How do I log-in to or register for the CARM Client Portal?
On the CARM Client Portal there is a link titled "Log in to the CARM Client Portal". From this link you will be able to select GCkey or Sign in Partner to sign in. If this is your first time logging in, the personal profile creation process will begin automatically. After completing your personal profile, you will have to either:
How do I register my business?
Once you have logged in and you have a personal profile created on the CARM Client Portal you will be given the option to register your business. To complete the business registration process, you will need the following information:
How do I request access to my employer’s business account?
Once you have logged in and you have a personal profile created on the CARM Client Portal up you will be given the option to request access to your employer’s business account. You will need to input the 9-digit business number of your employer’s business, add a comment, and submit your request. You will receive an email when your access request has been responded to.
Once registered on the CARM Client Portal (CCP), if the business information is incorrect, can it be corrected on the portal?
With Release 1, importers and customs brokers will be able to see their business information in the portal, however, if there are errors in the data, only certain changes can be made in the portal. User account updates (email and phone contact information) and the delegation of authority can be changed via the portal. Legal entity information (i.e. business number or company name changes) will need to be changed as per the current process and updated with the CRA.
"What is the balance of your last statement of account?"
The CBSA has made a change to allow importers that are using multiple brokers to input the amount from any one of their customs broker’s SOA rather than having a $ value of the combination of all of them.
This is where the importer/customs brokers must look to find the SOA amount that will be accepted for registration:
Importer SOA — Importer uses their own SOA or the customs broker uses their own Importer SOA when registering in the portal:
Customs Broker SOA — Customs broker uses their customs broker SOA to provide the balance to the importer or the customs broker uses the customs broker SOA to find the balance for their own importer account.
"What is the transaction number and total duties and taxes of one of your recent transactions?"
Although a .00 amount cannot be entered for the SOA question until June 19th, 2021, it can be used when a transaction number that CARM provides for the affinity question on transaction number has a .00 amount. The customs broker/importer needs to provide the total duties and taxes on the B3 – Field 51 for that transaction number when prompted. $0.00 amount is accepted.
What is the exact value of your most recent payment?
When choosing the payment question as one of the affinity questions it must be the exact payment amount of the most recent payment registered in the CBSA system. Take note that there can be up to a 7 day delay in some payments getting “posted” to the CBSA once the payment is made. If two customs brokers and an importer all made payments on the same day, it will be the payment $ of the last one that was posted in the CBSA system.
When an importer delegates authority to a “customs broker” does every person at that customs broker who will be accessing the portal or submitting a CAD have to register and set up an account?
Every individual who wishes to access the CARM Client Portal (CCP) will need to register and set up a user account and be delegated appropriate authority by their employer. CAD submissions may be performed via the CCP and/or EDI. Therefore, if you intend to submit a CAD through EDI, you will not necessarily need a portal user account. An importer will not delegate authority to individual employees, they will delegate authority to the customs broker business account through the business account manager (BAM). So unless you are a BAM, the importer will not delegate authority to you individually.
Will there be restrictions in the number of users that can be granted delegated access to a business account in the portal?
No, there are no restrictions to be made on the number of users that can be granted delegated access.
How do I remove an employee from my business/program?
Under Setup my portal in the menu go to “manage employees”. From this page find the employee you would
like to remove and click remove.
How do I adjust the access rights of one of my employees?
To adjust the access rights of an employee, navigate setup my portal – manage employees in the menu. From
this page find the employee you would like to make changes to and click ‘Edit’.
How do I manage my pending employee access requests?
To manage a pending employee access request, navigate to Setup my portal - manage employees in the menu. From this page go to the access requests tab to manage pending access requests. From this tab you can view, approve, or decline employee access requests.
How do I expire a business relationship with a Third-party service provider?
To expire a business relationship, navigate to Setup my portal - manage business relationships in the menu. From this page click details on the business relationship you would like to make changes to. On the Business relationship details page select the desired date as the expiry date. The business relationship will be expired at 11:59:59PM of the selected date.
How do I edit the access of a Third party service provider?
To edit the access of a Third party service provider navigate to Setup my portal - manage business relationships in the menu. From this page click details on the business relationship you would like to make changes to. On the Business relationship details page click the edit button next to the Access summary.
How do I manage my pending business relationship requests?
