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.
CFIA Export Certificate for Ornamental Fish Feed to Costa Rica: What Canadian Exporters Need to Know
CFIA negotiated a new HA3282 certificate for ornamental fish feed exports to Costa Rica. Canadian exporters must register with SENASA, submit product specs for Costa Rican approval, and coordinate through their local CFIA office before shipment.
Read article →D10-2-3 Gets Pulled — What It Means for Sugar Imports and the D-Memo Cleanup Wave
CBSA is repealing Memorandum D10-2-3 on raw sugar classification and testing. The policy is obsolete, low-use, and no longer represents a live issue. This is part of a five-year rolling review cycle, and it signals the broader housekeeping underway across the entire D-memo library.
Read article →EDI and eManifest Portal Delays: What Brokers Are Actually Filing Right Now
CBSA's multi-week EDI and eManifest message backlog continues into May 2026, with the Systems Outage Contingency Plan still active. Paper entries remain accepted, inbound message delays persist, and downstream clearance timing is unpredictable. Here's what we're doing on the filing side and what importers need to track.
Read article →eManifest Portal Maintenance and the Contingency Math You Already Ignore
CBSA scheduled an eManifest portal window in early May. Most brokers will shrug and file ACI by EDI. But if your operation still relies on portal ACE lookups or manual portal filing, that hour matters more than you think.
Read article →IID Processing Delays: What Actually Stops Moving and What Doesn't
CBSA's Integrated Import Declaration delay notice affects CFIA-regulated food, plant, and animal products. The broker side still moves. The NISC side doesn't. Here's where the jam sits and what to file now.
Read article →Ocean rate increases through 2026: what Canadian importers need to price now
U.S. brokers are warning shippers that double-digit rate increases will hold through 2026. For Canadian importers, that means repricing landed cost, revisiting RPP bond sizing, and auditing CUSMA certificates before the next duty cycle starts.
Read article →Trans-Pacific Rate Spikes and Your Canadian CAD Filing Timeline
Shanghai-LA spot rates climbed 34% in recent weeks while carriers blank sailings to protect margins. For Canadian importers routing ocean freight via West Coast ports, that congestion and schedule volatility directly affect PARS pre-clearance windows, RPP bond sufficiency, and CAD filing deadlines under CARM.
Read article →Canada-Mercosur FTA timeline: what Brazilian soy, Argentine wine, and Paraguayan textiles mean for your tariff and origin programs
Brazil's lead negotiator says the Canada-Mercosur FTA could close by year-end. If you're importing beef, soybeans, textiles, or steel from South America today, here's what changes when the agreement drops and what doesn't.
Read article →CBSA Convicts Regina Resident for Immigration Document Fraud — What Import Compliance Teams Should Know
A Saskatchewan resident was fined $75,000 and sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to submitting 31 falsified immigration applications. For importers, the same enforcement tools CBSA used here — document scrutiny, digital forensics, and inter-agency coordination — are in daily play on the commercial side.
Read article →CBSA duty refunds under CARM: what the CBP portal tells us about CAD corrections
CBP's tariff refund portal moved faster than expected. CBSA's CARM correction workflow is heading in the opposite direction. Here's what Canadian importers need to know about duty adjustments, CAD amendments, and the timeline you should actually plan for in 2025.
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