Canada Post Rates Rant

You know, that you have to pay the GST on everything up to $5.-
even when you send the letter to US or abroad where GST should not apply?

Canada Post has the worst rates, expensive and unreasonable.

Take an example:

International Light Package: under 250 g, the rate is $8.95 ,
if it is 251 g, the rate is $15.25.

Very stupid system.

That's why there is no e-commerce in Canada.

Australia does not have big population either, but their rates are lower.

Candapost expedited is regular surface mail with tracking. Thats it. Small packet air is faster and half the price. Canada Post invented Expedited to serve the Ebay people who wanted cheaper tracking. The tracking on it is terrible as well as again - its just regular mail. It gets zero priority and no extra care. Its a way to get $15 out of you for a $2 stamp.

But you will have that number for paypal disputes. Thats the facts folks. If you stop worshipping paypal and Ebay then companys like Canadapost would not have the fool prices on the menu. Who can blame them? If you could sell a $10 haircut for $40 and call it the deluxe wouldnt you?

I recently ordered components to build a desktop computer from two different vendors, both in Richmond, B.C. Both orders were processed at similar times, picked up by the respective delivery service at similar times and also processed by those services at similar times and the pertinent information from each was conveyed via email to me at similar times. Except for the different carriers, one could suspect both vendors are one and the same despite their different names!

One shipped via Canada Post, the other used UPS, both on a Thursday. The former arrived at my door in Southwestern Ontario early morning the following Monday; the latter late afternoon the following Wednesday. Although the UPS order was within their stated delivery date, I find it interesting that Canada Post, who we all seem to love to berate, beat the expert by a considerable margin.

Hi,

I fully agree and am angry at this subtle and largely unspoken kick at the arts and, I am sure, small businesses in general in Canada. On an author's behalf, I recently shipped 2 novels from Ottawa out to Sidney, British Columbia. The total weight was 0.372 kg, and the delivery cost was $11.21. This is because, in total for size and weight, it just exceeded the limit for regular mail.

I later realized that I could have simply shipped each book separately, each as a single postal mail item, and the total cost might have been about $5.50!!!

In any case, this is an indecent rip-off to Canadians by Canadians for the benefit of protecting the viability of Canada Post.

Let's face it, though --- we cannot have it both ways. If we are a capitalist society, then we survive based upon the merits of our products, services and costing framework (not to mention application of ethics and regulation).

Are we to be a socialist or (dare I say it) communist type of country? Should we rip a page out of Fidel Castro's handbook? In this scenario, security guards and hotel laundry staff would be paid well in excess of businessmen and lawyers. Hey! Maybe there IS something to that!!!

Anyway, something has got to be done ... and more open competition in the delivery industry in Canada might be the option, but would that force Canada Post to raise rates to unsustainable amounts for delivery and pick-up of regular mail to distant and remote locations in Canada?

- Roy in Ottawa

This complaint process ensures that Canada Post knows exactly what it's customers feel about Canada Post's Service! If you're a customer and, have been treated poorly or are unsatisfied with one of the following:

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Carrier's delivery practices or carriers conduct
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Carrier's treatment of your property
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Junk mail delivery
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Notices of Mail Delivery Problem Report (left in your mailbox)
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Delivery or Parcel issues
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Lack of appropriate follow-up by a Canada Post Supervisor
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Summary of your postal complaint not listened to, or unfair resolution to your Canada Post complaint
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Unfair practices of the Canada Post or Ombudsman outcome following discussion with either
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Information pertaining to the loss, damage, or delay of an item

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With their high costs of shipping and lazy drivers Canada Post needs some competition. I recently bought an air conditioner from Futureshop, with free shipping as I dont have a way of getting it home.I knew the day Canada Post was to deliver so I waited outside to get my item so I wouldnt miss the delivery.I was outside st 10 am knowing they usually deliver around 10 - 10:30. Two oclock came and still no delivery so I checked the tracking number on my computer and it said they tried to deliver at 10:34 which was total bullshit. I said I could pick up item at post office. I received the card the next day. Why arent their drivers held accountable. If they dont feel like working that day all they have to do is fill out a card and you can pick up your item yourself.They charge too much money for nothing.

Just put it in a padded envelope, slap on whatever postage you feel is fair, and drop it in a mailbox. If they have a problem, they can return it to you.

