Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent global e-commerce regulations, Amazon Canada has recently launched an upgrade to its seller qualification review, covering both new and existing sellers. New sellers must pass the review to gain access; existing sellers who trigger the review must submit materials within 60 days, or face restrictions on sales and fund access.
This policy is both a response to local Canadian regulatory requirements and an important measure for the platform to strengthen transaction security and optimize its ecosystem.
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Review Material Requirements Highlight Differentiation
Individual sellers from mainland China must provide their ID card and proof of address within the past six months.
Corporate sellers must submit a business license, articles of association, proof of address, and an additional "self-certification document" indicating the equity structure, signed by the legal representative.
Sellers outside mainland China must provide a business registration certificate that complies with local regulations. In terms of process, sellers need to fill in their address in Latin script and enter beneficiary information for the enterprise one by one on the platform, ensuring transparency through multiple rounds of verification, thereby reducing risks of false registration and illegal funds from the source.
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Impact on Sellers: Short-term Pain and Long-term Gains
In the short term, qualification reviews will increase operational costs for sellers. Small and medium-sized sellers will need to invest more effort in preparing complex materials, such as enterprise structure charts and authorization letters, which poses a challenge for loosely managed teams. Some sellers relying on "shell" operations may be forced to exit the market due to incomplete materials.
In the long run, compliance will promote healthy competition in the industry. For example, many Chinese sellers previously covered the Canadian market remotely via U.S. site inventory, but the new regulations require independent qualification reviews, which may force sellers to optimize supply chain layouts (such as establishing local warehousing) or strengthen compliance teams. Although this process increases costs, it helps quality sellers build competitive barriers.
Meanwhile, data shows that Chinese sellers are expected to account for 35% of Amazon Canada by 2025, but the new regulations may slow growth and shift development towards a "quality-first" path.
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Platform Development: Ecosystem Optimization and Trust Upgrade
For Amazon Canada, this move is a key strategy to consolidate its market position. By strengthening qualification reviews, the platform can reduce fraudulent transactions and enhance consumer trust, thereby attracting more users.
From an ecosystem perspective, compliance will reduce transaction dispute rates, optimize user experience, and lay a data foundation for the platform to expand financial services (such as supply chain loans). In addition, the deep alignment of the policy with Canadian regulations may help Amazon win government cooperation opportunities, such as participating in cross-border regulatory pilots.
For Chinese sellers, improved compliance capabilities will accelerate their internationalization process, further enrich the platform's product diversity, and enhance competitiveness against local platforms.
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Conclusion
Amazon Canada's new qualification review policy marks the transformation of cross-border e-commerce from "barbaric growth" to "refined cultivation." In the short term, sellers need to cope with rising costs and process adjustments; in the long run, compliance will foster a fairer competitive environment and help quality enterprises stand out.
For Chinese companies going global, qualification review on Amazon Canada is both a threshold and an opportunity. As the global e-commerce regulatory framework improves, only sellers and platforms that proactively comply will gain an edge in future competition.