The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed on April 24, 2026, that persistent IT system outages have significantly disrupted commercial operations at major land border crossings between Canada and the United States. The technical failures, which primarily affect the agency’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, have forced a transition to manual processing for thousands of shipments, leading to substantial delays in the transborder supply chain.
According to reports from the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), the disruption centers on the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system and the Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support System (ACROSS). Technical bulletins issued by the agency indicate that the outage began at approximately 3:15 AM ET. The failure involves a critical database synchronization error within the G11 and G12 messaging gateways, which are essential for processing pre-arrival eManifest data and customs declarations. As of mid-afternoon on April 24, the CBSA reported that automated processing capabilities remained at roughly 30% of standard capacity.
The impact on logistics operations has been immediate. At high-volume ports of entry, including the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, commercial wait times have escalated from an average of 15 minutes to upwards of five hours. The CTA estimates that over 15,000 commercial drivers have been directly impacted by the delays today. Under the activated Business Continuity Plan, drivers are required to present physical copies of lead sheets and customs documentation to border officers, a manual process that has reduced throughput efficiency by an estimated 65% at peak locations.
In an official statement, the CBSA confirmed that Shared Services Canada is working alongside agency technicians to resolve the underlying infrastructure issues. While the agency has not specified a definitive time for full restoration, it noted that the primary focus is stabilizing the EDI gateway to allow for the resumption of automated releases. The outage has also caused secondary latency issues within the Primary Inspection Kiosk (PIK) systems used for air and land travelers, though the agency maintains that traveler processing remains operational with minor delays.
Industry stakeholders have highlighted the financial burden of the outage. The CTA noted that carriers are incurring significant costs related to driver detention time and increased fuel consumption. The alliance has urged the federal government to implement more robust IT redundancy measures, pointing to the critical nature of the $2.5 billion in goods that cross the border daily. This event marks the third significant technical disruption to CBSA commercial systems in the first half of 2026, raising concerns regarding the long-term stability of the CARM infrastructure.