Customs Broker Power of Attorney in Canada

A customs power of attorney (POA) is the written authority a business signs so a licensed customs broker can do business with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on its behalf. CBSA also calls it an agency agreement. It covers your company's customs business.

This guide is for:

• First-time commercial importers setting up with a broker
• Companies switching brokers
• Non-resident importers (NRIs) bringing goods into Canada from outside the country

If you're not sure what a broker does, start with what is a customs broker.

The two-step checklist

Your broker needs both of these before it can handle your imports from start to finish:

1. Sign the agency agreement (POA) with your broker. This is the written authority described in CBSA Memorandum D1-6-1. CBSA's steps for hiring a broker are to find a licensed customs broker, sign a general agency agreement with them, then delegate authority in the CARM Client Portal. Only a licensed customs broker may account for goods and pay duties under section 32 of the Customs Act as your agent (D1-8-1, para 2).
2. Set up the broker in the CARM Client Portal. Your business must be registered in the portal. You accept a business relationship with the broker and delegate authority to it. CBSA explains why this matters in Customs Notice 25-16.

The paper POA alone isn't enough. D1-6-1 says that on top of the written authority, importers must give their broker permission in the CARM Client Portal to submit transactions and pay duties and taxes.

What happens if you skip a step

No signed POA: A broker must make sure it has proper written authority before it acts for you, and CBSA may refuse to deal with a broker until it produces that authority (D1-6-1, paras 2 and 6). That is why J.W. Smith asks for a signed J.W. Smith Agency Agreement (Power of Attorney) before your first shipment.

No CARM delegation: In Customs Notice 25-16 (April 2025), CBSA said brokers reported that some had obtained release of goods but could not submit final accounting, because the importer had not delegated authority in the portal. CBSA said it was issuing late accounting penalties where final accounting was missing, followed by assessments of duties, taxes and interest. Final accounting and payment are the importer's responsibility. CBSA also states that a customs broker cannot submit a CAD for an importer until the importer delegates authority in the CARM Client Portal.

Getting into the CARM Client Portal

We work through CARM registration with you in your own portal account, as a paid service, or you can register yourself and delegate to us. See CARM setup with J.W. Smith. In both cases, your business is set up under its own account, with you signed in as the business account manager. Then we send our business relationship request, and you approve it.

Either way, you do the delegation yourself. Your business account manager approves our request in Setup my portal > Manage my business relationships > Received requests, and chooses the level of access:

• Business management relationship: access to your business account and all program accounts, including programs added later
• Program management relationship: access only to the program accounts you choose

For more on the portal itself, see what is CARM.

What the POA covers

A customs POA authorizes the broker to do business with CBSA for your commercial imports. Typical work includes:

• Preparing and sending the documents and data CBSA needs to release your goods
• Accounting for your goods and paying duties and taxes for you
• Keeping records of your transactions
• Answering CBSA questions about your entries, and making corrections and adjustments for you

The agency agreement you sign with your broker is the written authority CBSA requires, and it must describe the type of business you authorize the broker to transact with CBSA for you (D1-6-1, paras 6, 7 and 9).

Under D1-6-1, the written authority must state:

• The names, business numbers and addresses of the importer and the broker
• The type of business being authorized (for example, accounting and payment of duties on commercial goods imported under section 32 of the Customs Act)
• Whether the authority is continuous or for a set period
• Whether the broker may appoint a sub-agent
• The name, title and signature of the broker's signer
• The name, title and signature of the importer's signer
• The effective date

Details to have ready

Most POA delays come from details that don't match CBSA's records. Before you sign, have:

• Your legal business name exactly as it appears on your business number (BN). Not a trade name or a shortened version. If you import under more than one name, CRA asks that all of them be listed when you register your BN for importing, because CBSA's records must match the names on your release documents.
• Your business number with your import-export (RM) account, for example 123456789RM0001. CBSA calls this 15-character number your BN15, and it uses it to identify you as the importer.
• Your business address and a contact person
• A signer who has authority to bind the company, such as an officer or owner, with their name and title
• A proper signature. D1-6-1 says CBSA does not accept an electronic check-off box in place of a wet (ink on paper) signature on an agency agreement, and that faxed copies may be accepted. We'll tell you how to sign and return the J.W. Smith Agency Agreement (Power of Attorney).

Liability: the POA doesn't move it

Signing a POA doesn't make your broker responsible for your duties. Your business stays liable. Since January 1, 2026, the Customs Act (s.17(3)) also makes the business named as the importer on the customs declaration, and the owner of the goods when they're released, jointly liable for any duties owed. For most importers that's all the same company, but if you let your account be used for someone else's goods, you can be on the hook for them.

D1-6-1 is also blunt: if your broker gives CBSA wrong information or doesn't pass on money you paid it, you remain fully liable for the duties, taxes, penalties and interest.

Your broker must give you a copy, or a receipt, of each accounting transaction it submits for you, and it must keep its own records for six years (Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations ss. 14(c) and 17(1)–(2); D1-8-1 para 41). Under D17-2-5 para 6, the importer of record is still responsible for its own record keeping.

Switching brokers and revoking the old authority

When you move to a new broker, close out the old one properly:

1. Tell the old broker in writing that its authority is cancelled. D1-6-1 puts this responsibility on the importer.
2. End or change the old broker's access in the CARM Client Portal. D1-6-1 says this must be done when you cancel an authorization. Your business account manager goes to Setup my portal > Manage my business relationships, opens the broker's relationship under Details, and edits it, for example by setting an expiry date. Once the relationship expires, the old broker loses access to your program accounts. It can still view the transactions it submitted for you.
3. Sign the new broker's POA and accept its portal relationship before your next shipment.

Unless you instruct otherwise, CBSA assumes the old broker keeps authority to finish transactions it started before you cancelled. Agree with both brokers who will close out open entries so nothing is missed or filed twice.

Still comparing options? Read how to choose the right customs broker for your business.

Non-resident importers: get your business number first

Non-resident importers must get a nine-digit business number (BN9) from the Canada Revenue Agency before registering in the CARM Client Portal. Resident businesses can usually get a BN9 inside the portal, but NRIs can't. CBSA warns that trying to register without one causes a registration error.

The order for an NRI is:

1. Get a BN9 from CRA (register as a non-resident doing business in Canada)
2. Register in the CARM Client Portal and enrol in the import program to get your BN15
3. Sign the broker's POA using the exact legal name on your BN
4. Accept the broker's business relationship and delegate authority in the portal

Talk to J.W. Smith

Setting up a broker for the first time, or moving to a new one? Call J.W. Smith Customs Broker Ltd at (905) 542-7327, or see how we help businesses import into Canada.