A tomato is technically a fruit, but doesn’t go well in fruit salad. Similarly, at first blush, a sufferance warehouse and a bonded warehouse may both seem like they are comparable or even interchangeable, but their differences are vital, and getting it right as an importer or carrier has far more than just a ruined salad at stake. 

In this week’s post, we are going to dive into the two most often confused types of warehouse, discuss what they do, along with some key differences and use cases between them. If you’ve been looking to take advantage of duty-free storage, but don’t know exactly where to begin, this is the blog for you. 

As with everything in the world of international trade, there is more detail involved with both of these facilities that we don’t have space to cover here. You are always encouraged to speak with your freight manager or the warehouse directly for guidance on your specific needs. 

What is a Sufferance Warehouse? 

A sufferance warehouse is, at its most simplistic, a privately owned warehouse that is licensed and regulated by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Its function is the temporary storage of goods that have not yet been cleared by Customs but have financial security posted, most typically in the form of a bonded carrier.  

This facility, in the eyes of Customs, serves as a kind of necessary holding space for goods that, for one reason or another, cannot be cleared for release into Canada immediately. It allows those goods to enter the country and be stored without backing up the actual port of entry. 

A sufferance warehouse is, by design, a remarkably temporary affair that is meant to allow for more streamlined inspections, the arranging of documentation, or as a brief storage space for goods that do not have their payment in order when they arrive, for example, if the importer does not have Release Prior to Payment Privileges. 

A sufferance warehouse, by its nature, is under heavy scrutiny by the CBSA - detailed records of all the goods that enter or exit its premises are required, along with strict rules about who can access the goods once they have been submitted to the warehouse. These goods, effectively, are not cleared for entry into Canada, and while they reside under the bond of the warehouse, unauthorized movements or interactions with the goods are nearly always prohibited.  

A company can register for its own personal sufferance warehouse - either as a separate business, and the application is run through the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) Client Portal. The process for doing so can be found in detail in this CBSA memorandum.  

How Does a Sufferance Warehouse Work?  

Generally speaking, goods can stay in a sufferance warehouse for 40 days. However, like everything in the world of international trade, there are rules and exceptions. 

• Perishables can only be held for a maximum of four days. 
• Prescribed substances (as detailed in the Atomic Energy Control Act/Regulations) can be held for a maximum of 14 days. 
• Firearms, prohibited ammunition, devices, prohibited and restricted weapons, and tobacco products can be held for a maximum of 14 days.
• Spirits can be held for a maximum of 21 days. 

Most goods can be stored in a sufferance warehouse*, but the ones that can’t include: 

• Some hazardous materials, such as explosives, toxic materials, or even flammable liquids.
• Anything that counts as an ‘illegal’ good, such as narcotics, certain firearms, or counterfeit goods. 
• Specific prohibited goods - essentially anything that cannot be imported into Canada.

*Always be sure to double-check with the warehouse to see if your goods can be held at that facility. 

As previously mentioned, goods held in a sufferance warehouse are usually there due to some further release process tied to the CBSA, including additional Participating Government Agency scrutiny. As of May 20th, 2025, some carriers may also be seeking out this option should the goods on their trailers not be released due to their failure to meet the regulations set out by CARM. 

What Are the Types of Sufferance Warehouse? 

There are, in total, five different types of sufferance warehouses, each of which has a unique specialization or use case. Knowing what kind of warehouse you need can be incredibly important, and the differences are stark. 

Type A (General Merchandise)

The Type A sufferance warehouse is typically owned and operated by a specific rail, marine, or airline company. It serves as a storage space for goods imported into the company’s system. 

Type B (General Merchandise) 

Type B is designed for the storage of imported goods that arrive via the highway and in a commercial motor vehicle. 

(If you are looking for an example, this is the sufferance warehouse type that we maintain at PCB.)

Type C (General Merchandise) 

Type C is a third-party-owned facility designed for the storage, deconsolidation, and sorting of import shipments before they are formally entered into Canada. Generally speaking, this is operated by a consolidator, deconsolidator, bonded freight forwarder, or a Customs broker. 

Type S (Specific Commodities) 

Type S is designed specifically for the storage of specific goods, and is further subdivided by the type of imported good it is designed to hold. 

• SF - fruits, vegetables, meat, human plasma, etc.; 
• SH - used household goods and personal effects;
• SL - used for provincial liquor jurisdictions
• SO - other commodities as uniquely specified on the warehouse license 
• SO (CSA) - for use specifically for members of the Customs Self-Assessment in the highway mode only. 

Type PS (Private Railway Siding) 

A Type PS is specifically designed to hold goods arriving by train - the carloads of imported goods are held here pending release by the CBSA

What is a Bonded Warehouse? 

