The first customs invoice I ever got had a line on it I didn’t recognise: “brokerage.” I had budgeted for duty and GST, but this was a separate charge from a company I had barely spoken to. If you are importing into Canada, brokerage is a normal and often worthwhile cost — but you should understand exactly what you are paying for, because it lands in your cost of goods just like duty does.

What a customs broker actually does

A licensed customs broker acts on your behalf to get your shipment across the border legally and quickly. Concretely, they:

• Prepare and submit your customs entry to CBSA.
• Classify your goods under the correct HS code in the Customs Tariff and determine the duty rate.
• Calculate the customs value, duty, and the 5% GST owed at the border.
• Advance payment of duties and taxes to CBSA so your goods aren’t held, then bill you back.
• Flag valuation, origin, or documentation problems before they become penalties.

In other words, they translate between you and CBSA and take on the fiddly, high-stakes paperwork. When I was new, having someone who catches a misclassification before it becomes a reassessment was genuinely worth the fee.

How CARM changed the picture

With CARM, every commercial importer registers their own business in the CBSA portal and is directly responsible for their account. You can grant a broker access to act for you, or you can self-clear. CARM has made self-clearing more visible as an option, because you already have the portal set up. But registering in CARM and actually preparing a correct entry are two very different levels of effort.

Self-clearing vs using a broker

You are legally allowed to clear your own shipments. Self-clearing means you deal with CBSA directly, classify your own goods, calculate duty and GST yourself, and submit the entry. For a simple, low-value, repeat shipment of a product you understand well, this can save you the brokerage fee entirely.

The catch is that the responsibility — and the risk of getting classification or valuation wrong — sits entirely with you. Errors can mean reassessments, interest, and penalties down the line. My honest take: self-clear once you understand your product’s classification cold and your shipments are routine. Until then, a broker’s fee is cheap insurance.

Typical fee structures

Brokerage fees vary by broker and by the complexity of your shipment, so treat these as categories rather than fixed prices — always get a quote. Common components:

• Entry preparation fee — the core charge for preparing and submitting your customs entry. It often scales with the number of classification lines or the complexity of the shipment.
• Disbursement fee — a charge for the broker fronting your duty and GST to CBSA. It is frequently a percentage of the amount advanced, sometimes with a minimum.
• Additional line or classification fees — extra charges when a shipment has many different products needing separate HS codes.
• Other pass-through charges — things like release fees, PARS processing, or storage if goods are held.

Ask for the full fee schedule up front. A cheap-looking entry fee can be offset by a chunky disbursement percentage, so compare the all-in cost, not the headline.

How brokerage hits your landed cost

Brokerage is a real, permanent cost per shipment — and because it is largely fixed rather than per-unit, it hurts small orders most. If a broker charges, say, $150 on a shipment of 100 units, that is $1.50 a unit; spread the same fee over 1,000 units and it is 15 cents. This is one more reason small, frequent orders cost more per unit than fewer larger ones. Whenever I build a landed-cost sheet, brokerage gets its own line right alongside duty, GST, and freight, because leaving it out understates my true cost.

Do small importers actually need a broker?

My honest answer: usually yes at the start, and it becomes optional later. A broker is worth it when:

• You are new and unsure of your HS classification.
• Your shipments are complex, mixed, or high-value enough that an error would be costly.
• You would rather buy back your time than learn CBSA’s systems right now.

You can reasonably move to self-clearing when your product line is stable, you know its classification and duty rate cold, and your shipments are routine enough that the paperwork is predictable. Some importers keep a broker permanently simply because the fee is small relative to the peace of mind — and that is a perfectly rational choice too.

Brokerage is not a mysterious tax; it is a service with a price. Understand what it covers, get the fee schedule in writing, build it into your landed cost, and then decide with clear eyes whether to keep paying it or take the clearing in-house.

This is based on my own experience — not financial, tax, or legal advice. Rules, rates, and fees change, so confirm current details with official sources like the CRA and CBSA before you decide.