Report exports through the CBSA Canadian Export Reporting System in Canada: the business number and BSF831 enrolment, the portal account, when a declaration is required, the reporting timeframes by mode, and how to amend or void a filing.
Applies in: CA
The Canadian Export Reporting System (CERS) is a free, web-based, self-service portal for submitting electronic export declarations and Summary Reporting Program monthly reports to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). It is the primary method of reporting exports to the CBSA. This guide covers export-side reporting only: getting access, deciding whether a declaration is required, filing on time, and correcting a filing. It does not cover importing goods, which runs through CARM and separate import processes, and it does not cover export permits themselves beyond where a permit number belongs on a declaration.
Read the boundary first, because it decides whether the rest of the guide applies to a given shipment. The exporter remains responsible for the filing even when someone else submits it, and the CBSA validates the data and sends status notifications after submission. Getting the enrolment and account steps done before the first shipment leaves removes the most common cause of a missed timeframe.
You need a valid business number (BN) and RM export program identifier before you can submit an export declaration. The BN15 is the BN9 plus the RM identifier, for example 123456789RM0001, and the exporter must have a BN15 active for export, meaning enrolled in the Exporter Program. To register for a BN or RM export program identifier, complete the Exporter Program Enrolment process using the CARM Client Portal. For assistance with that enrolment, contact the CARM Client Support Help Desk by completing its web form.
Next, apply to become a CERS portal client. Complete the Exporter reporting application form, BSF831, and submit it by email to the CBSA address given on the registration page for approval. The approval process generally takes up to 5 business days but may take longer if there is missing or incomplete information. Once approved, the CBSA sends an activation code, called a shared secret, to the email address indicated on the form. Keep that code safe: the account owner needs it, together with the business number designated for export, before creating a portal business account. Verify that the computer has internet access and supports Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox, referring to the CERS portal technical requirements.
Users have two options to sign in to the CERS Portal: a Government of Canada online service account, GCKey, or a SecureKey Concierge Sign-In Partner, using existing online credentials with a participating financial institution. Navigate to the CERS Portal Sign in page on the CBSA website, select the sign-in option, and follow the credential provider's instructions. On first entry, review the CERS Portal Terms and Conditions of Use and select I Accept, then select Create New User Account, enter the mandatory profile information, and select Submit. A User Account Created confirmation page appears with a unique User Reference Number (URN); select Continue. The URN, last name, and email address are what an account owner later uses to add that person to a business account.
Account owners must have a valid business number designated for export and a shared secret before creating a portal business account. From the user account, select Business Accounts, then Create Business Account, enter the exporter business number, and select Submit. Enter the CBSA-issued account activation code, the Authorization ID or shared secret, and select Submit. Enter the account owner information, select Submit, review the account owner and business information, and select Ok. By default, the individual who activates the business account becomes designated as the business account owner. A company may contact the CBSA Commercial Registration Unit at the export program email address for help changing the business account owner.
Add other people through the User Access tab. Before users can be added to a business account, they must have created a CERS Portal user account and hold a valid URN. Sign in, navigate to Business Accounts, select the business name, select the User Access tab, and select Add User. Enter the URN, last name, and email address of the user, select Submit, select a user role, and select Submit. The roles in the technical guide are portal business account, proxy portal business account, account user, and account browser, the last with read-only access. The registration page recommends adding at least one proxy account owner in case the account owner is unavailable.
To delegate reporting to a customs service provider, associate the two business accounts. As an exporter, you can delegate the reporting of your goods to a customs service provider; the provider asks the CBSA to associate the accounts by completing form BSF831 and submitting it by email to the same export program address. Once the CBSA has processed the form, it adds your account to the provider's business account. A customs service provider submitting on your behalf reports using your BN15, not its own, and you remain liable for the accuracy and timeliness of the information.
