Canada Still Has De Minimis: CLVS Thresholds for Cross-Border E-Commerce After the US Suspension

The United States suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports in 2025, but Canada did not. As of mid-2026, qualifying courier shipments into Canada can still receive duty and tax relief under the Courier Imports Remission Order (CIRO), with thresholds of CAD 20 for most origins and CAD 40 and CAD 150 for goods shipped from the United States or Mexico. These rules operate through the Courier Low Value Shipment (CLVS) program, which streamlines eligible shipments up to a CAD 3,300 value-for-duty ceiling. 

For businesses selling into Canada, understanding which threshold applies can materially change landed costs and pricing. 

Why Sellers Assume Canada Ended De Minimis Too

For nearly ten years, the USD 800 threshold under Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 was the reference point for North American parcel logistics, including goods routed into Canada through US distribution hubs. Trade-press commentary often framed low-value policy around that single figure, even though Canada sets its own relief in Canadian dollars and splits it by shipping mode and origin.

When the White House issued Executive Order 14324, "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries," on July 30, 2025, carrier bulletins and legal alerts described it as the end of de minimis, full stop. The suspension language is global in the sense that it covers imports from every country of origin, but it operates only under US customs law. Coverage that summarized the change as "de minimis is now zero" rarely distinguished that the rule reaches shipments entering the United States, not shipments entering Canada.

The confusion deepens because Canada, the United States, and Mexico all use the term "de minimis" to describe low-value relief under CUSMA. The three countries implement it through different domestic instruments, so a change to US Section 321 treatment does not touch Canada's remission orders. Anyone modeling landed cost on Canadian lanes needs the Canadian numbers, not a carried-over reading of the US de minimis suspension.

Canada's Courier De Minimis Thresholds in Canadian Dollars

Canada's relief for courier shipments comes from the Courier Imports Remission Order (CIRO), made under the Financial Administration Act and consolidated on the Justice Laws website. CIRO grants remission of customs duties and taxes on qualifying low-value courier imports; CBSA Memorandum D8-2-16 explains how claimants code that remission in the CARM system. The controlling figure is the value for duty, based on the country from which the goods are shipped rather than where they were manufactured.

The thresholds vary by origin and mode:

Two points trip up sellers most often. First, the higher CAD 40 and CAD 150 bands attach to goods shipped from the US or Mexico regardless of where they were made, provided they entered the commerce of one of those countries before moving to Canada. A product manufactured in Vietnam but stocked and shipped from a US warehouse qualifies for the US band; the same product shipped directly from Vietnam falls back to the CAD 20 floor. Second, the relief runs per shipment and per transaction, so the postal network keeps a single CAD 20 threshold no matter the country of origin, including the US and Mexico.

CBSA is explicit that de minimis applies per shipment, not per box. Splitting one customer order into several consignments so that each package falls under a threshold is not acceptable; if the total value for duty exceeds the limit, duties apply to the entire shipment. Goods bought through a Canadian address or retailer but drop-shipped from abroad can fall outside CIRO altogether and be treated as higher-value commercial imports.

How CUSMA Article 7.8 Sets the CAD 40 and CAD 150 Floors

The two-tier US and Mexico bands are not a Canadian courtesy. They are treaty obligations. CUSMA Article 7.8 requires Canada to maintain a de minimis level of at least CAD 150 for customs duties and at least CAD 40 for taxes on courier shipments from the United States or Mexico. Canada implements those commitments through CIRO, which is why a CAD 100 parcel shipped from a US warehouse clears duty-free but still carries GST, HST, or PST: the treaty floor for taxes is CAD 40, and CBSA applies tax above it.

The treaty sets a minimum, not a cap, and it applies only to the US and Mexico lanes. Canada has chosen to keep a lower CAD 20 combined threshold for shipments from all other origins and for every postal import. That is a policy decision within Canada's discretion, and CUSMA does not require Canada to extend the CAD 40 or CAD 150 relief to shipments from Europe, Asia, or anywhere outside North America. Sellers who read CUSMA de minimis as a regional standard covering all inbound parcels misread the scope; the higher bands are lane-specific.