IMO, if it fits in an envelope and I can get it into a mail box, then that's how I'm going to send it. I've never had problems with things getting lost or being returned to me.

I'm just getting into this hassle with CP as I'm starting to sell books online. Firstly I noticed that a) if you get a nice clerk, they will pass something through that is a hairline out; b) if you get a lousy clerk, they'll charge you to the max. I seem to get the crappy ones. I just tried to send a book to France and was told because it was .02 over the 500g limit it would be double the price ($38.00). I took it to another outlet and they told me the same thing. She told me if I repackaged it, it might make it under the weight. How stupid is that? DOUBLE the price for a measly .02g? And here's the other thing I've been noticing. One rude clerk took my thin package (it was a paperback in one of their bubble mailers) and the little plastic "mail slot" they use to measure with and made a half-assed attempt to push it through. She didn't even raise her hands above the counter. But I called her on it. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Nope" she said, "doesn't fit" and proceeded to ring in a $22.00 sale. I had just about had enough of this crap, so I said, through gritted teeth, "TRY IT AGAIN." She gave a big martyred sigh, picked up the slot and my envelope, and without even looking, she pushed one against the other. And it WENT THROUGH!! You can't imagine how triumphant I felt and how shocked she looked! Boy was she pissed to have to change it to a $2.80 sale. I won't be welcome back at that branch again! But it just goes to show you what goes on.

I was raised on a farm, worked in forestry, as an automechanic, a carpenter and once as a letter carrier. Compared to the other jobs, the letter carrier gig was a walk in the park. My day was so short (although very early) and I had so many nice breaks I couldn't believe it. But I didn't get hired on as the nepotism line was far too long.

As for CP delivery, my guy drives the route and is as lazy as they come. If there is more than 2cm of snow at my box, he refuses delivery. Now, I'm on a fixed disability income for severe arthritis and I can't run out there and clear the box every 2 hours. Am I supposed to pay my plow guy to come by every day? Yeah right. Yet my grandmother lived in the mountains for 50 years and her mail lady never failed to get through. I find a lot of the attitudes labour or service now are so incredibly lazy and rude. I have always been a polite and pleasant person, but dealing with CP has taught me that I have to fight. It's a shame- I did call to complain about the snow issue and I told the head office people that this would make a great newspaper story. I got satisfaction the very next day. So much for the government ads that talk about how they want to help small business. If that's true then they should give CP a good swift kick in the ass. And while they're at it, get rid of half their required government fees, licenses, permits, rates and taxes that kill small business people.

I will be writing my MP and my media outlets for what it's worth. If everyone did it maybe we'd get somewhere. Good luck everyone

I would like to be able to pay less for my shipping, but you have to realize that Canada Post actually makes a profit (paid to the government) while USPS has lost $3.5 Billion last quarter.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/05/news/companies/US_postal_service_earnings/

Considering that logistical costs are much lower in the States (higher density, and population), there are major costs that Canada Post have to cover compared to USPS. As well, it isn't so much the unionized employees. USPS has just as many of them and they are given hefty Health Care coverage.

I don't mind the service although sometimes it makes me cringe, but I just don't think lower parcel rates are really feasible. Otherwise, the government will just raise taxes and either way, we're at a loss.

"Two oclock came and still no delivery so I checked the tracking number on my computer and it said they tried to deliver at 10:34 which was total bullshit."

Hit it dead on. Almost every package I have had has followed this pattern:

1) Expect package on Wednesday, doesn't show up.
2) Check mail on Thursday, find pick-up slip that says they tried delivering at 11am WEDNESDAY, and that my package will be available to pickup after 5:00 WEDNESDAY.

My "we missed you" slips seem to always show up the next day... instead of being put there when they were trying to deliver the package... hmmm....

And yes, we need a "small package" option for canadian shipments. 2cm height restriction is terrible.

I was on google searching to see if there is some hidden thign for small buisness' like myself to send out small parcels for cheaper. I came across this and I totally know ! I am based out of Edmonton, AB and I own a small buisness. I often send parcels to US and Canada. For me to ship any where in Canada it comes to like 13$ but in the states it is about 5$ which is more than half the cost! It sucks !

I have some tshirts to ship. It cost more to ship a tshirt across canada than it does to ship overseas or to the US. Canada post wants $18 to ship a tshirt within Canada. Are they nuts? I have just about had it with Canada. How is anyone suppose to make a honest living here.

