What Are The Steps I Need To Complete To Start Crossing Into Canada (DIY Customs Consulting)

This article is part of the Customs Compliance Guide

To cross into Canada commercially as a U.S. based trucking company or owner-operator, you must first operate under your own authority in the U.S. and be registered as commercial vehicle operator with either a US DOT or Motor Carrier (MC) identifier. If you have not registered for a US DOT or Motor Carrier Number, please click here for instructions on how to do so.

If the carrier or owner-operator does have a valid US DOT or Motor Carrier number, the next step is to get your authority to cross into Canada. In order to accomplish this two steps will need to be completed:

Register your company with a provincial transportation authority you plan to do business in. Please click here to learn how. Once you received your provincial authority, you can apply for either a bonded or non-bonded Highway Carrier Code with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). To learn how to register for a carrier code click here. To learn how to become a bonded Canadian highway carrier click here. Once you have completed registering for provincial transportation authority(ies) and also received an approval letter from CBSA for a bonded or non-bonded Highway Carrier Code, you can then register with an ACI eManifest Service Provider such as BorderConnect so you can process the required ACI eManifest when crossing into Canada with commercial loads. You will also need to order the necessary cross-border labels and documents that the customs broker and/or CBSA officer will need when arriving at the border.

Below are the following additional steps that will need to be completed in order to bring commercial loads into Canada:

Sign up to BorderConnect so you can file ACI eManifests with CBSA. You can register here. Or learn about ACI eManifest for BorderConnect and how it works by clicking here. Order PARS barcode labels and any other customs documents you may require when taking commercial loads into Canada. You can order PARS labels and customs documents and lead sheets here from BorderPrint.