Because the bands turn on the shipping origin and the value for duty, the same catalog can face three different outcomes depending on fulfillment. A seller with US inventory reaches Canadian consumers under the CAD 40 and CAD 150 bands. The same seller shipping from an Asian factory hits the CAD 20 wall on nearly every order. Fulfillment location, not product, decides the relief.

The Courier Low Value Shipment Program and Its CAD 3,300 Ceiling

CIRO sets the money; the Courier Low Value Shipment program sets the mechanics. CLVS is a streamlined reporting, release, and accounting stream for qualifying shipments moved by authorized couriers, described in CBSA Memorandum D17-4-0. Goods in the program can be released on consolidated cargo and release lists rather than individual cargo control documents, with extended accounting timelines and simplified proof-of-origin requirements.

The program ceiling is the number sellers most often miss. CLVS applies only to low-value shipments, defined as goods with a value for duty not exceeding CAD 3,300. Anything above that is a high-value shipment and must move through regular commercial entry. The CAD 3,300 ceiling is the outer edge of the simplified stream; it is not a de minimis figure and confers no duty relief on its own. A CAD 2,000 parcel is fully dutiable and taxable, but it can still clear through the streamlined CLVS process.

Eligibility conditions for CLVS include:

• Estimated value for duty not exceeding CAD 3,300 per shipment.

• Goods that are not prohibited, controlled, or regulated by other Acts, subject to carve-outs for some casual cosmetics and energy-using products.

• Release at a customs office designated for CLVS purposes.

• A participating courier that is a bonded carrier resident in Canada, a Partners in Protection member, registered in CARM, and holding Release Prior to Payment security for casual goods.

Inside the program, couriers segment the cargo and release list by CIRO category so remission is coded correctly. The categories map directly to the thresholds above:

• Category A: Value for duty CAD 0 to 20, shipped from outside the US or Mexico.

• Category B: Value for duty CAD 0 to 40, shipped from the US or Mexico.

• Category C: Value for duty CAD 40.01 to 150, shipped from the US or Mexico.

• Category D: Value for duty CAD 20.01 to 3,300 from any country, where duties and taxes apply.

Couriers account for these through CAD Type F entries and code the special-authority order-in-council values (85-2955-1, -2, -3) in CARM to claim the correct remission. CLVS therefore does not change the de minimis amounts. It streamlines how shipments across the bands are reported and released.

One operational constraint matters for newer carriers: CBSA has placed applications for new CLVS participation under a moratorium, referencing Customs Notice 19-12. Existing participants keep operating, but a courier that is not already in the program cannot join until CBSA lifts the pause. Emerging e-commerce carriers routing volume into Canada should confirm their fulfillment partner's CLVS status rather than assume access.

What US Suspension Changed, and Why Canada Did Not Follow

On the US side, the picture is now the mirror image of Canada's. The statutory USD 800 threshold still sits in 19 U.S.C. 1321, but duty-free treatment under it is suspended. A Federal Register notice implementing Executive Order 14324 confirmed that, for articles entered for consumption on or after August 29, 2025, the duty-free de minimis exemption is suspended for all countries. Low-value shipments must now be entered using standard formal or informal entry procedures and pay applicable duties, taxes, and fees.

Follow-on action broadened the suspension through 2026. Interim final rules published in June 2026 indefinitely suspended the exemption for merchandise arriving by all modes and set up new postal informal entry procedures for shipments valued at USD 2,500 or less, with duty collection rather than a restored exemption. Congress went further: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repeals the statutory de minimis exemption itself, effective July 1, 2027. The direction of travel in the US is toward permanent removal of low-value relief for commercial parcels.

