Fill in the form. Get a complete, properly structured certificate of origin (certification of origin) you can send with your shipment.
CUSMA (the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement) lets goods that count as North American cross those borders duty-free. To claim it, the importer has to hold a certification of origin: a signed document from the exporter, producer, or importer saying what the goods are and on what basis they qualify.
There is no official government form. Customs simply requires that a specific set of data elements is present, complete, and signed. A certificate that leaves some of them out is the usual reason a duty-free claim gets questioned at the border.
This tool lays out all nine elements from Annex 5-A in a clean, audit-ready document (the parties, the goods, the HS classifications, the origin criteria, the prescribed certification wording, and the signature block) and gives you a PDF.
This tool prepares the document. It does not decide whether your goods qualify.
Choosing the right HS classification and the right origin criterion is a judgment call about your product and your supply chain, and under CUSMA it is the certifier — you — who carries responsibility for it and who must be able to back it up if customs asks.
We do not verify HS codes, check origin criteria, or assess eligibility. If you are not certain your product qualifies, or which criterion applies, speak to a licensed customs broker or a trade lawyer before you sign. This is not legal advice.
No government office issues one. Under CUSMA, the certification of origin is completed by the exporter, the producer or the importer of the goods, and signed by whoever is certifying. How to get a certificate of origin in Canada
No. It has no prescribed format and no official government form. Any format works as long as it contains the nine minimum data elements listed in Annex 5-A of the agreement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection offers an optional template and says its use is “in no way compulsory”; CBSA publishes worked examples rather than a form. The nine fields, with a filled-in sample
The exporter, the producer or the importer, and the document must say which one is certifying. CBSA says only officials with the legal authority to sign for the company, or with sufficient knowledge of the origin of the goods, may sign. A third party can sign on their behalf only with knowledge of the goods’ origin and legal authority, such as a power of attorney. Who can sign a CUSMA certification of origin
Yes. CUSMA and USMCA are two names for one agreement (T-MEC in Mexico), and the certification of origin is built from the same nine minimum data elements in all three countries. What differs is each country’s customs administration, such as the low-value threshold below which no certification is required. CUSMA vs USMCA certificate of origin
Yes. One certification can cover a single shipment, or multiple shipments of identical goods over a blanket period of up to 12 months. Customs accepts it for four years after it was completed. How to get a certificate of origin in Canada
No. This tool prepares the document. It does not decide whether your goods qualify, and it does not verify HS codes, check origin criteria or assess eligibility. Under CUSMA, the certifier carries responsibility for that and must be able to back it up if customs asks. If you are not certain, speak to a licensed customs broker or a trade lawyer before you sign. This is not legal advice. Why the certification matters