I have some tshirts to ship. It cost more to ship a tshirt across canada than it does to ship overseas or to the US. Canada post wants $18 to ship a tshirt within Canada. Are they nuts? I have just about had it with Canada. How is anyone suppose to make a honest living here.

Canada Post has the championship title of Snail Mail even when its Priority. Priority Snail Mail! Registered mail doesn't guarantee much either.
The price is too expensive for the non-service that you receive. I mailed one letter Priority & a second using regular mail service to the same place, they both reached the destination at the same time. The price for this poor service is too high. Attitude of the emplyees is much to be desired! If customers in other businesses were treated with those manners, their complaints would be heard & policies would change. If a business had those practices/prices they would go out of business! Canada Post costumers complain often of slow expensive mail service. Can anything be done about it? Canada Post is a bureaucracy of lack luster postal service with very high prices & slow service. Could it be called highway gouging/fictional air service? Our mail service some years ago in the pre-computer age appeared to be was much better, much faster & much cheaper!

i sent a parcel by airmail two weeks ago to the uk does anyone have any idea who you get in touch with, if it is lost, i have had things get lost before i just dont trust canada post.

So ship with fedex and shu*t the **** up. Do you have any idea how greatful we are to have canada post as a government runed sector. Other wise I wouldnt imagine what kind of rants you would have about UPS/FEDEX rates + brokage fees custom duty fees. All im saying here is to count your blessings.

To "Anonymous", another name for "Gutless".

Rule 1: The customer is always right.
Rule 2: When the customer is wrong, refer to rule 1.

Monopolies are simply one of many forms of Gov't thieving from its citizens.

The only thing you can constantly, unwaveringly depend on from Canada Post,every time, without exception, is that whatever you post around the Christmas season will be smashed to powder as quickly as possible and kicked towards it's destination.

I had to close my online business. I just can't compete with American's selling similar products when their shipping is less than half of what Canada Post charges.
I looked into switching to UPS/FedEx/Canpar/Purolator, but the rates are higher until I can prove the amount of packages that I ship per day.
If I were to ship 20-30 packages a day with a courrier I would be out of business in a week because of the cost.
Canada Post needs to bring back the small packet rate or at least flat rate boxes per region. If they did I know I would have given them at least 20 packages a month.
The flat rate box for ebay is useless. $6 for 3 boxes which don't fit very much and the shipping is usually higher than using regular rates.

1) always use a real post office, not a contractor facility such aS Shoppers DrugMart. That way you get served by a trained, knowledgeable postal employee instead of a poorly-trained minimum-wage person who is motivated to charge you the max possible for doing what you want

2) treat canada post employees with civility and it will go a long way towards greasing the wheels to get you good service. CPC employees get a bad rep & are treated badly which they do not deserve

3) you can always take your pkg to a CPC facility and ask what it will cost to mail. You'll have to tell them what is in the pkg and where its going. But you'll quickly get a reply.

4) when you DO mail it, make sure that you put an accurate return address in the top lefthand corner and put a complete & accurate "to" address in the centre of one face of the pkg. Bad addr ? it won't get delivered. Bad rtn addr ? it won't come back to you.

VA3ROD

I can't believe it would cost me $20.59 to mail 8x8x8 " box weighing 2.2 lbs to California. Is there a better way!! I checked Fedex and its $20.94.. I checked UPS and for 4 lbs box its 29.40.. This just seems rediculous

this person is telling us to go to canadapost office becuase they are 'trained" better than the other outlets??
or is it that canadapost trying to AXE those who work for them too, we as small business already "work" for Canadapost, most of our profits go to canadaripoffpost, please, it's ok to have some outlets have a tiny tiny bit from the BIG pie canadaripoffpost has, to add insult to injury, our so called government was OUTRAGED over canadapost, i thought for a moment they were outraged over the new prices that take effect every year on the 17th of Jan., oh no, they were outraged over underwear, WOW the whole parties were outraged over panties on the canadarippoffpost website, pathetic we are or are they, i sell books online and on a $20 sale including shipping form buyer, becuase of the size or the weight over 500 grams, canadapost makes $12+, from BC to ONT. where is my cost of the book, commision to the website, packing expenses, and more ONT HST, are you kidding me? we have to pay HST to any province that rips it's people off with HST and what did we do to deserve all this? not to mention as the post above shipping to the US for any parcel over 1kg automatic $20+. check out USPS for their prices within the US, media mail doesn't matter the size of the item inside. Canada is a country does NOT know anything about business PERIOD, and canadapost if they lower their prices that means more work for their lazy people with the same pay, so this way prices high less work, and when they need money they will call bank of canada to bail them out just AirStupidCanada, like a soapopra never ending never let anyone take a breather, the more we sell books the more money we generate but canada says the penny stops HERE all the money would go to most expensive place on earth, thank you canada and welcome USA make yourself at home and bring more MEGA compaines and kill what canadapost was NOT able to kill, small businesses.

