Dear Trade Chain Partners,

The CBSA continues to refine how importers’ financial-security requirements are calculated under CARM. A recent update confirms that CARM will determine financial-security levels using a rolling transaction period (covering transactions from October 2024 to October 2025), which will change the amount of surety or cash security importers must post. This matters because many businesses will see their security needs increase or decrease as CARM applies actual transactional history to the calculation.

What this means for your business
• Expect a new, automated security calculation. CARM will use your portal transaction history to compute an updated security requirement; this replaces older, manual estimates. 
• Changes may be material. If your import volumes rose sharply between Oct 2024 and Oct 2025, your required bond or cash security could increase  with direct cash-flow implications. Conversely, lower import activity can reduce requirements.
• Timing matters. The CARM bulletin states importers will be notified through the Client Portal when their recalculated security amount is available, and CBSA timelines for posting security will need to be followed closely.

Practical steps to prepare
• We will audit your CARM portal history to verify completeness and accuracy before CBSA’s recalculation.
• We can prepare the documentation CBSA may request if there are discrepancies.
• We’ll model different security scenarios so you can make an informed decision (surety vs. cash) and help you post security in the portal on time.

Final note
CARM’s automated, data-driven security recalculation is intended to make sure security levels better reflect actual trade activity. That’s sensible — but it also means importers should be proactive. If you’d like our team to review your portal data and run a security impact assessment, contact us and we’ll prioritise your account.

Warm regards,
Maska International Customs Broker
Anton