CARM Update: Release 2 Implementation Date

Trade Update • November 21, 2022

CARM Release 2 Implementation Date

Earlier this year, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) shared that their CARM Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) Release 2 timeline was under review. CBSA has recently announce that updated target implementation date for CARM Release 2 is now October 2023.

CBSA will focus on preparing the Agency and its clients for upcoming changes. To support a smooth transition, the CARM Simulation Experience (CES) will allow volunteers from the trade community to simulate Release 2 business processes with CBSA business users in a non-production environment. The CES is expected to run from February to June, 2023.

For more information on CARM, visit our CBSA CARM page.

CARM Release 2 – $10M Cap Clarification (Reminder)

The maximum bond amount of $10M applies to each surety bond secured for each of the RM (BN15) accounts associated with the BN9 business account. For example:

• if a legal entity (BN9) with 5 associated RM accounts currently holds a single bond for $10M covering the total accounts payable across all 5 RM(BN15) accounts, where each individual RM account has an accounts payable in excess of $10M, they can either post 5 individual $10M bonds (one bond per RM (BN15) account) OR;
• they can post one bond for $50M and allocate coverage across all 5 RM accounts. The automatic monitoring of the bond utilization is set at the RM level in CARM.

Please note: a surety customs bond can only be shared within a specific program account. For example:

• an importer with multiple Import RMs can use the same bond to secure all Import RMs, but the same bond cannot also be used to secure a Carrier RM or Customs Broker RM that also falls under the same BN9.

For questions about CARM, please contact us, we’re here to help.