To manage pending business relationship requests navigate to Setup my portal - manage business relationships in the menu. From this page go to the received requests tab to approve, reject, or view details of pending access requests.
What are client groups and how do I create/manage them?
Client groups are used by third party service providers (e.g. customs brokers) to efficiently assign employees with a single user role to a large volume of clients (e.g. importers). Only Business account managers may create and manage a client group due to their automatic level of access to all established business relationships.
To create and manage your client groups navigate Setup my portal – Manage client groups in the menu.
When creating a client group, only clients that have not yet been associated to a group may be added to the new group.
By creating a client group and assigning an employee to that group, the employee is given the designated default user role to each client account in the group.
How can I add employees to a client group?
Only Business account managers may assign employees to a client group due to their automatic level of access to all established business relationships.
To assign and employee to a client group, navigate Setup my portal – Manage employees in the menu. After selecting an employee and choosing to edit his or her access, select the desired client group and assign a default role.
Note 1: Employees can be assigned to zero or multiple client groups.
Note 2: An employee’s default role will be overruled by any modification of their user role when selecting a
specific business to manage access for. The default role will remain.
How can I change my business profile information?
You can view your business profile on the CARM Client Portal by navigating to Accounts & Profiles - Business Profile in the menu.
You cannot make changes to your business profile through the CARM Client Portal. To make changes, contact the Client support services.
How can I change my personal profile information?
To make changes to your personal profile navigate to Accounts & Profiles – Personal profile in the menu.
How can I change my program account information?
You cannot make changes to your program account profile through the CARM Client Portal. To make changes, contact the client support services.
You can view your program account profile on the CARM Client Portal by navigating to Accounts & Profiles - Business Profile in the menu.
Business, program and personal profiles management
How can I add supporting documents for rulings, declarations, appeals, etc.
At the top of each page you will see "upload a document". From this page you can add supporting documents referencing the case/reference number it is being uploaded for.
How can I view or make a payment to my account balance?
To make a payment to your account navigate to financial information -transaction history in the menu. From this page you can view and make a payment to an account balance.
How can I apply account credit to clear a specific transaction?
To apply account credit to clear a specific transaction navigate to Payments - Apply credit as payment in the menu.
How can I setup a preauthorized debit (PAD)
To set up PAD navigate to Payments – Pre-authorized debit in the menu.
How do I view my Statement of Account?
To view statement of account (SOA) navigate to Financial information - Statement of account in the menu.
How do I create a new ruling request?
To request a new ruling navigate to Rulings – rulings in the menu. From this page click the “request a new ruling” button to begin a new request.
Can I withdraw a ruling request I submitted?
Yes. You can withdraw any ongoing rulings requests. To do so on the rulings page select the ruling you would like to withdraw and click "Withdraw".
Can I estimate my duties and taxes owed for a good through the CARM Client Portal?
Yes. You can use the Duties and Taxes calculator to estimate the duties and taxes you will owe for a good. You can find this tool by navigating to Declaration – Duties and taxes estimator in the menu.
Do I need to know the goods classification number (HS code) to estimate duties and taxes?
No. You can use the "Help my classify" tool to assist with classifying the goods you are submitting. It is important to know that this tool is not always right and it is only there as a guide to help you with your classification.
Will the Statement of Account (SOA) be available to the customs broker via EDI?
The importer's SOA will be made available to any party with delegated authorization to view or download it on the portal. However, in order for a customs broker to receive it EDI, they will require authorization from the importer and must be set up with the TCCU as is required pre-CARM.
Will SOA authorization be grandfathered in CARM?
This question has been asked to the CBSA, we are waiting to hear back.
Will more than one customs broker be able to receive the SOA, contrary to the practice today of only one broker?
This question has been asked to the CBSA, we are waiting to hear back.
Will the Statement of Account be available in Excel?
No, the current design is protected PDF or EDI.
Will late accounting penalties appear on importer Daily Notice?
Yes, they will appear on the Importer DN and appear on the Statement of Account.
Will GST be included in the financial security calculation?
Yes, the amount of security posted to an importer’s account duties and taxes (GST), as well as interest, adjustments, ascertained forfeitures, and SIMA fees. The bond will secure any penalty fees, however, penalties are not used in the calculation of the amount of bond required to cover the account.
Will all importers be required to post security for release prior to payment privileges?