A bonded warehouse, in Canada, is a facility that the CBSA licenses to the private sector for the storage of imported goods for upwards of four years with a complete deferral of relevant duties and taxes until those goods leave the warehouse. Generally speaking, it is a valuable tool for businesses that want to import goods, but don’t necessarily want to pay for those goods until they need to. 

Goods in a bonded warehouse are considered to be imported but not yet released by the CBSA, and as such, there are certain privileges that are afforded to those goods that you won’t find in a sufferance situation. The goods are free to be interacted with in a wide range of ways within the bonded warehouse, including: 

• Consolidation
• Testing
• Packing, unpacking, packaging, or repackaging
• Taking a small representative part of the whole to solicit further orders for the goods 
• Marking, labelling, tagging, or ticketing

What Is a Bonded Warehouse Used For? 

Generally speaking, a bonded warehouse can house goods of any kind, with a few exceptions for liquor and tobacco, but more often than not, it is used for three different purposes: 

1. Duty Deferral: This is the key use of a bonded warehouse, as the long storage time frame allotted by the facility allows for a certain amount of flexibility when it comes to cash flow, as you do not need to pay the duty and taxes until you have to. There are a few upshots to this, including the capacity to ‘wait out’ high-duty environments you feel might not last or take advantage of some of the benefits listed below. 

2. Inventory Management: Due in no small part to the deferment above, goods held in bonded warehouses are particularly well situated for distribution. In addition to moving these goods to Canadian markets, they can even leverage their pseudo ‘duty-free’ status to export the goods to other locations as needed by a company. 

With that in mind, keeping goods in a bonded warehouse is also of particular benefit to manufacturers as raw materials can be stored in bond and be released only as needed. In situations like this, goods held in bonded warehouses benefit from the protracted stay and measured release that the lengthy stay allows for. As an institution, a bonded warehouse gives a tremendous amount of control to the importer when determining how and when to pay for their goods over an incredibly long timeframe. 

3. Additional Value-Adds: There are very few limits on what you can do to your goods when they’re in a bonded warehouse, and it serves as a useful opportunity to stage and prepare your goods for the Canadian marketplace without having to pay everything you need to pay up front. In addition to being able to repackage or relabel your goods, those that are going to be used for conventions or exhibition purposes can be stored in a bonded warehouse as a kind of ‘duty-free’ stopgap for those goods declared for exhibition or display purposes. 

Additional Considerations

There are a few things to consider when putting a bonded warehouse to work. One of which is that every time you remove items from this warehouse, the process of paying and managing the duties and taxes is no less complicated than if you managed it at the border. You will still need the assistance of a Customs broker to effectively remove your goods from the warehouse, and the more often you do it, the more often your broker’s services will be required. 

It is also worth mentioning that if your goal is to keep your goods in a bonded warehouse until a more favorable duty environment emerges, there may be a better way to get the same result. This tactic seems wise on paper, particularly if the current market environment seems especially volatile, but the truth is that there are many other options available that can help with high duties, and they are worth examining before committing to keeping your goods in a warehouse for four years. Using a bonded warehouse for this purpose is simply an answer; it may not be the best one. Whether it’s remissions or supply chain management, there are choices available, and if you need to identify which choice makes the most sense for your business, you should consider contacting our Trade Advisory Team and their Tariff Relief Services. 

What are the Key Differences Between Sufferance and Bonded Warehouses?

The easiest way to think about it is that bonded warehouses are intended for the long haul, and sufferance warehouses are meant for short-term storage. For a sufferance warehouse, there is typically a CBSA-mandated reason for the goods to be there, usually related to the goods not being eligible for entry into Canada for one reason or another. The duties involved are deferred, in that case, only until the goods are released by the CBSA. In contrast, the bonded warehouse delays the payment of duties and taxes until the goods leave the warehouse, most typically at the discretion of the owner of the goods or when their time at that facility runs out. 

Another key difference is how much interaction the owner of the goods is allowed to have with their own goods during their stay at the relevant warehouse. For sufferance, the answer is typically none as the goods are entrusted to security and team members who are instructed to keep the goods effectively as they were when they were temporarily allowed to cross. These goods are still, typically, undergoing some level of scrutiny, so even repackaging or relabeling is prohibited. In bonded warehouses, however, the goods are free to be manipulated in virtually any way that the owner wishes, up to and including scenarios where parts of the goods are allowed to leave. 

Knowing the difference between a sufferance and a bonded warehouse is crucially important not only because they seem similar from the outside, but because they are starkly different right down to what they are used for. PCB maintains a Type B sufferance warehouse across the road from Pacific Highway Crossing, and we work with many different bonded warehouses across the country. For assistance connecting with the storage facility you need, be sure to get in touch with our freight management team at your next convenience. We’d be more than happy to help.