Still on Update 24
CBSA posted Update 24 on April 25 at 08:00 ET. The EDI and eManifest portal delays that started weeks ago haven't cleared. The system is accepting inbound data — cargo control messages, ACI filings, CAD submissions — but outbound acknowledgments and status updates are still lagging. The Systems Outage Contingency Plan (SOCP) remains in effect, which means paper entries are still accepted at port and CBSA sufferance locations.
If you've been filing CADs electronically and waiting for release notifications, you know what this looks like: the cargo control number processes, the PARS or RMD request goes through, but the status reply sits in queue. You check the CARM Client Portal and the file shows pending. You call the port, they confirm manual release, but the EDI acknowledgment hasn't reached your customs software yet.
That's not a filing error. That's the queue.
What SOCP Means for CAD Filing and Release Prior to Payment
The SOCP gives brokers two paths: continue filing electronic CADs through EDI, or revert to paper Form B3-3 entries at the port. Most of us are still filing electronically because the inbound side works — CBSA receives the data, processes it, and releases cargo. The problem is the feedback loop. Status messages, release confirmations, and error codes come back late or not at all.
If you're working under a Release Prior to Payment (RPP) bond and your goods are time-sensitive, the delay creates a blind spot. You filed the CAD Thursday afternoon, the truck is scheduled for pickup Friday morning, but you haven't received the CBSA release acknowledgment by end of day Thursday. The driver shows up at the Montreal sufferance warehouse Friday at 06:30, and the warehouse can't confirm clearance because the portal message hasn't landed.
In normal conditions, that's a broker error or a bond problem. Right now, it's system lag. The cargo is released — CBSA processed it manually — but the message confirming that fact is stuck in the outbound queue.
We've been calling port officers directly to confirm release status before dispatch. That works, but it doesn't scale when you're filing sixty CADs a day across three ports.
eManifest Cargo Control and ACI Lag
The same delay hits eManifest. Carriers transmit ACI (Advance Commercial Information) and cargo control data inbound, CBSA receives it, but the outbound acknowledgment — the message that confirms the cargo control number is active and the shipment can cross — comes back hours or days late.
For PARS shipments, that means the carrier has already crossed, the goods are at the warehouse, and the PARS number shows as processed in CBSA's internal system. But the broker's customs software hasn't received the acknowledgment, so the file sits in "pending" status. You're waiting for a green light that's already been given.
For RMD (Release on Minimum Documentation) shipments, the lag is worse. RMD relies on real-time status updates to trigger the next step in the release workflow. If the acknowledgment doesn't arrive within the expected window, the file stalls. You can manually override and proceed, but that means checking every file by hand instead of letting the system route automatically.
The Cost Stack When Outbound Messages Are Late
The direct cost is drayage detention and warehouse dwell time. If the carrier is waiting on confirmation to pick up, and that confirmation is delayed by six or eight hours, the truck either sits (and charges detention) or reschedules for the next day. If the warehouse can't confirm release, the cargo sits overnight. At our Montreal facility, that's an extra day of storage and handling, which adds up fast when you're moving twenty containers a week.
The indirect cost is planning reliability. If you can't trust the status messages in your customs software, you start calling every file. That turns a six-person brokerage team into a phone bank. The processing time per file doubles, and the error rate climbs because you're manually cross-checking instead of relying on system confirmations.
For importers running just-in-time inventory or cross-dock operations, the lag means safety stock. You can't count on same-day release if the status message is going to arrive six hours after the fact. You buffer an extra day, which means more warehouse capacity and higher carrying costs.
CARM Client Portal as Backup
The CARM Client Portal is slower than EDI, but it's stable. You can log in, check the transaction status, and see whether CBSA has processed the CAD and released the goods. The data is there — it's just not flowing back through the EDI channel.
We've been using the portal as a backup to confirm release before dispatch. That means logging in, pulling up the CAD by transaction number, and checking the status manually. It works, but it's not a workflow you want to run at scale. The portal wasn't built for high-volume real-time status checks. It's built for monthly K84 reviews, bond adjustments, and compliance audits.
If you're filing fifty or sixty CADs a day, checking each one manually in the portal adds twenty to thirty minutes per hour. That's not sustainable beyond a short-term contingency.
Paper Entries Under SOCP
The SOCP allows paper Form B3-3 entries at the port. That's a full reversion to pre-CARM process: you fill out the paper form, submit it at the CBSA office, and the officer processes it manually. No EDI, no portal, no outbound message queue.
Paper entries work if you're filing a handful of urgent shipments and the port has the staff to process them. They don't work if you're filing twenty CADs a day across three ports. The processing time is longer, the error rate is higher (because you're re-keying data that was already in your customs software), and you lose the audit trail that electronic filing provides.
We've submitted paper entries for a few time-critical shipments — perishable cold-chain cargo that couldn't wait for the EDI queue to clear — but it's a fallback, not a solution.
What to Expect Monday Morning
If the queue doesn't clear over the weekend, Monday morning will be a backlog. Carriers will cross Sunday night and early Monday with ACI and cargo control data, and CBSA will process it inbound. But the outbound acknowledgments will stack up behind everything that's been queued since April 25.
For PARS and RMD release, that means delayed status messages on shipments that have already cleared. For CAD filings submitted Friday afternoon, it means Monday morning pickups that can't be confirmed until mid-morning or later.
If you're scheduling dispatch for Monday, assume the status message will be late. Call the port to confirm release before the truck leaves. Check the CARM Client Portal manually. Don't rely on the EDI acknowledgment arriving on time.
What We're Doing
We're filing CADs electronically because the inbound side is stable, but we're confirming release status by phone and portal before dispatch. We're logging every delayed acknowledgment so we have a record when CBSA reconciles the queue. And we're scheduling pickups with an extra two-hour buffer to account for the lag between actual release and confirmed release.
If you're dealing with the same backlog and need a second set of eyes on your CAD filing timing or RPP bond coverage, that's the kind of call we take all day. Get in touch.
Originally published at https://www.canflow-global.com/en/insights/cbsa-update-24-edi-and-emanifest-delays-socp-still-live-and-what-it-means-for-mo/.