Canada's regime moved in the opposite direction over the same period. The CUSMA implementation changes that took effect with the agreement raised the low-value shipment ceiling to CAD 3,300 and preserved the CIRO thresholds. As of their latest modification dates, CBSA's CUSMA guidance and Memorandum D8-2-16 continue to reference de minimis at CAD 20, CAD 40, CAD 150, and the CAD 3,300 program ceiling, with no notice suspending them. No CBSA Customs Notice, Department of Finance proposal, or Parliamentary bill publicly available in mid-2026 would eliminate the CIRO thresholds or align Canada with the US suspension. Canada's relief is treaty-anchored on the US and Mexico lanes, which raises the bar for unilateral removal.

How the Same Parcel Clears Canada vs the US

The practical consequence is that an identical low-value parcel gets opposite treatment depending on direction. The table below traces four common e-commerce scenarios.

Who pays and how differs too. In Canada, CLVS lets the courier account for casual shipments in place of the consumer and remit duties and taxes to CBSA, often billing the buyer plus a handling fee. When CIRO relief applies, the buyer pays only carrier fees while CBSA treats the goods as duty- or tax-free. Those carrier handling and brokerage charges are private business fees for preparing and filing documentation. They are not CBSA-imposed customs duties, and a courier can still bill them even on a shipment where CIRO remits the duty. In the US, couriers and brokers now generally file entries on all low-value shipments, collect the duties and fees, and remit them through CBP's systems, because there is no underlying duty-free relief left to apply.

What Sellers Shipping Into Canada Should Do Now

Sellers moving goods into Canada keep a real de minimis advantage that US-bound sellers have lost, and the highest-value move is to fulfill Canadian demand from US or Mexican inventory so orders qualify for the CAD 40 and CAD 150 bands rather than the CAD 20 floor. That single fulfillment decision changes the duty outcome on most consumer orders. Confirm that the shipping courier is an active CLVS participant, since the program moratorium blocks new entrants, and code shipments to the correct CIRO category so remission is not lost to a filing error.

Above the relief bands, classification becomes the controlling variable. Any parcel over CAD 150 from the US or Mexico, over CAD 20 from other origins, or into the dutiable CLVS range needs a correct Canadian HS code to compute the duty, and Canada's tariff schedule diverges from the US HTS below the six-digit level, so dual-market sellers have to classify twice. Accurate Canadian tariff classification is what keeps landed-cost estimates and CBSA accounting defensible once a shipment crosses a threshold, and it is exactly the work Gaia Dynamics automates, assigning HS codes at 92% accuracy in seconds rather than the minutes a manual lookup takes. For US-based sellers building out a Canadian channel, the classification work sits alongside CARM registration and the CUSMA rules of origin that decide which band applies, a sequence covered in Gaia's guide to CARM registration for US importers expanding north.

Learn how Gaia simplifies Canadian tariff classification, landed-cost analysis, and customs compliance for cross-border commerce. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Is Canada's de minimis threshold really CAD 20?

Not always. CAD 20 applies to mail and courier shipments from outside the US and Mexico. Courier shipments from the US or Mexico qualify for duty and tax relief up to CAD 40 and duty relief up to CAD 150. CLVS applies to eligible shipments valued up to CAD 3,300. 

Does a product have to be made in the US to get the CAD 40 or CAD 150 band?

No. Eligibility depends on where the goods are shipped from, not where they are manufactured. Goods shipped from the US or Mexican commerce qualify for the higher thresholds, while shipments sent directly from other countries generally fall under the CAD 20 threshold. 

Did the US ending de minimis change anything in Canada?

No. The US suspension applies only to imports entering the United States under US customs law. Canada continues to operate under the Courier Imports Remission Order and the CLVS program, with the same CAD 20, CAD 40, CAD 150, and CAD 3,300 thresholds remaining in effect. 

What is the difference between CIRO and the CLVS program?

CIRO sets the duty and tax relief thresholds. CLVS is the customs clearance program for eligible courier shipments valued up to CAD 3,300. A shipment can qualify for CLVS while still owing duties and taxes. 

Are courier handling fees the same as customs duty?

No. Courier handling and brokerage fees are private service charges for preparing and filing customs documentation. They are separate from the duties and taxes collected by CBSA. As a result, a shipment can qualify for CIRO duty relief while still incurring handling fees from the carrier.