On September 14, 2026, the Canada Border Services Agency introduced an operational exemption for authorized participants in the Courier Low Value Shipment (CLVS) Program. The exemption allows those participants to use third-party air carriers that are not certified under the Partners in Protection (PIP) program, subject to specific conditions. The change is most relevant to low-value air shipments routed through Toronto Pearson and other Canadian air-cargo gateways.
What changed on September 14
Under Customs Notice 26-24, an authorized CLVS participant may use a third-party air carrier that does not hold PIP certification. The notice describes the measure as effective immediately on September 14, 2026.
This is a targeted operational change, not a general relaxation of requirements for every air carrier or importer. The exemption applies to the relationship between an authorized CLVS participant and its third-party air carrier. Importers using courier services would generally be affected indirectly through the carrier or courier’s operating model.
The conditions that remain in place
The exemption does not eliminate all security and handling requirements. The third-party air carrier would need to remain bonded and present the shipments at the designated sufferance warehouse. The CLVS participant itself would also need to retain active PIP certification for air mode.
- The CLVS participant remains responsible for maintaining active PIP certification for air operations.
- The third-party air carrier may be non-PIP-certified under the new exemption.
- The third-party carrier remains subject to bonding requirements.
- Shipments would need to be presented at the designated sufferance warehouse.
These conditions create a distinction that logistics teams should preserve in their records: the courier’s program status, the air carrier’s certification status, and the carrier’s bonding and warehouse arrangements are not interchangeable questions.
What this means for GTA shipment planning
Review the carrier chain, not only the courier account
A GTA importer routing low-value air shipments through Toronto Pearson may deal commercially with a courier while the physical air movement is performed by a third-party carrier. The September 14 change makes that operating structure potentially permissible for an authorized CLVS participant even where the third-party carrier is not PIP-certified.
Before treating the change as applicable, supply-chain teams should identify which entity is the authorized CLVS participant and which entity is the third-party air carrier. They should also confirm that the participant’s PIP certification remains active for air mode and that the carrier’s bonding and sufferance-warehouse arrangements satisfy the conditions described in the notice.
Do not treat non-PIP status as the only review point
A non-PIP-certified third-party air carrier is not, by itself, enough to show that a shipment is outside the CLVS framework. The exemption is conditional. A carrier that cannot meet the bonding or designated-warehouse requirements would not fit the operating conditions described in Customs Notice 26-24.
For importers with distribution operations in Mississauga, Toronto or Brampton, the practical review is therefore a lane-and-provider check. The relevant question is not simply whether a shipment travels by air, but whether the shipment is handled within an authorized CLVS participant’s structure and whether the named third-party carrier satisfies the remaining conditions.
Recommended shipment-level checks
Importers and freight-forwarding teams can use the change as a prompt to update their carrier records and escalation procedures. A useful review should capture:
- The identity of the authorized CLVS participant handling the shipment.
- The identity of any third-party air carrier used for the movement.
- Whether the CLVS participant maintains active PIP certification for air mode.
- Whether the third-party carrier remains bonded.
- Where the shipment will be presented as the designated sufferance warehouse.
Those checks are particularly relevant when a courier changes an air provider, adds a new consolidation arrangement, or shifts traffic through Pearson. They can help separate a permitted use of the exemption from a carrier arrangement that still needs clarification before cargo moves.
Bottom line for importers
The September 14 change gives authorized CLVS participants more flexibility in selecting third-party air carriers. It does not turn PIP certification into an optional requirement for the CLVS participant, and it does not remove the third-party carrier’s bonding or designated-sufferance-warehouse conditions.
For GTA importers, the main action is to map the parties and controls behind low-value air shipments rather than relying on the courier name alone. Where the shipment moves through Toronto Pearson, confirming the CLVS participant, third-party carrier and applicable conditions can help prevent an operational assumption from being mistaken for regulatory eligibility.