The number comes from the load
Your CBSA carrier code plus the load's probill, filled in on the booking sheet rather than typed.
Start and up
PARS — Pre-Arrival Review System
PARS — the Pre-Arrival Review System — is the Canada Border Services Agency service that lets an importer or customs broker submit release information before a truck reaches Canada, so the goods can be reviewed ahead of time and released when the driver arrives.
Also called: PARS number, PARS barcode, PARS label
- Who deals with it
- The carrier assigns the number and puts the barcode on the paperwork. The customs broker submits the release. The driver presents it at the booth.
- When it shows up
- Before the truck leaves for the border, with time for the broker to submit and CBSA to review — not while the driver is in the queue.
- What usually goes wrong
- A duplicate number, an unreadable barcode, a broker who never got the paperwork, or freight that changed after the release was submitted. To the driver, all of them look the same: sent to secondary inspection.
PARS, explained
The PARS number is the shipment's cargo control number: the carrier's CBSA carrier code followed by a unique reference the carrier assigns. The carrier prints it as a barcoded label with the word PARS on it, attaches it to the invoice or the bill of lading, and sends the paperwork to the customs broker, who submits the release request against that number.
At the booth, the officer scans the label. If the release was submitted and reviewed in time, the truck keeps moving. Most PARS trouble is not a customs decision going against you — it is a number that is not unique, a label the scanner cannot read, a broker who never received the paperwork, or a load that changed after the release went in.
An easy way to keep the pair straight: PARS goes into Canada, PAPS goes into the United States.
How Lanexa handles it
This lives mainly in eManifest, where 273 catalogued capabilities are live. Each item says which plan it is on.
Labels that scan
Border Desk prints PARS label sheets — four copies per shipment, PARS above the barcode — and refuses to print a barcode too dense to scan.
Fleet and up
The broker packet, sent and tracked
The broker's pre-arrival email goes from your own address with the label record, and any commercial invoice and bill of lading already on the load, attached. The entry is tracked through to on file.
Fleet and up
Questions about PARS — Pre-Arrival Review System
What is PARS?
PARS — the Pre-Arrival Review System — is the Canada Border Services Agency service that lets an importer or customs broker submit release information before a truck reaches Canada, so the goods can be reviewed ahead of time and released when the driver arrives.
Is a PARS number the same as a cargo control number?
In practice, yes. The PARS barcode carries the shipment's cargo control number: the carrier's CBSA carrier code followed by a unique reference the carrier assigns.
What is the difference between PARS and PAPS?
PARS is the Canada Border Services Agency's pre-arrival review, for goods entering Canada.
PAPS is the US Customs and Border Protection equivalent, for goods entering the United States. The carrier assigns both numbers; the customs broker files against them.
Where does the PARS label go?
On the shipment's paperwork — CBSA says the label may be applied to the invoice or the bill of lading — so the officer can scan it when the driver arrives.