Bulletin No.:

Service Bulletin

Date:

22-NA-195
October, 2022

INFORMATION
Subject:

Information on Handling Requests for Modifications to Permanently Import / Export
Vehicles Between the U.S. and Canada
This bulletin replaces PIC5453D. Please discard PIC5453D.

Brand:

Model:

Model Year:
from

to

2000

2023

VIN Breakpoint:
from

to

Engine:

Transmission:

All

All

Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet

GM Passenger Cars
and Trucks

All

GMC

Involved Region or Country

United States, Canada

Condition / Concern

Recommendations / Instructions

General Motors (GM) and General Motors of Canada
Company (GMCC) do not support cross border sales.
Dealers are not authorized under their agreements with
GM or GM Canada to sell vehicles for export. Dealers
in Canada should refer to GMCC Home Office Letter
#20xx-704 Vehicle Export, Import & Sale for Resale
Compliance Policy.
Customers that live in one country but plan on moving
to the other should contact the GM Customer Care
Center (CCC) for information on warranty coverage.
For additional information to assist our Customers,
refer below to the section applicable for their
destination.
Important: GM cannot facilitate the import/export of
vehicles with Branded titles (i.e., salvaged, totaled,
rebuilt, etc.) or vehicles first sold as incomplete
vehicles.
Important: Recall clearance must be verified prior to
importing the vehicle in order to avoid any delays
during the import process. Open recalls must be
addressed in the country of the vehicles existing
registration prior to importation. GM cannot make any
exceptions for Recalls that remain Open due to lack of
parts.

Exporting / Importing Vehicle from Canada to
the USA

Copyright 2022 General Motors LLC. All Rights Reserved.

A customer may be permanently relocating from
Canada to the United States and request to make
modifications to their vehicle in order to meet U.S.
requirements.
Before purchasing and importing a vehicle into the
USA, the Customer should be directed to the General
Motors of Canada Customer Care Centre for
information on vehicle admissibility.
The General Motors of Canada Customer Care Centre
is the sole authorized provider of a certification
confirmation letter which helps our customers identify if
their vehicles meets the required USA regulatory
standards necessary for importation into the USA.
Contact the General Motors of Canada Customer Care
Centre at 1-800-263-3777 (English) or 1-800-263-7854
(French).
General Motors of Canada provides this service at no
charge to our Customers as long as the vehicle is being
imported for personal use and not for resale according
to Box 2B of US DOT Declaration Form HS-7 https://
www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/
hs7_111920_v3_secured.pdf.
In the case where GM Canada CCC is not able furnish
a compliance letter, the vehicle could only be imported
into the United States on a permanent basis under Box
3 on the HS-7 Declaration form. Customers should be

Page 2

October, 2022

Bulletin No.: 22-NA-195

directed to a Registered Importer (RI) to modify the
vehicle so that it complies with all applicable FMVSS
following importation.
A list of RI’s in active status with NHTSA can be found
at https://www.nhtsa.gov/importing-vehicle/
registered-importers.
General Motors of Canada does not provide support for
customers importing or exporting vehicles to and from
countries other than the USA.
Important: In some situations, it may not be possible
to install a US Instrument Panel Cluster into a
Canadian vehicle, as the required software calibrations
may not be available.

converted to miles by an authorized GM Electronic
Service Center for the vehicle to be eligible for warranty
coverage. Some vehicles may provide distance
readouts in the original country's unit of measure (e.g.
kilometers) and also miles and therefore do not require
conversion. In keeping with the General Motors Export
Policy, New vehicles originally sold in Canada must
have been in service in Canada for at least six (6)
months and must have at least 12,000 kilometers
(7,500 miles) before a GM Service Agent in the U.S. is
authorized to perform warranty work.

Safety:

Important: Vehicles imported/exported to Canada
require Daytime Running Lights (DRL) in compliance
with Canadian regulatory standards. The module
calibrations responsible for DRL operation and
compliance with the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards (CMVSS) are released only for vehicles built
with an RPO Z49. Vehicles first sold in the U.S. do not
have Z49. General Motors is unable to provide module
calibrations that were not released for a specific vehicle
build combination. Customers permanently relocating
from the United States to Canada will need to seek an
alternate solution. For example, installation of an
aftermarket DRL module if available.
A customer may be permanently relocating from the
United States to Canada and request to make
modifications to their vehicle in order to meet Canadian
requirements.
Before purchasing and importing a vehicle into Canada,
the Customer should be directed to the Registrar of
Imported Vehicles (RIV) program, for information on
vehicle admissibility, RIV exemptions, recall clearance
documentation, vehicle modification requirements,
vehicle branding history and Environment Canada
requirements (http://www.riv.ca).
General Motors of Canada Company does not provide
support for customers importing or exporting vehicles to
and from countries other than the USA.
While we make no claims about the accuracy, we
understand that the following website associated with
the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) and created by
Transport Canada has information regarding the
importation of vehicles into Canada, including the legal
requirements for modifications to such vehicles (http://
www.riv.ca).

A General Motors of Canada certification confirmation
letter may be issued to the Customer who is personally
importing a vehicle if it complies with required FMVSS
and is admissible to the USA under the provisions of
NHTSA 49 CFR Part 591.5(g). Some CMVSS-certified
vehicles may not meet some FMVSS such as FMVSS
138 TPMS and FMVSS 208 Passenger Airbag status
indicator labeling. The Customer should contact GM
Canada CCC to determine if vehicle is admissible to
the USA. It may be possible to retrofit their vehicle to
comply. This is a Customer-paid expense; not covered
by GM warranty. The Customer will need to provide a
Repair Order from a GM Dealer to the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection agent as evidence that specified
retrofit work was completed.

Emissions:
General Motors (GM) vehicles sold in Canada must
comply with Canadian emission standards. Since 1998
model year, Canadian emissions regulations have been
aligned with those of the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). A selected number of Canadian
vehicles are certified for all 50 states for emissions. It is
important to refer the customer to the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) of the destination State to
determine if the vehicle is admissible since a number of
States have aligned with the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) Standards rather than the EPA
Standards. GM will not retrofit a vehicle to meet CARB
if it is already certified to EPA Federal emissions
standards.

Warranty Coverage in USA:
Important: Refer to GM service bulletin #16-NA-119:
Warranty Administration - Servicing Vehicles from
Canada (U.S. Dealers Only).
GM Service Policy & Procedures indicate that
Canadian owners that are relocating their residence to
the U.S. must register their vehicle properly in the U.S.
and if applicable, pay the cost to have their odometer

Exporting / Importing Vehicles from the USA to
Canada

Warranty Coverage in Canada:
Important: For latest dealer Documentation & Policy
Updates, GMCC dealers should refer to General
Motors of Canada Home Office Letter #20xx-704
Vehicle Export, Import & Sale for Resale Compliance
Policy.

Version

1

Modified

Released September 28, 2022

GM bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform these
technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper
service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions, and know-how to do a
job properly and safely. If a condition is described, DO NOT assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your
vehicle will have that condition. See your GM dealer for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the
information.

WE SUPPORT VOLUNTARY
TECHNICIAN
CERTIFICATION