I ship very small items to the states and Canada. Too bad I cant scale down the box to make it fit into a letter because that would save so much money. Are there any other companies that offer cheaper shipping to the states? Would love to know, because shipping is killing me!

It is so hard to compete on ebay, or any competitors for that matter when they can offer way cheaper shipping :(

Knowing something about the post office from having worked there in the past, I can explain some things from a position of actual fact.

1. Canada Post has the 3rd lowest average postage rate of any industrialized country.

2. Canada Post exists SOLELY on the money earned from its products (unlike many other postal administrations, crown corporations, and gov't agencies who you pay taxes to subsidize). For example the Royal Post in the UK and the USPS have billions of taxpayer dollars going into their coffers.... would you rather pay for usage or have higher taxes?

3. Letters are significantly cheaper because of a highly automated process that can sort many many times faster and cheaper than those packets. In many places, including Vancouver packets are still sorted by hand.

I am in UK and get a couple of 20lb parcels a month from USA in $45 medium flat rate boxes. I would love to buy similar stock from Canada but the shipping prices are just too high. It must hurt Canadian exports. Couldn't someone set up a weekly run to collect international parcels, drive them across the border, and ship them using the USA postal system.

We in Canada already have the privilege of paying premium prices for most of our services so this is yet another example.

Chalk it up next to high wireless phone bills (Rogers etc.), Internet service providers (we're sitting as one of the most expensive in the developed countries), and even book prices compared to our southern neighbours.

Lets not forget how frequent strikes happen around our country as well.

Anyway thanks for the post and giving me a platform to vent a little :)

Here's one for the ages:

Shipping an item via Small Packets USA Air to the U.S. via Canada Post. I'll use a record album in standard cardboard LP mailer sent from Victoria, BC to Florida an example:

13" x 13" x 1" @ 500 grams = $9.90

13" x 13" x 1" @ 501 grams = $15.36

For those that are counting, that's a 0.2% increase in service/value for a 64.54% increase in price!!

I know the proportion of ripoff decreases as the parcel reaches the next threshold (1 kg), but still . . . why not a incremental system? $X for 500 grams and X$ for each extra 100 grams.

Or better yet, just a graduated system based on total weight with a "drop base rate" in place. Like, $9.90 for the first 500 grams and 1.1 cents a gram after that (1.1 x 500 = $5.50 which is the graduated difference between the 500 gram price and the 1kg price).

BTW--if the same parcel is up to 1 kg, it can go for $15.36. But, if it's even .01 grams more (that's 1/10th of a gram), it has to go for $24.56 via Expedited Parcel.

2 years ago(2009) I shipped 2 very small parcels to Edmoton and Calgary respectively (I live in Ontario). Total cost of mailing was 24.+ The cost of contents in each box was about 8.00 and weight was hardly anything. It cost me way more to mail them than what they were worth. Last year I got smart and just sent gift cards.

I now send birthday cards from online card sites where they are free to send or very cheap to purchase and send. I pay my bills online and no longer give CP satisfaction by sending anything through there. I refuse to support this over bloated union anymore.

