When a major American automotive manufacturer found its supply chain paralyzed and trucks idling at the border, it wasn’t one of the global logistics conglomerates that came to the rescue. Instead, the call went to a mid-sized Canadian firm: Jack Rutherford Customs Brokers Limited (part of The Rutherford Group). The company had trucks moving again within two hours on a Friday afternoon. By Monday, the automaker had entrusted them with its entire Canadian business.

This is how the firm operates. Not by scale alone, but by agility and a fierce commitment to client service. In a $10-billion Canadian customs brokerage industry dominated by faceless giants, that approach is quietly winning it business.

From Brokerage to Full-Service Partner

International trade has always been about scale. The largest brokers handle thousands of daily transactions, built on industrial efficiency and digital portals. In the process, clients, especially smaller importers, often find themselves lost in bureaucratic red tape, unable to reach a human voice when shipments stall.

Rutherford sees its opening there. “Clients come to us because they want service. They want a person to talk to,” says Bob Tamblyn, President. That deceptively simple value proposition—accessibility—has become a differentiator in a sector known more for opacity than transparency.

Founded more than half a century ago, Rutherford built its name serving small and medium importers, defined by Canadian regulators as those with fewer than 2,500 entries a year. Over time, it has attracted multinationals, too, often dissatisfied with the rigid systems of their larger brokers.

What began as a brokerage has evolved into something closer to a full-service trade solutions group. Under the Rutherford Group banner, the company now operates bonded and FDA-approved warehouses in Michigan, a network of domestic and cross-border trucks, and a growing freight forwarding arm spanning China, Europe, and Australia. The goal is to offer importers and exporters one point of contact across the complexity of global trade.

“Clients don’t have to change their business to accommodate us,” notes May Marlow, Director of Customs Compliance. “We change to accommodate them.”

Rutherford builds the account around the client, not the other way around. Some want to review entry documents before submission; others need billing split across multiple entities, or invoicing in different currencies depending on destination. The team will configure workflows, approvals, and billing so the importer’s operations don’t have to conform to a broker’s template. That flexibility extends to compliance and audits: Rutherford frequently manages CBSA reviews, prepares files, and advocates on the client’s behalf.

Assets beyond Brokerage

Rutherford has steadily assembled infrastructure to support a one-point-of-contact promise. Under the group banner, it operates four warehousing locations, including two in Port Huron, Michigan, one for general freight and another with FDA-approved capability for food and pharmaceutical goods. Within its Canadian footprint, the parent company operates CBSA-bonded capacity and a CBSA sufferance facility. There’s also an additional general-freight site near to the Greater Toronto Area to keep cargo close to customers.

Transportation is also in-house: an international carrier runs dedicated cross-border trucks daily, complemented by a domestic fleet serving Southwestern Ontario. On the global end, Rutherford’s freight forwarding partners manage imports and exports across China, Europe, and Australia—giving clients a single team to orchestrate brokerage, storage, linehaul, and international moves.

Navigating a Shifting Regulatory Landscape

In October 2024, CARM (Canada Border Services Agency Assessment & Revenue Management) overhaul shifted the duty-and-tax burden from brokers to importers. Before CARM, brokers held large bonds, collected duties and taxes, and remitted them monthly on the client’s behalf. After CARM, importers must secure their bonds, manage their accounts, and pay the government directly, a dramatic change for thousands of businesses.

Rutherford was prepared. Anticipating the complexity, leadership greenlit a technology pivot in February 2024, selecting a premier customs platform and going live in April—months before CARM launched. That proactive move let the team coach clients through bond setup, align payment workflows, and adjust compliance processes without disrupting day-to-day clearances. “It was a massive undertaking,” Marlow says. “We read the room, made the decision quickly, and executed.” The company marked its 51st year by proving it can still turn on a dime.

Results show up in the numbers and the narratives. Rutherford secured a national tariff ruling that eliminated duty for a client’s product line, turning an ongoing cost into zero duty and saving millions over time. In another engagement, a client facing a $6 million CBSA assessment ultimately paid $1 million after Rutherford’s intervention, a tough outcome, but a $5 million swing that materially changed the business case.

Small, Personal, and Nimble

Rutherford is not content to stay still. The company is exploring acquisitions, eyeing smaller brokers whose founders are nearing retirement. It has expanded its domestic fleet in Ontario, while its international forwarding arm is carving out space in a crowded market.

The strategy is not about becoming the biggest. It is about being the most indispensable. By combining the responsiveness of a boutique with the infrastructure of a group, Rutherford aims to be the trade partner clients trust when things go wrong and when they need to grow.

In an age of global supply chain shocks, from pandemics to regulatory upheavals and cyberattacks, importers are rediscovering the value of the small, the personal, the nimble. Jack Rutherford Customs Brokers embodies that shift. It is not the largest firm in Canada. Yet it may be one of the most consequential in an industry where billions hinge on whether goods clear a border at two in the afternoon or four.