Canada Post Guide

Want to use EasyPost to ship with Canada Post? This guide will break down all the necessary steps to make it happen

This guide will cover:

If you haven't generated your first shipping label with EasyPost, we recommend reading our Getting Started Guide to learn how.

Canada Post Overview

Canada Post provides reliable CA domestic and international shipping to almost all CA residential addresses and 190+ countries worldwide. Enjoy a range of mail classes from affordable options to Priority™. Canada Post supports scheduled and on-demand pickups, and has over 5,900+ post offices across the country, making them easily accessible. Get Canada Post's quality shipping service at a discounted rate through EasyPost.

Service Levels and Coverage Area

Service Levels

Canada Post delivers 5 days per week except during holidays (Mon-Fri). The service levels through EasyPost include:

Service
Transit Time
Max Dimensions (inches)
Max Weight (ounces)
RegularParcel
Up to 3 days for local delivery, up to 6 days for regional delivery and up to 10 days for national delivery
ExpeditedParcel
Up to 2 days for local delivery, up to 4 days for regional delivery and up to 8 days for national delivery
Xpresspost
Next-day and 2-day delivery
Priority
Next-day delivery with signature
ExpeditedParcelUSA
Delivery in as little as 4 business days for larger parcels
SmallPacketUSAAir
Delivery in as little as 5 business days for small and lightweight items
TrackedPacketUSA
Delivery in as little as 4 business days for small and lightweight items
TrackedPacketUSALVM
XpresspostUSA
Delivery in 2 and 3 business days
XpresspostInternational
Delivery in as little as 4 business days
InternationalParcelAir
Delivery in as little as 6 business days for larger parcels
InternationalParcelSurface
Delivery in 1 month and up to 3 months
SmallPacketInternationalAir
Delivery in as little as 6 business days for small and lightweight items
SmallPacketInternationalSurface
Delivery in 1 month and up to 3 months for small and lightweight items
TrackedPacketInternational
Delivery in as little as 6 business days
ExpeditedParcelPlus
Up to 3 days for local delivery, up to 6 days for regional delivery and up to 10 days for national delivery

See service levels for all EasyPost-supported carriers.

Coverage Area

Canada Post supports a variety of service levels for CA domestic and international shipments to over 190+ countries worldwide.

Setting Up Your Canada Post Account

Follow the instructions below to start shipping with Canada Post through EasyPost. If you have not created an EasyPost account, sign up now!

EasyPost offers a Canada Post account preloaded with special discounted rates to all users at no additional cost! You can get started shipping with Canada Post instantly by following these steps:

  1. Log in to your EasyPost account and navigate to the Carriers tab.
  2. Locate "Canada Post" and click the "Create Account" button to the right.
  3. Begin purchasing Canada Post labels through the EasyPost shipping API!

If you'd like to use your own Canada Post carrier account and rates please follow these instructions:

  • Register for a Canada Post shipper account:
    • Register for a Canada Post shipper account on their website.
    • Ensure a valid payment method has been established. You can verify this by clicking on your account drop down menu (top right hand corner to the left of log out) and select My Profile. You will then see a Payment section where you can review your credit cards or other payment methods on file.
  • Link your Canada Post shipper account to EasyPost:
    • Log in to your EasyPost account and navigate to the Carriers tab.
    • Click on the "Add Carrier" button and select Canada Post. You'll be redirected to the Canada Post website to login and authenticate your account. All relevant credentials will automatically be saved into the EasyPost system.
    • Begin purchasing labels through the EasyPost shipping API!

If you have any questions about setting up your Canada Post account, please contact us at support@easypost.com.

Receiving Accurate Rates

If you are shipping with a Canada Post account created through EasyPost then you will receive special preneogotiated discounted rates. Please note that these rates will be returned to you in CAD, but be charged to your account in USD through your EasyPost Wallet based on the exchange rate.

If you are linking your own Canada Post account, then you will receive your agreed-upon rates with Canada Post in real-time. If you're not receiving the right rates for your account, contact your Canada Post representative ASAP.

Generating Shipping Labels

Generating shipping labels for Canada Post is the same as generating them for any other carrier with EasyPost. See our Getting Started Guide for help generating your first shipping label.

EasyPost offers native Canada Post labels in PNG and ZPL formats.

Manifests and Pickups

Contract customers are required to manifest their Canada Post shipments, but Retail customers do NOT have to.

Contract customers who do not manifest their shipments will be charged a reassignment fee for every shipment they do not manifest. This is important to remember, because Canada Post will still pick up shipments that are not manifested, but they will charge you if you do so.

Because of this, we will send a notification to a Contract customer if they try to push shipments without a manifest - which you can create using our ScanForm object. If you'd like, we can turn off these notifications by marking all shipments as manifested on our API, but Canada Post will still charge you directly for non-manifested shipments that enter their mailstream.

Generating a manifest with EasyPost is simple:

  1. Create an empty Batch object
  2. Add shipments you'd like to manifest to the Batch
  3. Create a Manifest / ScanForm for the Batch
  4. Print out the manifest document for your Canada Post driver

Each shipment may only be included on one manifest - attempts to manifest a shipment more than once will be ignored. It's important to note this, since it's possible to create partial or incorrect manifests, which will result in Canada Post charging you a reassignment fee.

For more information about creating Batches, check out our Batch documentation.

You can request Canada Post pickups through the EasyPost API. Remember to contact your Canada Post account rep for pickup pricing details. For more information about how to schedule a pickup through the EasyPost API, see our Pickup documentation.

Tracking Your Canada Post Packages

Tracking statuses are available for all Canada Post shipments. Creating a Tracker for Canada Post is identical to creating a tracker with any other carrier through EasyPost.

Take a look at our Tracking Guide for support in creating your first Tracker.

Need More Info About Canada Post?

Our Carrier Metadata endpoint can programatically return information about Canada Post including service levels, predefined packages, supported features, and shipment options.

Use this information to quickly integrate with Canada Post or make educated decisions about your carrier mix. You can also use the Carrier Metadata endpoint to retrieve information about all the carriers on the EasyPost platform.

Talk to a Shipping Expert

Any questions about how to start shipping with Canada Post through the EasyPost API?