The story
Canada freight is three markets that share a truck. Freight that stays inside Canada runs on provincial rules and never meets a customs officer. Freight that crosses into the United States, the direction most brokers start with, clears customs at a handful of crossings. Freight to and from Mexico rides through the United States under bond, usually with a change of carrier at the southern border. Before you quote a Canada load, know which of the three it belongs to, because the crossing, the paperwork, the equipment and the carrier record all follow from that answer. This guide walks through each one, then covers how brokers price the freight in Canadian dollars and cover it on Cargado.
Which three directions does Canada freight run?
Within Canada. The Highway 401 corridor between Toronto and Montreal is the spine: manufacturing, food and beverage, and the distribution centers that serve both metros. Alberta runs energy and agriculture out of Calgary and Edmonton, Vancouver is the Pacific gateway for import distribution, and Winnipeg links the prairies. There is no customs step. The carrier answers to the province where its trucks are plated, under the National Safety Code, and the freight bill generally carries GST or HST, because domestic freight transportation inside Canada is taxable unless it is part of one continuous international movement. Cargado's marketplace handles freight that starts and ends in Canada. Market Rates does not price those lanes, so a lane within Canada is priced by the bids it draws.
Across the U.S. border. Ontario's automotive and manufacturing freight moves to Michigan, Ohio and the Midwest through Windsor and Sarnia. The Greater Toronto Area trades with the Northeast through Fort Erie. Montreal moves aluminum, paper, food and pharmaceuticals into New York and New England. British Columbia sends lumber, building products and reefer freight south through Surrey into Washington, and Manitoba reaches the U.S. Midwest through Emerson. Each load is cleared by the customs agency of the country it enters, and the truck that carries it needs credentials on both sides. One rule shapes routing in this direction: a Canadian carrier's truck may not carry freight between two U.S. points, apart from a narrow exception for a move incidental to the international trip it is on, and its driver has to satisfy U.S. immigration rules as well, so treat a U.S. domestic leg as off the table; a U.S. carrier's truck in Canada gets at most one domestic point-to-point move, immediately before or after its international leg and only under the CBSA's conditions for it. Freight that crosses the border is zero-rated for GST and HST.
Into and out of Mexico. Canada-to-Mexico and Mexico-to-Canada freight transits the United States. It moves in bond, most often under a transportation and exportation entry filed electronically with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so it crosses the United States without a U.S. consumption entry or duty, and the U.S. leg rides with a bonded carrier. At the Mexico border the freight usually changes hands to a Mexican carrier through a transfer, and the Mexican export needs its pedimento filed, almost always through a Mexican customs broker. Mexico-Canada freight moving in bond through the United States is live on the Cargado network today. In-bond and T&E covers the mechanics.
Which crossings carry the freight?
Four crossings carry most of the truck freight a broker will see. Post the Canadian origin and the U.S. destination by city and province or state, confirm with the customs broker which crossing the freight needs, and name it: Cargado tracks which border markets each carrier runs, so a posting for Ontario freight reaches the carriers already running Windsor or Sarnia.
- Windsor and Detroit. Ontario's automotive belt to Michigan and Ohio assembly plants, with a large dry van market in food, packaging, steel and retail distribution around it. Two bridges now carry trucks over the Detroit River: the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which opened to traffic on July 27, 2026. Ontario to Michigan.
- Sarnia and Port Huron, the Blue Water Bridge. The linehaul route from the Toronto-London corridor to Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis, plus tanker and specialized moves out of Sarnia's petrochemical complex. The twinned bridge crosses the St. Clair River between Point Edward and Port Huron. Ontario to Midwest.
- Fort Erie and Buffalo, the Peace Bridge. The Greater Toronto Area to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England, over the Niagara River, run by a binational public authority. Ontario to Northeast.
- Surrey and Blaine, the Pacific Highway. Vancouver-area distribution, lumber and building products, and produce and seafood on reefer, into Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. British Columbia to Pacific Northwest.
Quebec freight into New York and Vermont and Manitoba freight through Emerson round out the map. Cargado in Canada lists the markets and crossings where the network runs.
What paperwork does a cross-border load need?
Two systems, one for each direction, and the broker's job is to make sure the numbers line up before the truck leaves the dock.
Into Canada: ACI and PARS. The carrier files an ACI eManifest with the Canada Border Services Agency, and the CBSA must have received and validated it at least one hour before the truck reaches the port of entry, or the carrier faces delays and a penalty. For most commercial goods, the importer's customs broker files the release request under PARS, the Pre-arrival Review System, which can be submitted up to 45 days before arrival. The PARS number on the paperwork is what ties the broker's release to the carrier's manifest. A non-bonded carrier must get the goods released at the first port of arrival unless it posts a single-trip bond or hands the freight to a bonded carrier. A bonded carrier can carry unreleased goods inland to a sufferance warehouse or an inland CBSA office, which is what you want when the freight clears anywhere other than at the crossing.
CARM. CARM is the system the CBSA uses to assess and collect duties and taxes, and it belongs to the importer, not the carrier. Since May 20, 2025, an importer without its own posted financial security is not eligible for release prior to payment and pays duties and taxes at the time of release, which means the truck waits. Before the first load for a new Canadian customer, ask whether the importer is set up in CARM with its own security. For the carrier, CARM is the portal where its carrier code and bonded status are managed; the duties sit on the importer's account.
Into the United States: ACE and PAPS. The carrier files an ACE truck eManifest, and CBP must receive it no later than one hour before the truck reaches the first U.S. port of arrival, or 30 minutes for FAST shipments. The U.S. customs broker files the entry under PAPS, the Pre-Arrival Processing System, which links that entry to the carrier's SCAC plus a unique shipment number, shown as a barcode on the shipment paperwork and carried on the manifest. The carrier has to give the broker that number early enough to meet the clock.
