CBSA Adjusts Service Fees to Reflect Inflation, Effective April 1, 2026

The CBSA will increase certain fees that have not been adjusted for inflation since 2019 and will begin applying GST/HST to specific traveller clearance charges under cost recovery agreements.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced a series of service fee adjustments that will take effect on April 1, 2026, as part of the annual inflation adjustment requirements under the Service Fees Act.

The changes affect several customs-related charges, including customs broker licensing fees, customs special services charges, and warehouse storage charges at CBSA offices.

The updated amounts reflect compounded inflation since April 1, 2019, resulting in a 25.3% increase over the rates currently billed.

Increases to certain CBSA fees

Under the Service Fees Act, applicable fees must be adjusted annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada.

CBSA notes that although this legal requirement took effect on April 1, 2019, most fees subject to adjustment have not yet been billed at the inflation-adjusted rates.

As a result, on April 1, 2026, the applicable fees that have not been adjusted since April 1, 2019, will increase to reflect compounded CPI since that date.

The fee groups impacted by the compounded adjustment include:

• Customs broker fees: for licence issuance and renewal, and the application to write the customs broker professional examination
• Customs special services charges: for officer call-in charges to perform special services for imported or exported goods, including the Courier Low Value Shipment (CLVS) Program
• Kings and frontier warehouse storage charges: for storage of commercial goods left at a customs office or deposited in a place of safe-keeping

These fees will continue to be adjusted annually for inflation going forward.

GST/HST applied to certain traveller service charges

CBSA is also applying GST/HST to certain traveller clearance service charges billed through cost recovery agreements.

These agreements may apply when traveller clearance services are:

• Provided outside authorized CBSA hours of service,
• Delivered at non-designated CBSA locations, or
• Not part of the regular services offered at a CBSA site

Following a review and to comply with a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) ruling, the CBSA will apply GST/HST to these service charges, effective April 1, 2026.

However, border services for the clearance of travellers arriving in Canada during regular business hours at designated points of entry remain publicly funded and not subject to fees.

At Cole International, we offer trade consulting and customs brokerage services to help Canadian businesses plan for regulatory changes and compliance requirements.

Reach out to one of our trade professionals to discuss how these service fee changes apply to your operations and identify potential cost impacts.