Customs Notice 26-03: Changes to Mass Adjustment Submissions

Ottawa, February 2, 2026

The purpose of this notice is to outline the changes to the mass adjustment process, effective February 2, 2026. All of the submission requirements outlined in Memorandum D17-2-1: Adjusting Commercial Accounting Declarations must continue to be followed, in addition to the new requirements in this Customs Notice, until D17-2-1 is updated. For guidance on how to submit a Mass Adjustment, consult CARM User Guides - Submit a mass adjustment request.

1. Reminder that mass adjustments may be submitted for corrections, however they are not permitted in the same request as adjustments. A correction is a voluntary change to a declaration that occurs between the initial acceptance of the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) and 11:59:59 pm EST/EDT on the payment due date.

2. Mass Adjustments are only applicable to CADs in CARM. For information on how to adjust Pre-CARM B3s that have not been converted to CADs, consult Memorandum D17-2-4: Preparation and Presentation of Pre-CARM Adjustments.

New Mass Adjustment form submission

3. When submitting a mass adjustment, BSF987 - Mass Adjustment request form must be completed and uploaded to the mass adjustment case in the CARM Client Portal (CCP).

Reason codes

4. Changes requested in a mass adjustment must apply to all lines in the case, and generate the same results, that is, all lines generate a refund or all lines generate a receivable or all lines generate a GST credit. A mass adjustment may be submitted for up to three reason codes and the changes must apply to all lines. If the same changes do not apply to all lines, the mass adjustment case will be rejected and time limits will not be protected.

Example 1: A change in tariff classification from 0805.10.00.10 ("As Declared") to 0804.40.00 00 ("As Adjusted") must apply to all lines included in the mass adjustment case. You cannot include other tariff classification changes in the same request.

5. Multiple legislative issues can now be used, and to avoid the underpayment or overpayment of interest, the following reason code order must be followed:

• Refunds: If the adjustment results in a refund, the trade program code and reason code that support the refund request must be entered in the commodity reason code 1 field.

  Example 2: An adjustment is submitted requesting a change from a surtax subject tariff classification to a surtax non-subject tariff classification (R2-74-1-G-53 or R2-74-1-GR-53 if OIC is claimed). In this example, the duty rates are the same (R3-32-2-2.TC). This will result in a refund of surtax and the commodity reason code 1 must be R2-74-1-G-53 or R2-74-1-GR-53 (if OIC is claimed) and the commodity reason code 2 is R3-32-2-2.TC.

  Example 3: An adjustment is submitted requesting a change to a tariff classification with a higher duty rate (R3-32-2-2.TC) and the application of a preferential tariff treatment (R2-74-1-C11). If the overall result of the line is a refund, the commodity reason code 1 must be R2-74-1-C11 and the commodity reason code 2 is R3-32-2-2.TC.

• Receivables or non-revenue: If the adjustment results in an amount owing to the CBSA or is revenue neutral, the trade program code and reason code that supports the amount owed or non-revenue change must be entered in the commodity reason code 1 field.

  Example 4: An adjustment is submitted requesting an increase in Value for Duty (R3-32-2-2.VFD) and a change to tariff classification with a lower duty rate (R2-74-1-E.TC). If the overall result of the line is an amount owing (receivable) to the CBSA, the commodity reason code 1 must be R3-32-2-2.VFD and the commodity reason code 2 is R2-74-1-E.TC.

For more information on reason codes, refer to Appendix A of Memorandum D17-2-1.

Rejections

6. Failure to follow the new mass adjustment requirements outlined in this Customs Notice will result in the rejection of the mass adjustment case.

7. When a mass adjustment case is rejected, the case status will be set to "Rejected" and any CADs that were selected for review will be individually rejected. A Statement of Adjustment will not be produced for these CADs but the reason for the rejection will be communicated via an ad-hoc notification in the CCP. For further information on how to view ad-hoc notifications in the CARM Client Portal, refer to View notifications in the CARM User Guide.

8. CADs that were not referred for review and have been processed in CARM will not be affected by the rejection decision of the mass adjustment case. These CADs will have Statements of Adjustments confirming the adjustments have been processed.

9. For more information, Contact border information service:

• Calls within Canada and the United States (toll free): 1-800-461-9999
• Calls outside Canada and the United States (long distance charges apply): 1-204-983-3550 or 1-506-636-5064
• TTY: 1-866-335-3237

Contact us online (webform)
Contact the CBSA page may also be accessed for information.