Madam Speaker, I am thankful for this opportunity to inform the House about some of the work carried out each day between the Canada Border Services Agency and commercial importers. A little-known fact is that I was a Canada border agent during the summers when I was young, so I know exactly what they do day in and day out; they ensure the free flow of legitimate trade. That is important because it is part of the agency's mandate.

I want to clarify for the hon. colleague opposite that in order to eliminate time-consuming paper-based processes, the CBSA replaced its aging system for collecting duties and taxes on imported goods. I am of course talking about the Canada Border Services Agency assessment and revenue management system, known as CARM. The CBSA fully launched CARM last October.

When it comes to the release prior to payment program specifically, for years importers complied with regulations by using the financial security of customs brokers. This system did indeed help move goods into our country, but it did not allow the CBSA to properly secure debts owing to the Crown. That was because the agency could not claim against a custom broker's financial security to cover an importer's bad debt, the result of which was significant debt writeoffs.

What do I mean by that? First, let me remind hon. members that each year, the CBSA manages $40 billion in duties and taxes. Before CARM was introduced, the debt writeoff averaged $13 million annually. To address such losses, the CBSA's CARM system now requires importers to post financial security so they can benefit from the release of their imported goods at the border without having to immediately pay duties and taxes.

When implementing CARM last fall, the government included a seven-month transition period to give commercial importers the additional time they needed to post their financial security electronically, while continuing to benefit from the release prior to payment program. That was the transition period that ended on May 20. It was what my hon. colleague was referring to in his question. It was not a surprise move.

The CBSA introduced the first version of the CARM client portal in 2021. The CBSA conducted years of outreach to help importers and other stakeholders familiarize themselves with the new system. The changes for enrolling in the release prior to payment program and its enabling regulations came into force in October 2024. The work on that front continues; that is because helping with the importation of legitimate goods with minimal interruption is an important part of the CBSA's responsibilities, which it takes seriously and does very well. Border wait times for processing commercial shipments remain within service standards.

As of May 2025, over 157,000 businesses have registered on the CARM client portal. Importers who have already posted financial security to obtain release prior to payment represent over 97% of the total volume. In the event of any disruptions at ports of entry, the agency is ready to deploy mitigation strategies to keep legitimate goods flowing across the border without interruption. The CBSA continues to work diligently with importers and others involved in the entry of goods into our country. That includes local stakeholders, including bridge and tunnel operators, airport authorities and trade industry groups.

As I said earlier, outreach efforts with the trade chain partners have been successfully continuing for years. The goal remains to spread awareness about the process for importers to enrol in the release prior to payment program and post financial security before coming to the border.

Wade Grant

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Adjournment Proceedings

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