Canada’s tariff relief programs offer timely supports for your business

Executive summary

The federal government offers several remission programs to provide relief for Canadian businesses from U.S. tariffs. Understanding these different options and identifying which ones are most appropriate to your business is essential.

Remission programs provide relief from surtaxes, commonly referred to as tariffs, on qualifying goods.

Canada announced several remission programs related to tariffs imposed on goods originating from the U.S. in response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. The federal government recently amended its United States surtax remission order (2025) to extend the applicability of this relief.

Categories of goods currently affected by Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods include vehicles, food and beverages, outdoor and sports products, personal care and home furnishings, tools and steel and aluminum.

Navigating remission applications

RSM Canada’s trade advisory practice can support middle market businesses as they navigate the remission process and related customs.

Since several remission programs are available, importers will need to choose the program which best fits their goods and their needs. Depending on the relevant remission program, applicants may be required to provide additional information on their goods or operations—or supporting documents to claim refunds of surtaxes.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) could also audit remission claims to ensure the relief was properly claimed. To allow for these audits, the customs notice for the United States surtax remission order (2025) states importers to maintain records when they claim relief. Importers should review customs compliance to avoid issues with heightened disclosure and scrutiny.

Remission programs

Remission programs provide prospective relief from surtaxes and allow refunds on surtaxes paid on qualifying imports.

Some of the available programs are product-dependent, while others are more general or based on intended use or importer of the product.

It is critical for businesses to understand the different programs and identify which ones are the most appropriate.

Here is a summary of the remission programs that the federal government currently offers:

Available remission programs: United States surtax remission order

For relief under this order, the importer must make a claim within two years of the importation date and cannot have received relief from surtaxes applied on U.S. goods under another program.

To claim this relief on upcoming imports, importers can enter the relevant special authorization code in their commercial accounting declaration.

Goods referred to Schedule 1 through 4

A revised remission order released on July 16 added three new schedules of goods—joining one previously existing schedule—to qualify for remission relief if imported prior to Oct. 16, 2025. This excludes those in Schedule 3, which must be imported before March 13, 2026.

The goods included in these schedules are:

• Schedule 1: Infant and nutritional formula and medical items.

• Schedule 2: Whey protein, rice, steel and wood products, tires, bags and other goods.

• Schedule 3: Certain flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel.

Schedule 4 is only applicable to entities listed in that schedule.

As most of this relief was only recently announced, some importers may need to claim refunds on previously paid surtaxes. This can be done by amending their commercial accounting declaration.

Motor vehicles

This remission program is available to certain motor vehicles whose harmonized system (HS) code begins with 8703 as well as all-terrain vehicles, including utility terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles. The vehicles must be imported before Oct. 16, 2025.

Some vehicles that qualify for this program also qualify for the remission program outlined in the automotive section described below.

These goods are newly added to this remission order. This means some importers may need to claim refunds on previously paid surtaxes by amending their commercial accounting declaration.

Manufacture, processing or packaging

Goods imported for use in Canada in the manufacture or processing of any good or the packaging of food or beverages can have tariffs remitted if the goods are imported before Oct. 16, 2025.

Health care, public health, public safety and national security

This remission is applicable to goods imported by or on behalf of organizations involved in public health, public safety, health care and national security, or for use in medically necessary health care services. The goods must be imported before Oct. 16, 2025.

Other remission programs

Automotive

The automotive remission program is applicable to motor vehicles imported between April 9, 2025 and April 8, 2026. Some vehicles that qualify for this program also qualify for the remission program outlined in the previous motor vehicles section.

To qualify as an importer for the purposes of this program, the entity must manufacture motor vehicles in Canada and import them from the U.S. for the purpose of sale in Canada.

To make an application, an importer must file a claim with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness within two years after the date of importation and cannot have received other relief from the tariffs for the same motor vehicle(s).

If the importer has reduced or paused its manufacturing in Canada because of factory retooling, they will be additionally required to restart manufacturing in accordance with the requirements set by Public Safety Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. These departments may request additional information as part of the remission process.

General remission program

A general remission process is available to companies registered in Canada where:

• Goods used as inputs cannot be sourced domestically—either on a national or regional basis or reasonably from non-U.S. sources.

• On a case-by-case basis, other exceptional circumstances that could have severe adverse effects on the Canadian economy.

Importers can apply for this relief by providing the required information to the Department of Finance.

Additional tariff relief opportunities

Other mitigation opportunities are available that may be better suited to importers’ circumstances. Since most of the remission programs have limited time frames, these alternate mitigation opportunities can provide longer-term relief.

These strategies could also be explored and implemented in conjunction with the remission programs—subject to the one relief program limitation mentioned previously.

Some options include:

• Other government-administered programs such as duty deferral, drawback and bonded warehouses.

• Tariff mitigation strategies such as valuation strategy changes and tariff engineering to change classification of goods.