CBSA cross-border compliance updates

Cross-border freight between Canada and the United States continues to see regulatory refinements from CBSA and CBP. Importers should ensure ACE/ACI filings are complete before wheels roll, since an incomplete or late pre-arrival submission is one of the most common causes of a truck being pulled for secondary inspection at the border.

ACI (Advance Commercial Information) requires carriers and freight forwarders to transmit cargo and conveyance data to CBSA before a shipment arrives at a Canadian port of entry, while ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) handles the equivalent pre-arrival filing on the US side. The two systems don't talk to each other, so a filing that's accurate for CBP but incomplete for CBSA, or vice versa, can still trigger a hold even though "the paperwork was submitted."

CBSA's move toward its CARM (CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management) platform has also shifted more responsibility for duty and tax accounting directly onto the importer of record, rather than leaving it entirely with the customs broker. Importers who haven't registered their business number in the CARM Client Portal, or who haven't set up a Release Prior to Payment (RPP) bond, can face delayed release even when the shipment itself is fully compliant.

The most frequent rejection reasons we see are mismatched HS codes between the commercial invoice and the ACI/ACE filing, missing or expired importer security bonds, and driver or carrier information that doesn't match what was pre-registered with CBSA's Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program. Any one of these is enough to pull a shipment out of the normal lane and into a secondary exam queue, which can add hours or days depending on port volume.

For carriers and drivers, FAST enrollment remains the fastest way through high-volume crossings like Windsor–Detroit and Fort Erie–Buffalo, but only if every driver and vehicle on the load is actually enrolled. A compliant shipment on a non-FAST truck still gets routed to the standard lane.

CargoLogin's Mississauga desk pre-validates documentation against both ACI and ACE requirements before a truck leaves origin, cross-checks HS classifications against the commercial invoice, and coordinates with our inland carrier network to keep FAST-enrolled equipment on FAST-eligible lanes. Contact our team for lane-specific guidance on your next Canada–US shipment.