Bonded and in-bond. For freight that clears inland, or transits the United States between Mexico and Canada, the carrier's bond is what lets the goods move before release, and the carrier is responsible under that bond until the movement closes. Confirm bonded status on the carrier's own record, not only on the posting. Bonded warehouse and in-bond cover the terms.
Whatever the direction, confirm the customs broker on both sides and the documents before pickup. Complete documents do not rule out an inspection. Missing ones guarantee a wait.
What equipment does Canada freight need?
Winter is a product. From November through March, freight that moves dry van in July needs a reefer running heat. Paint, adhesives, beverages, pharmaceuticals and canned goods carry a protect-from-freezing requirement, and a posting that buries it in the comments field gets the wrong trucks. In British Columbia, tractor-trailers must carry steel chains on most designated highways from October 1 to April 30, and the routes are marked with regulatory signs.
The standard cross-border set is dry van, reefer and heated, open deck (flatbed, step deck, double drop, RGN and Conestoga), power only and drop-and-hook. Domestic Canada adds long combination vehicles where provincial permits allow them. In Ontario, an LCV is a tractor pulling two full-length semi-trailers, up to 40 meters long, run under a ministry permit by a driver with an LCV certificate, on approved multi-lane highways, and never in bad weather. Prairie lanes run Super-B trains, and Alberta's energy, lumber and mining freight runs heavy haul and oversize. Put the equipment and every requirement in its own field, because matching reads the fields, not the notes. Dry van, reefer and flatbed cover the trailer types.
Which carrier records do you check?
Canada has no single federal carrier number. Safety regulation runs under the National Safety Code, and the province where the carrier plates its trucks issues its safety certificate and keeps its record: a CVOR in Ontario, an NIR in Quebec, an NSC number everywhere else. Ontario's safety rating is public and its Level 1 CVOR abstract can be ordered by anyone. Quebec's registration has to be updated every year and the paperwork is in French. Elsewhere, ask the carrier for its carrier profile.
A carrier that runs into the United States also holds a USDOT number, because a Canada-domiciled carrier in interstate commerce must register with FMCSA, and its record sits in CSA, FMCSA's safety program, which uses two years of roadside inspections and crash reports, plus investigations, to flag carriers with safety problems. Check both layers on a cross-border carrier: the provincial record and the FMCSA record.
Border credentials are a third layer. The CBSA carrier code, bonded or non-bonded, is what lets a carrier report freight at the Canadian border. FAST, the joint CBSA and CBP program, gives approved carriers dedicated lanes at designated ports; into Canada the carrier and the importer must be authorized under PIP, into the United States the carrier must be a C-TPAT FAST-approved carrier hauling goods for a FAST-approved importer, and in either direction everyone in the truck needs a valid FAST driver card. Require FAST or PIP when your customer requires it, not by default, because every requirement on a posting shrinks the list of carriers who are notified.
On Cargado, every carrier applies and our carrier team reviews the application before turning the account on. A Canadian carrier submits its CVOR, NIR or NSC number, a safety fitness certificate, a certificate of incorporation and a certificate of insurance, plus a workers' compensation clearance if it has employees, and three references. FAST, PIP and CTPAT status is tracked on the carrier record, you can list requirements such as bonded status or a cargo insurance minimum on each posting, and you can block a carrier on any posting. That review does not replace your own onboarding. How Cargado vets carriers has the detail, and carrier vetting defines the term. A full checklist for vetting Canadian carriers is the companion to this guide.
How do you price Canada freight in Canadian dollars?
Quote in the currency your customer pays in, and say so on the quote. Market Rates returns low, mid and high bands (P25, P50 and P75) built from real carrier bids over a trailing 12-week window, refreshed weekly, each with a confidence score, and the rate comes back in U.S. dollars, pesos or Canadian dollars, whichever you ask for. Cross-border Canada lanes are priced where carriers are bidding. The data is thinner than Mexico, and a thin lane gets a lower confidence score rather than a made-up number. Lanes within Canada are not priced in Market Rates; post them and let the bids set the number.
Two directions, two quotes. Price Toronto to Chicago and Chicago to Toronto separately, on current bids for the lane, the equipment and the pickup date. Then account for tax: a domestic move inside Canada generally carries GST or HST on the freight bill, a move that crosses the border is zero-rated, and a domestic leg that is part of one continuous international movement can be zero-rated too, so a quote that mixes a domestic leg with an international one needs to say which part carries tax, and the customer's tax advisor has the final word. Market Rates, how to look up a rate and rate percentiles cover the mechanics.
How do you find capacity on Cargado?
Post the freight the way a Canadian carrier prices it. Origin and destination by city and province or state, the commodity and a real weight, the trailer type with any heat or freeze-protection requirement in its own field, a real pickup window, and the crossing the customs broker confirmed. Cargado checks the posting against every carrier profile, and only the carriers whose profile clears every requirement are notified. Freight that repeats belongs on a Lane, which stays live after a match so you can book more than one carrier off it.
Every posting has a Coverage panel with the suggested carriers matching found for your lane. Message three to five as soon as you post. Cargado runs in English, English for Canada, French for Canada and Spanish for Mexico, and chat translates messages automatically, so a Quebec carrier can read you in French and answer in French while you read English. If your loads live in a TMS, a TMS integration syncs them into Cargado under your posting rules and sends bids and bookings back.
Carriers pay nothing to be on the marketplace. Start with the lanes you already quote: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary each have a lane guide, and the U.S.-Canada cross-border load board page explains how postings reach carriers. One Toronto-based brokerage's experience, building a border network from scratch, shows what the first months look like.