I just bought a graphic novel on eBay, A4 in size but its paperback and fairly lightweight. The postal charges from U.S. to Ireland are $29.95, surely this is too much. It would have been cheaper to buy the novel off the shelf here

My family business spent close to $10000 last year (apparently not enough to continue getting my rate discount) on shipping through Canada post.
We buy old cell phones from schools and charities and pay for the shipping - sometimes by the bankers box at a time.
Anyways I complained to my MP several years ago about this but was told that its out of govt hands because cpc is not owned by the feds. My cpc rep tells me that the reason prices are so high has to do with subsidies that usps gets that cpc doesn't get.
As for my fellow ebayers I just wanted to warn you about small packet international, us small packet and international services - since the small packet services do not have tracking services you will not be covered by paypal seller protection and have no way of knowing when/if a buyer receives the parcel. I have now been defrauded over $250 by eBay/paypal which stole my ?money for international parcels sent with tracking that were simply slow.
As I write this in Ontarios city with the highest unemployment rate - Barrie - I am not surprised at the dim economic outlook that has been caused by successive govts that do nothing more than pay lip service to helping small business.
With the many billions expected to change hands this holiday season, it is little wonder that very little of that cash will pass thru Canadian hands.
I think its time to demand reforms to our postal service from this govt that will put us in a more competitive position for global e-commerce merchandise trade.

Hi - this is way to late (by about 2 years), but what the heck.
Just want to add my two cents.
I live in Germany and order a lot books on Amazon.de, and
Amazon.uk. Mostly used books on Marketplace.
The rates are reasonable - 3 Euros per book in Germany, and 4 BP for shipping to Germany from the UK site.
CONSIDERABLY lower than rates in Canada.
Appalling. Many (most?) countries have a special rate for
books. Which seem logical. Don't we want to encourage reading ? Even if you're reading fiction I still consider it
something to encourage.
OK - so got rid of my rant.
Is there nothing that can be done to move Canada Post to introduce a reduced for books ????

The local shops in my town lost well over half of my Christmas purchases this year. It does not make sense to purchase a gift when it costs more to ship it than the actual sales price. All our out-of-town gifts this year were cash transfers via PayPal.

It is kind of sad because I originally taught my kids to 'personalize' their gift giving and cash, while welcome, is pretty bland.

Do you know, that Canada Post website will not inform you on what a rate is for Special delivery, or Same day delivery of letter in GTA?

you can find out Registered letter Rate only, but not Special delivery, Signature required delivery, or Same day delivery, no matter how hard you try, its not posted anywhere.

Ridiculos

I hate Canada Post. why is so expensive? Check..http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Canada-Post-Salaries-E8747.htm. And compare salaries. USPS service is half the price and faster. Put them out of business... Do electronic bills, free and saves the some trees.....

If I'm shipping within Canada, I only ship items that can be sent via Letter mail, or if the item is worth $150+. I sell on eBay, if my item fits within lettermail, I can charge my buyers from 1-3 dollars (for items worth from 5-20 dollars). The same item, sent regular parcel within Canada, would cost $12.00. It wouldn't make any sense to pay $12.00 shipping for a $5.00 item. I noticed that shipping costs pretty much are the same no matter how big the item ($12.00 for a really small item, about $20 for a big item) so $20.00 shipping is still okay on a $150.00 item, as it includes tracking and insurance. Anyways thats my post.

Here is how we fight back with postal prices:
1) We use cheques or gift cards
2) Items that need to be delivered to family members don't go until someone has to travel on medical business (then they can write of the gas on income tax)
3) We use the greyhound bus service (which moves 50 pound boxes for about 25.00 last I looked, but probably more now)
4) We make sure that we don't use expedited or priority post unless asked for. Since it already takes 1 week for a letter to arrive at our location, what's another day? Regular post for everything.
5) Before we seal a parcel, we have post office weigh and measure it. We ask what we can do to make it cheaper - should it be thinner, a little lighter, a little smaller? If it costs $2 something to mail a book one day, and $8.00 the next day for a slightly larger book, we may choose to wait till we drive to the next town for other errands and just arrange to drop off somewhere.
6) Buy your stamps in bulk at year end before the price goes up.
7) Do not put excessive postage on parcels. Weigh things, and put exact postage on. Do not let the post office staff bully you into putting more stamps on than necessary (something they do when they are in a hurry and you are trying to figure out how best to utilize your 100's of useless stamps. Buy a selection of 1 and 2 cents stamps.

It's not surprising it costs more to ship to Vancouver than Florida.

#1. Vancouver is farther away by air (5 hours vs 2 hours), and would cost more in fuel to ship.

#2. U.S. taxes on airfare are lower than Canadian taxes. If that's the case for people, it's not surprising that it would be the same for packages.

#3. The U.S. Postal service is a big money loser, as demonstrated by the recent discussions in congress of how to deal with the problem. So they're not exactly a model of how to run a delivery service.

#4. If you don't like Canada Post's rates - choose a better alternative.