We are now a few weeks into CARM, and the full depth of its offerings is still being discovered, as are its challenges. It has, undeniably, been a learning experience for every person, business entity, and government agency that has engaged with this new system, and that period of learning is going to continue for some time. Fortunately, since the beginning, PCB has been on the frontlines of this new system with you, and our experts have been fielding questions and working with clients as we delve into this new world together. 

Over the past few weeks, a few of the same challenges have come up consistently across a wide range of our clients, and we felt it might make sense to address them publically. These range from issues causing CARM registration to stop working to simple data entry missteps and even some growing pains stemming from the CBSA itself, but every issue is solvable, and we are here to help. 

As a reminder, don’t despair or panic during this process, even if things seem like they are getting dire. As of the time of publication, we are still well within the 180-day grace period for Release Prior to Payment privileges and the 90-day late filing grace period for CAD submission. That is plenty of time to work out the issues and get used to the new system. 

With that out of the way, here are some of the common issues we regularly receive about the CARM Client Portal: 

Registration Issues - 

When I try to register, some fields are not accepted.

This is one of the more common registration errors in the CARM system and a regular issue for our CARM team. Most often, it is tied to an auto-filler on your browser. Occasionally, the auto-filler attempts to match your data with what it thinks CARM wants in each field, but as any importer knows, things are rarely so simple in the world of international importing, and some auto-fillers will place that data in the wrong field. 

It is important you go through and make sure that all the fields have been populated correctly before proceeding. We’ve seen some auto-fillers get confused around date configurations, completely missing fields, and, somewhat ironically, mixing up what goes where in an address. 

What is my legal name and address? 

Believe it or not - great question. As part of the registration process, you must input the legal name and address that the CRA has on file. As your broker, we do not know this information for security reasons, and the CBSA won’t tell us. You have to figure this out on your own. 

With that in mind, there are a few locations you can find this information: 

1. The CRA Portal
2. The CRA Business Enquiry Line (800-959-5525 for Canadian resident businesses and 866-453-0452 for non-residents)
3. It will be on any mail correspondence that the CRA has sent you.
4. If you have moved, it could be your old address. 
5. It could potentially be the home address of the owner or the business address of your accountant or lawyer.

Why won’t CARM accept my phone number? 

The answer to this one is likely due to a format field error. The first step to resolving this is checking the first input box - this box is intended to be the country code. Select ‘Canada’ from the drop-down menu and then attempt to submit again. 

Usage and Maintenance Issues - 

My release requests are getting rejected.

This one is a bit more complex. In the vast majority of cases, a declaration is rejected because the importer is not registered in the Release Prior to Payment (RPP) program. 

If your company registered for an RM Importer Program Extension after October 4th, 2024, then you will likely need to take additional steps before your release requests are accepted. Fortunately, we have an entire document dedicated to Release Prior to Payment in CARM, including information about how to register for the program. You can find it here.

I have received a notification that my shipment has been rejected due to an issue with my RPP or a mismatch with my BN. 

This one is relatively new, and unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do on our end beyond a confirmation that everything looks good on our end. 

If you receive a notification indicating that your shipment was rejected due to an issue with your RPP or a mismatch with your BN, and our team has confirmed that there is no such issue apparent in the CARM Client Portal, you will need to contact the CARM Help Desk directly. 

I just received a notification that my financial security is insufficient; I thought I had 180 days!

This is incredibly common, but fortunately, the solution is straightforward. If you receive a notification indicating that your financial security is insufficient and you need to ‘make an interim payment or increase your financial security,’ don’t worry. The CBSA has responded to this - the 180-day grace period is still in effect, and you have until April 2025 to establish your financial security. To quote the CBSA, these notifications are for “informational purposes only at this time.” 

My CAD was rejected, but now that it’s accepted, my SOA balance seems inaccurate.

There are many reasons why a CAD may be rejected, but resolving it over a long enough timeline can create a confusing situation where your SOA balance appears understated. This is due to the fact that once your CAD is eventually accepted, it backdates to the period when it should have been submitted. This backdating can cause a little confusion, but it is accurate in its depiction. 

Of course, this is just a list of the few most common issues that have come to our attention over the past few weeks and is far from exhaustive. 

If you have specific questions or issues that have arisen during your own experience with CARM, we encourage you to contact the official CBSA CARM Help Desk or set up a consultation with our CARM Team for a more comprehensive look at your business’s specific needs.
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