Goods exported from Canada must be reported to the Government of Canada under Part V, sections 95 to 97.2, of the Customs Act. The export declaration is used to ensure compliance with Canadian export control legislation and to provide the Government of Canada with export data. Whether a given shipment needs one depends on its category, in the order the CBSA sets out in Memorandum D20-1-1:
An officer retains discretionary power under subsection 95(1.2) of the Customs Act to require exempted goods to be reported. When a shipment sits near a boundary, such as a value close to CAD$2,000 or goods that may be restricted, confirm the category against the memorandum and the permit position before loading, rather than treating the exception as settled.
The timeframe to submit export declarations, permits, or other documentation depends on the mode of transport or the type of goods. The minimum timeframes in section 3 of the Reporting of Exported Goods Regulations are: goods exported by mail, not less than 2 hours before delivery to the post office in Canada that accepts mail for export; by marine vessel, not less than 48 hours before loading onto the vessel; by aircraft, not less than 2 hours before loading on board the aircraft; by rail, not less than 2 hours before the railcar on which the goods have been loaded is assembled to form part of a train to be exported; and by any other mode, immediately before exportation, meaning before the conveyance crosses the border or leaves Canada. For live animals and bulk, homogeneous, or time-sensitive goods, reporting may be made immediately before export regardless of mode, unless the goods are restricted, in which case the mode timeframes apply. Fishing catch follows its own rule in the special-goods section above.
To submit in the portal, sign in, navigate to Business Accounts, select the business name, and select the Export Documents tab. Select Create Export Document, select the type of export document, and select Submit. Enter all applicable information, then select Submit to the CBSA. To submit a draft instead, select the Draft Documents tab, open the draft by name, enter all applicable information, and select Submit to the CBSA. Errors are identified for correction, and a confirmation page appears on successful submission; print or download a PDF of the submitted document, and create a template from it for repeat shipments if that helps. CERS only generates a proof-of-report number after the export declaration has been successfully submitted, so do not promise a carrier a number before filing. The data elements a declaration must contain are set out in Appendix A of the memorandum and in Chapter 25 of the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document; the portal screens show the mandatory and conditional elements for the document type selected, so complete the screens rather than working from a remembered field list.
Summary reports and bulk loads follow the same entry point with different document types. For a summary report upload, select Create Export Document, choose Summary Report, select the Commodity tab, select Browse to obtain the .xml data file, select Submit, and select Save and Finish Later to create a draft summary report. For bulk load, select Bulk Loads as the document type, upload a text file (.txt) to create one or more export declarations, and select Submit; the declarations sit in the Bulk Upload tab, where you select the checkboxes for the declarations to submit, select Submit Selected, and select Ok. On successful submission, obtain the Bulk Load Documents Submission report to print or download.
Drafts, lookups, and templates reduce re-keying on repeat shipments. Draft documents are created in the portal and used later to submit a declaration or summary report: create one through Create Export Document, enter the information, and select Save and Continue or Save and Finish Later; edit a draft by opening it and choosing Check for Errors, Save and Continue, Save and Exit, or Submit to the CBSA; delete a draft by selecting Delete and confirming. Lookups hold saved information for an exporter, consignee, service provider, or commodity, including HS8 codes, and load automatically into a new document. Templates are created from a submitted document, saving its business data entries for new documents; create one from the confirmation page or from a submitted document's Proof of Report link, entering a template name and selecting Create Template.
Users can view, amend, or void export documents already sent to the CBSA. To view a submitted document, sign in, navigate to Business Accounts, select the business name and the Export Documents tab, select the Submitted Documents tab, choose the document type, and select Refresh; select the Status link to view status history, or the Proof of Report link to view details. Migrated CAED declarations from December 1, 2017 to the present day are searchable in the same area by proof-of-report number, entered with hyphens after the year and month.
