courier low value shipment stream, has no entries in its name to adjust.

Who files the refund

Memorandum D17-2-1 names who may submit an adjustment:

"An adjustment may be submitted by an importer or an authorized representative, such as a customs broker or third party consultant, to which the importer has granted delegated authority to act on their behalf."

The importer itself, a customs broker, or a consultant with delegated authority. The full mechanics, including pre-CARM entries and mass adjustments, are on who can recheck the entries and file the refund; every adjustment carries a reason code that names the section it relies on.

What does not come back the same way

The duty does. The GST paid on the same line does not come back with it: CBSA approves the section 74 refund and the GST is claimed from the Canada Revenue Agency instead, which for a registrant means an input tax credit (why the GST is a separate claim). Whether a non-resident importer is registered for GST/HST, and what it can recover if it is not, is a tax question this page does not answer; ask the accountant who files the company's Canadian returns. Provincial sales tax collected from Canadian consumers at the point of sale is a separate matter again: Customs Notice 25-01 says it is remitted to the provinces or the CRA directly and does not go on the declaration at all.