Blog Archive - Ramsay Logistics

5 Customs Checks Before You Switch Suppliers Through the Port of Vancouver

October 14, 2026

Changing suppliers is a business decision. What happens when those goods reach the Port of Vancouver is a customs one. Last month, we looked at why Vancouver’s port was never just one gateway and why this fall is a good time to look at new markets. If your business is now acting on that and […]

Origin vs. Shipping Point: How Canadian Customs Decides If the Surtax Applies (Fall 2026)

October 7, 2026

Where did your goods ship from? It’s a fair question, but it’s not the one Canadian customs is asking. Canada’s new surtax, in effect since September 8, 2026, doesn’t follow the route your goods take. It follows their country of origin, as determined under Canadian regulations. For Calgary importers working with cross-border suppliers, that one […]

Customs Broker Vancouver: The Port Was Never Just a Gateway to the U.S.

September 23, 2026

A lot of Vancouver businesses are looking at the new round of tariffs and asking the same question; where else could we be selling or buying from? It’s a fair question, and an overdue one for some, but it’s worth separating from the panic that usually comes with it. This isn’t a “get out of […]

Customs Broker Calgary: Why More Businesses Are Turning to Air Freight This Fall

September 9, 2026

The part that catches most Calgary businesses off guard right now isn’t the new counter-tariffs themselves. It’s realizing how much of their operation was built around one route, one border, and one set of assumptions about how goods move. Effective September 8, 2026, Canada applied counter-tariffs of 15%, 25%, and 50% on specific categories of […]

Zero Damage, Full Bill: What Vancouver Importers Don’t Know About Ocean Freight Insurance

August 26, 2026

A prospect called us a while back with a bill his freight forwarder couldn’t explain. His shipment had arrived exactly as planned: nothing damaged, nothing missing, nothing delayed. And attached to it was a $5,000 USD charge with his name on it. What happened: around 50 containers came loose off the vessel during a storm, […]

Ship It, Declare It, Store It: The Three-Step Checklist Calgary Importers Keep Skipping

August 12, 2026

Ask a Calgary importer what happens to a shipment and you’ll usually get the three-word version: it ships, it gets declared, it gets stored. Simple, in theory. In practice, each of those three words hides a decision most businesses make once and then forget about. Insurance gets set up for the first shipment and never […]

Border Delays Aren’t a Customs Problem. They’re a Broker Problem.

July 29, 2026

Most Vancouver importers have a shipment horror story. A container stuck at the port. Vague updates. Weeks of “still working on it.” And almost every time, the explanation is the same: customs is just like that. It’s not, though. Not always. One-off delays happen. Ports get congested, documents get flagged, CBSA runs a random exam, […]

What Happens When You Miss a CARM Payment Deadline (It’s Not Nothing Anymore)

July 15, 2026

For a while, missing a CARM payment wasn’t a big deal. Late? Fine. CBSA waived the penalties and interest during the transition, so a lot of Calgary importers got comfortable treating their Statement of Account like a suggestion instead of a deadline. That grace period ended on January 31, 2026. Overdue balances now rack up […]

Why Some Freight Choices Increase Your Risk of a CBSA Customs Exam in Vancouver

July 1, 2026

Most Vancouver importers know that CBSA customs exams happen. What few realize is that some of the choices made before a shipment even leaves their point of origin can make a customs exam more likely. Exams aren’t purely random. And while no freight forwarder or customs broker can predict or prevent one, the quality of […]

Why the Cheapest Freight Quote Costs Calgary Importers More Than They Expect

June 17, 2026

Comparing freight quotes is a normal part of importing. Costs add up fast, and keeping landed costs under control matters. But the cheapest rate on a quote sheet is rarely the cheapest shipment by the time goods arrive in Calgary. Here’s what that gap actually looks like in practice. The Quote Only Covers Part of […]

Switching Customs Brokers Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated. Here’s What It Looks Like With Ramsay.

June 3, 2026

Changing brokers mid-relationship feels uncomfortable. There’s history with your current provider, active shipments in motion, and a quiet worry that switching will create more disruption than it solves. But for many Canadian importers, the bigger disruption is already happening, they just stop noticing it after a while. Missed callbacks. Shipments held at the border with […]

How One Border Broker Eliminates Cross-Border Miscommunication

May 21, 2026

Most Canadian importers move freight across the U.S.–Canada border and don’t think twice about who’s handling what on each side. Their Canadian customs broker clears goods into Canada. Their U.S. customs agent handles the export side. Their freight carrier moves the truck. Three separate relationships. Three separate places where something can go wrong. And when […]