An amendment submits a replacement export document, with all applicable data elements, which overwrites the previous document on file in the CBSA system. In the portal, open the submitted document and select Amend. As a rule, submit an amend when any data element on the original or amended declaration on file has changed. Amendments can be made up to 90 days after the original submission, and an amendment reason must be selected when resubmitting; select only one reason, choosing the one closest to the top of the CBSA list when more than one applies, from reasons including a change in permit, licence, or certificate number, carrier code, destination or consignee, export date, goods description, line items, or place of export, a reason not listed, or goods no longer being exported. Submit an amendment or void request as soon as it is apparent one is needed; after 90 days, amendments or voids must be made using the Voluntary Disclosure process. For summary reports, select the specific report to amend, and complete the amend within 30 days of discovering, or being notified by the CBSA, that changes are required.
To void a document, open its Proof of Report link, select Void, select Yes, and confirm on the confirmation page; check the status history to confirm the document shows as voided. When a document is voided it cannot be amended, and a new export document must be created. Check the Bulletins tab regularly for CBSA notices about exporter reporting, since the portal does not notify users when new bulletins or useful links are added; email bulletins about system outages and similar notices can be subscribed to through the EDI/Portal Clients stay-informed page, selecting Exporter bulletins.
Some figures and rules are deliberately not stated in this guide, because they could not be verified on a current official CBSA page. Do not rely on any figure below unless you confirm it on the current CBSA page first. No penalty amount is stated, because the memorandum defines the Administrative Monetary Penalty System but publishes no penalty figure for a missed or incorrect export declaration on the pages. No processing or validation time for a submitted declaration is stated, because the pages describe status notifications and confirmation pages without a processing-time commitment. No fee for using CERS beyond the portal being described as free is stated as a charge schedule, because no CERS fee table could be verified on an official page; the registration approval time of up to 5 business days is the only timing figure carried, as stated on the registration page. No complete list of export data elements is reproduced, because the elements live in Appendix A and Chapter 25 and vary by document type; use the portal screens and those documents for the shipment in hand. If any of these figures is needed, verify it on the current CBSA CERS or memorandum page before relying on it.
No, they are different systems with different jobs. CARM, the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management Client Portal, is where you complete Exporter Program Enrolment to register for a business number or RM export program identifier. CERS is the portal where you submit export declarations and summary reports. You need the CARM enrolment first, because you cannot submit an export declaration in CERS until the business number and RM identifier are active for export.
Non-restricted goods exported to the United States do not need an export declaration from the exporter, and restricted goods exported to the United States also need no declaration, although the required export permit must still be provided within the mode timeframes. Those United States exceptions do not cover restricted goods sent to another country, goods in transit through the United States for another destination, or special-goods categories, so check the category first rather than assuming the destination alone settles it.
Non-restricted commercial goods valued at less than CAD$2,000 do not need an export declaration. The test runs on the total value of all the goods in the shipment, not on each item alone: for goods in transit and for General Export Permit No. 12 goods, the CBSA states that if the shipment total reaches CAD$2,000 or more, the permit number must be entered on the declaration even for items individually worth less. Restricted goods must be reported regardless of value when a declaration is required for their destination.
The minimum timeframes run by mode: mail, not less than 2 hours before delivery to the post office that accepts mail for export; marine vessel, not less than 48 hours before loading; aircraft, not less than 2 hours before loading; rail, not less than 2 hours before the loaded railcar is assembled into an exported train; any other mode, immediately before exportation. Live animals and bulk, homogeneous, or time-sensitive goods may be reported immediately before export regardless of mode, unless they are restricted goods, which follow the mode timeframes.
Yes. You may delegate completing or submitting declarations to a customs service provider, and you may associate your business account with theirs so they can report on your behalf. The provider files using your BN15, not its own, and you remain liable for ensuring true, accurate, and complete information reaches the CBSA within the prescribed timeframes. To set up the association, the provider asks the CBSA to associate the two business accounts by completing form BSF831.
Open the submitted document in CERS and select Amend, which submits a replacement document with all applicable data elements that overwrites the previous document on file. Select exactly one amendment reason, choosing the reason closest to the top of the CBSA list when more than one applies. Amendments can be made up to 90 days after the original submission; after 90 days, use the Voluntary Disclosure process. A voided document cannot be amended, so create a new export document instead.