All importers will be required to post security to participate in the RPP program. If posting a surety bond, the amount of the security required must be equal to or greater than 50% of the importer’s highest monthly accounts payable to the CBSA within the most recent 12-month period from July 25th to July 24th, subject to a $25K minimum. If posting a cash bond, the amount of security must be equal to or greater than 100% of the importer’s highest monthly accounts payable to the CBSA within the most recent 12-month period from July 25th to July 24th, with no minimum.
Will Importers with monthly outlays of <$5,000 also be required to post security for release prior to payment?
Yes, see above answer on posting security to maintain RPP privileges.
Will the $10 million cap remain?
Yes, the $10 million cap currently in place will remain.
Which payment options will be available once CARM has been implemented?
A Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) option, with a limit of $99 million, will be the preferred method of payment, however, other electronic methods of payment will also be accepted, including debit and credit card payments. The limit for credit card payments is $4,999.99. For debit payments, the limit set by the CBSA is $100,000, and $100M for PAD payments, but limits are ultimately set by the financial institution.
Can multiple credit card payments be made to cover one single amount owing?
Yes, multiple credit card transactions can be made to cover payments in excess of the $4,999.99 credit card limit.
Will data remain in the portal for six years?
Yes, data will remain in the portal for six years, plus current.
Will I be able to submit my release documentation through the CARM Client Portal?
Release documentation is not part of the CARM scope; however, you will be able to prepare and submit a fully completed CAD (Current C Type Entry) in the CCP and present the package for release at the port.
Can anyone submit a CAD?
A new commercial accounting declaration (CAD) will be introduced with CARM Release 2. The CAD can be submitted via electronic data interchange (EDI) or the CARM Client Portal. Only importers and delegated licensed customs brokers will be eligible to submit a CAD.
Which data elements will be used to validate if a CAD has been submitted in CARM for a released transaction. Will it be the 14-digit transaction number +importer number?
The transaction number on the CAD will continue to be used to acquit the transaction number on the release.
How will the CBSA know to expect the accounting information from the importer vs the customs broker who filed the clearance?
The CBSA will expect the CAD within the time limit (max 5 business days from release) from either the importer or a delegated licensed customs broker, regardless of who submitted the release documentation.
Will a new importer need a CCP account to complete a Type C CAD to obtain release at a CBSA office?
The importer, or their customs broker, will need to have access to the CCP (CARM Client Portal) to prepare a fully completed "Type C" CAD to obtain release of their goods (current B3 Type C "Cash" entry). This option will not be available via EDI. There will be a workstation available at the Port of Entry that will allow the importer/customs broker to access their portal account to prepare the CAD; alternatively, the importer/customs broker can complete and print the declaration for goods arrival processing ahead of time, if desired, to avoid completing the CAD at the CBSA office.
Who can access a transaction for correction prior to payment?
Only the importer and licensed customs broker who submitted the CAD will have access to make a correction prior to the payment due date. However, if the importer removes delegated access between CAD submission and the payment due date, only the importer will have access to make a correction.
If an importer makes a correction to a CAD (before the payment due date,) will the original filer (i.e. customs broker) receive a notification that the entry has been revised?
No, the customs broker will not receive a notification. The importer will need to notify their customs broker that a change has been made.
Which data elements can be corrected on the CAD? Is anything else required other than filing the new version?
Most data elements, with the exception of the business number and the transaction number, can be done until the payment due date. If the correction results in a downward adjustment to the CAD, documents may be requested by the CBSA. If so, they will need to be uploaded in the portal.
Who is responsible to make sure that the starting point for an adjustment is the correct version if the CCS does not update drawbacks and blanket requests currently?
This does not change from today; an adjustment must be made against the most recent data.
Must all CBSA clients have an account in the CARM Client Portal (CCP)?
All clients must have accounts in the CCP and must link a CCP user account to their business account.
Will data remain in the portal for six years?
Yes, data will remain in the portal for six years, plus current.
Will there be a system timeout in the CARM portal due to inactivity, and will there be an auto-save function that will save information input by user if there is a forced log off of their account?
CARM will align with an Single Sign-On (SSO) timeout of 20 (twenty) minutes without any key strokes. There is also an 8 (eight) hour limit for being logged in before being prompted to log in again. CARM is looking at the auto-save function for data entry.
Sources used:
1) CBSA CARM Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
2) CSCB: Road to CARM FAQs (for registered members of the CSCB website)