A customs bond in Canada is easy to forget once it’s in place. You posted your security when CARM arrived, your shipments kept clearing, and the paperwork went into a file. On October 20, 2026, CBSA ran its annual review of every importer’s security. If your requirement went up, a notice is now sitting in your CARM Client Portal, and you have until January 15, 2027 to post the higher amount.
Many importers never check the portal until something goes wrong at the border. If you miss the deadline, CBSA can suspend or revoke your release prior to payment (RPP), the privilege that lets your goods clear before duties and taxes are paid. This guide shows you how to read your customs bond like an underwriter, so you know what CBSA is asking for and how to respond in time.
This guide is for importers who use a surety bond as their financial security under CARM. It applies to goods arriving by road, rail, marine, or air. Since the notice is already out, the time to act is now, not January. Once you count the holiday slowdown, your real working window ends in mid-December.
What a Customs Bond in Canada Actually Is
A customs bond is a guarantee to CBSA that your duties and taxes will be paid. It lets you:
- Get goods released before duties and taxes are due
- Meet CBSA’s financial security requirement under CARM
- Keep your release prior to payment (RPP) privileges active
How It Differs From Cargo Insurance
Cargo insurance protects your goods if they’re lost or damaged in transit. A customs bond protects CBSA if duties and taxes go unpaid. If the surety pays CBSA on your behalf, you repay the surety.
Surety Bond vs Cash Deposit
You can choose between two forms of security, or combine them:
| Security type | Must cover | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surety bond | 50% of your requirement | $5,000 per RM account | $10 million per RM account (all forms combined) |
| Cash deposit | 100% of your requirement | None | $10 million per RM account (all forms combined) |
A bond covers your requirement at half the amount cash would need, and your money stays in the business. That gap grows as your requirement grows.
For many importers, the bond is set once and then forgotten. That works until CBSA’s annual review changes the number.
What CBSA’s Annual Review Changes
How the Review Cycle Works
CBSA recalculates every importer’s financial security requirement once a year:
- The review runs on October 20 and covers October 20 to October 19 of the previous year.
- CBSA bases your requirement on your highest monthly account receivable balance in that period. That balance includes duties, GST, adjustments, and interest.
- If your requirement went up, CBSA posts a notification in the CARM Client Portal.
- You must have the higher amount in place by January 15.
Example: How One Peak Month Raises Your Bond
Your highest month last cycle was $120,000, so you posted a $60,000 bond. This cycle, one month reached $180,000. Your bond now needs to be $90,000. Covering the same requirement with cash would take $180,000.
Points That Rarely Show Up in the Reminders
- CBSA only sends a notice when your requirement goes up. A quiet portal means no increase.
- The notice goes to the portal, not your email inbox, so someone has to log in and check.
- CARM also alerts you when your open balance reaches 75% and 100% of your posted security. Your coverage has to stay above that balance every month of the year.
What Happens If You Lose RPP
Losing RPP is the real risk. Without it, your goods are held until duties and taxes are paid, which slows shipments and squeezes cash flow at the start of the year. Once your security is back in place, you also have to re-enrol in RPP manually.
The review only looks back at what you’ve already imported. Slowing down next year won’t lower this year’s number.
Red Flags Hidden in Your Import Activity and Paperwork
The biggest risk with a customs bond in Canada is assuming last year’s amount still fits. Your single biggest month sets your requirement, not your yearly total.
Import Activity Red Flags
- One large holiday or seasonal shipment
- New products that carry higher duties or taxes
- Surtaxes or tariff changes on goods you bring in regularly
- CBSA adjustments or interest added to a month’s balance
Any of these can push your requirement up, even if the rest of your year looked the same.
Paperwork Red Flags
- Nobody on your team is responsible for checking the CARM Client Portal.
- Your customs broker thinks you’re watching the portal, and you think they are.
- Your bond is an older paper-format bond, which takes extra steps to amend.
- Your surety broker hears about the increase in late December, when many offices slow down.
Treat mid-December as your working deadline and January 15 as the hard stop.
How Increases, Premiums, and Filing Work
What Underwriters Review
Increasing a customs bond takes more than paperwork. Your surety is guaranteeing a larger amount to CBSA, so it reviews your business first. Underwriters look at:
- Your most recent financial statements
- How your peak month changed, and why
- Your history of paying duties and taxes on time
For established importers with a clean payment record, an increase is routine. A large jump or weaker finances means more questions, and the surety can ask for extra support, such as collateral or an indemnity.
How Your Premium Changes
Your premium is a percentage of the bond amount, so it goes up with the bond. Ask your broker for the new premium up front so it doesn’t arrive as a surprise in January.
How the Increase Gets Filed
Once the surety approves the increase, it has to reach CBSA. There are two ways it gets filed:
- Electronic bonds: your surety updates the amount directly in CARM. This is the standard route.
- Older paper-format bonds: these are increased through the CARM system or by a signed endorsement mailed to CBSA before January 15.
Ask your broker this week which route applies to your bond.
How to Prepare and Audit Your Customs Bond
A customs bond increase is easiest to handle early, not in the last week of December.
This Week
- Log in to the CARM Client Portal and check your notifications.
- Compare the new requirement with the security you have posted now.
- Send the notice to your surety broker.
Over the Next Few Weeks
- Share recent financial statements when the surety asks for them.
- Confirm how the increase will be filed.
- Get written confirmation once CBSA records the new amount.
When you speak with your broker, tell them about any changes in your business, such as new suppliers, new product lines, or a bigger peak season. Surprises slow an approval down.
Audit Your Setup
- The amount of security you have posted today
- Who checks the portal, and how often
- How your bond is filed: electronically or on paper
- Who to call if something goes wrong close to the deadline
Questions to Ask Your Broker
- How long will the surety take to approve the increase?
- What will my new premium be?
- Would a bond plus a cash top-up cost me less this year?
Take extra care if your import volume grew sharply this year, you added new product lines, you import heavily in the fall, or your customs broker and surety broker are separate firms that rarely talk. Set a standing reminder for October 20 each year.
Ai Insurance Organization works with importers across Canada and sees how disruptive a border delay is, especially after the busy fall and holiday shipping season. The team reviews your customs bond and arranges any increase so your goods keep moving after January 15.
Keep Your Shipments Moving With the Right Customs Bond Today
Got a notice in your portal? Ai Insurance Organization can help you get the right customs bond in Canada for your import activity. Send the team your CARM notice and your highest monthly figures. You’ll get back the bond amount you need, your premium, and a filing plan that beats the deadline. Contact the team to get started.
