CARM Financial Security for Non-Resident Importers: How Much to Post and Who Can Issue It (2026)

CARM financial security is the guarantee the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) holds before it lets an importer take goods now and pay duties and GST later. That privilege is called release prior to payment (RPP). To get it, a non-resident importer posts its own security in CARM, either a written security agreement (a customs bond) worth 50% of the amount CARM calculates, with a $5,000 minimum, or a cash deposit worth 100% of it. Your customs broker’s bond no longer covers you, and the bond has to come from a provider regulated in Canada, not your bank or surety back home.

What release prior to payment does for a non-resident importer

Under CBSA Memorandum D17-1-8, an importer with RPP gets its goods released before paying duties and taxes, then accounts for them and pays on its monthly statement. Without RPP, you’re paying the duties and GST on each shipment before the CBSA lets it go.

The memo is clear that the security behind RPP is the importer’s own, even when a licensed customs broker does the clearing. Importers enrolling since October 21, 2024 post their own security, and the CBSA ended the transition that let them lean on a broker’s bond on May 20, 2025. The same goes for commercial goods shipped through a courier’s low value shipment program: if you want RPP on those goods, the security is yours, not the courier’s. That surprises overseas sellers who assumed FedEx or UPS had it covered. Our post on FedEx and UPS CARM requests covers that side.

Non-residents don’t get a different rule. Both resident and non-resident importers who want RPP have to post security at or above the amount the CBSA calculates.

RPP sits under your import account, so the order is fixed: a business number from the CRA, then an import-export (RM) account in the CARM Client Portal, then RPP enrolment and security. Most non-residents have no place of business in Canada, so they need a BSF900 books and records agreement. Since May 13, 2024, Memorandum D17-1-21 holds back the import account of an importer that needs one until the agreement is approved. That’s the part our CBSA books and records service handles. We prepare the BSF900 and the engagement letter, you sign them and upload them in your own portal account, and we hold your import records in Canada.

How much security CARM asks for

The calculation in CBSA Memorandum D17-5-2 starts from your highest monthly accounts receivable with the CBSA over the previous 12 months, for each import account (your BN15). That balance includes duties, GST, surtax and other debts such as interest and adjustments. What you post depends on the form you choose.

• A written security agreement is posted at 50% of that figure, so each dollar of bond covers two dollars of debt. The minimum is $5,000 per import account.
• A cash deposit is posted at 100% of it, dollar for dollar, and has no minimum.

The ceiling is $10 million per import account for all forms combined, and you can mix a bond and a deposit to reach the total.

Say your highest monthly balance owing to the CBSA was $24,000 of duty and GST. A bond would need to be $12,000, a deposit $24,000. Now take a small importer whose highest balance was $6,000. Half of that is $3,000, but the minimum lifts the bond to $5,000, while a deposit would be $6,000. At low volumes cash is often the easier route. There’s no premium and no underwriting, though it’s your money sitting with the CBSA.

A brand-new non-resident importer has no 12-month history to calculate from. D17-5-2 has you give the CBSA an estimate based on your import projections instead, and you stay responsible for keeping the security above what you actually owe. Lowballing that estimate just moves the problem a few months down the road.

Who can issue a CARM bond to a foreign company

Non-residents usually get stuck on the provider. Appendix A of D17-5-2 only accepts written security agreements from Canadian-regulated providers: insurers approved by OSFI or a provincial regulator to write fidelity or surety business, members of Payments Canada, institutions whose deposits are insured by CDIC or the AMF, and Canadian credit unions. A guarantee issued by your bank in Germany, or the customs bond you use for US imports, doesn’t qualify. A foreign bank or insurer only counts through a Canadian branch or affiliate that’s on the list itself.

The bond is also posted electronically. Either the provider enters it through CARM’s API, or you enter the details in your CARM Client Portal and the provider approves them. Paper security needs the CBSA’s approval in advance and is only accepted when the electronic route can’t be used, such as during a system outage.

Canadian sureties tend to underwrite a company with no Canadian assets more carefully, so you may be asked for financial statements, collateral or a personal indemnity. If that goes nowhere, the cash deposit is always open to you. It’s paid in the portal, has no expiry date, and the CBSA simply holds it against your debts.

Keeping the security in good standing

The CBSA recalculates the requirement every year. According to the CBSA’s RPP enrolment guidance, every enrolled importer gets a CARM notification each October 20 with its updated requirement, and has until January 15 of the next year to meet it. For the 2026 review, that deadline is January 15, 2027.

Between reviews, CARM tracks how much of your security is in use. You’ll get alerts at 75% and 100%, and your net open balance (debts minus credits) has to stay below the coverage your security provides. Each bond dollar covers two dollars of debt, and each deposit dollar covers one. If the balance goes over, you either pay it down or raise the security, and the CBSA can suspend or revoke RPP for an importer that does neither.

Bonds with a set term need renewing before they expire, and a cancelled bond stops covering you 30 days after the CBSA gets notice.

A cash deposit that’s bigger than you need can be reduced, and the released amount becomes a credit on your account.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my customs broker’s bond for CARM?

No. Importers who enrol in RPP post their own security, and the transition period that let a broker’s security cover its clients ended May 20, 2025. A broker can apply credits to your account, but it can’t post a security deposit for you.

Is CARM financial security the same as the GST security deposit for non-residents?

No, they’re separate. A non-resident without a permanent establishment in Canada generally has to post security with the CRA when registering for GST/HST, calculated on estimated net tax, and that’s covered in our guide to the non-resident GST security deposit. CARM security belongs to the CBSA and covers the duties and import GST owing on your import account. A non-resident importer that’s also registered for GST/HST can end up posting both.

How do I get a CARM cash deposit back?

You can ask to reduce the deposit in the CARM Client Portal once it’s more than your requirement. The released amount becomes a credit on your account, which can offset other CBSA debts or be paid out to you when the CBSA’s conditions are met. The deposit itself doesn’t expire.

Do I have to enrol in RPP at all?

No, it’s optional. Without it, the duties and taxes on each shipment are paid before release. That can work for an occasional shipment, but for regular commercial imports the delay on every load usually costs more than the security.

Related guides

• Non-resident importer to Canada: the complete setup guide
• CBSA CARM Client Portal for importers: 2026 setup guide
• FedEx or UPS told you to register for CARM?
• Canadian records custodian for importers
• CBSA books and records custodian service for non-resident importers

Setting up CARM from outside Canada?

Tell us where you ship from and roughly what you import each month. We’ll tell you which form of security fits and what has to be in place before your first release. Send us a short note about your business.