Highway carrier compliance: transmitting electronic commercial information

This page contains information to help highway carriers and highway freight forwarders be compliant when sending Advance Commercial Information (ACI) to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Transmitting your ACI correctly may help to avoid processing delays and potential penalties.

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Transmitting true, accurate and complete data

Providing true, accurate and complete Advance Commercial Information (ACI) allows us to better process cargo and conveyance data from highway carriers and highway freight forwarders. It will also help to reduce any delays at the border.

We may use the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) to issue monetary penalties for incorrect, untrue or incomplete data. This can include such things as providing an invalid tractor or trailer license plate numbers, or submitting unclear descriptions of your cargo.

Visit Detailed commodity descriptions to assist you with your cargo descriptions.

We recommend that you share with your suppliers the importance of providing true, accurate and complete data when sending ACI to the agency.

Correcting ACI and important timeframes

You must send us all ACI corrections as soon as you become aware of them. This includes updating any information that is no longer true or correct, including a change to the desired port of entry (POE).

Note: Drivers cannot choose an alternate POE without updating the ACI

If you have entered Canada and you find an error on your ACI, you can make corrections to certain data elements post arrival using the Form BSF673 House bill, cargo and conveyance manual amendment form – post arrival – all modes.

The post-arrival paper reporting (Form BSF673):

Reminder: when entering Canada in the highway mode, you are required to send us the ACI at least one hour prior to arrival at a port of entry. If you do not, you may face delays and a monetary penalty.

Updating contact and business information

Existing carriers are obligated to notify, without delay, us of any changes to their profile information or cancellation of their carrier code, as per section 32 of the Reporting of Imported Goods Regulations. Any changes must be submitted to the CBSA via the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) Client Portal.

Contact us

For more information on ACI, including regulations and policies, email us at eManifest-Manifeste_electronique@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

For EDI or Portal issues, refer to the List of EDI/Portal services supported by the Technical Commercial Client Unit.

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