How Canada Postal Services Work?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How Does Canada Postal Service Work, And What Is Its Role In USPS Mail Fulfillment?

Did you ever notice that the term home field advantage can apply to practically every real-life situation? For instance, everything American-made is cheaper in the US, whether our cars or sporting accessories. Similarly, there are significant advantages to using the Canadian postal service for your business mail to Canada.

For those of you who may not know this, the official postal service provider in Canada is Canada Post. In other words, Canada Post in Canada is the equivalent of USPS in the US. Before you can use Canada Post for your business, you must understand how Canada postal services work.

This article explains how the Canadian postal service works and how you benefit from using it for business communication. We also look at international mail sent from the US to Canada and the role of Canada Post in global mail fulfillment.

How Does Canadian Postal Service Work?

The basic process of mailing a letter is the same worldwide, including in our neighboring country Canada. You put the letter inside an envelope, seal it, apply the appropriate postage, and mail it. Similar to our official postal service provider (USPS), they also have an official Canada postal service.

Postage Stamps

Suppose you want to understand how the Canadian postal service works. In that case, it is best to draw parallels between USPS and Canada Post. Like in the US, you can also purchase the postage stamp from the local post office, at a store that sells stamps, or online.

Pricing

The pricing model for mailing in Canada is also similar to what we have here. You must apply postage stamps for your mailers depending on the mailer’s size and weight. As you can guess, the price for the Canadian postal service can also vary depending on the recipient’s address and the speed or class of the mailing service.

Mailing Method

The mailing method for both USPS and Canada Post are also similar. You can use a red mailbox for sending letters or small packages via the Canadian postal service. Of course, you can also send your business mail directly from the postal office.

However, that might be too much work for a business organization. Hence, most businesses use an automated direct mail system like PostGrid to send their mail. And since automated systems like PostGrid use the official Canada postal service, it is also cost-effective.

Personal And Business Canada Mail Service

One of the great things about Canada Post is that it provides specialized services for Individuals and businesses. Splitting the personal and business Canada postal service enables you to meet your business mailing needs more efficiently.

You can browse the Canada Post website and see how it showcases its postal service specifically for businesses. The personal Canada mail services are not too different from the postal services you see with USPS.

But, we know you are more interested in the specialized postal services for businesses. So let’s discuss that first.

Canada Postal Service For Small Business

Canada Post offers a small business program for helping smaller organizations with their mailing needs. However, you need a membership to access the Canadian postal service, which is free. And no, you don’t have to worry about hidden fees either. 

Half a million small businesses are already using the Canada mail service for their mailing needs. Small companies save significant money on parcels shipped within and outside Canada. 

Another attractive aspect of the Canada postal service program for small businesses is more cost-effective direct mail options. The costs for sending direct mail pieces as a program member are significantly low. 

Furthermore, you can access Canada Post’s direct mail partners to streamline your business mailing process. PostGrid is a physical mail partner of Canada Post. It offers you direct mail automation software for easy and quick mail management. Implementing marketing and communication plans via a Canada mail service becomes significantly easier using automation.

Canada Postal Service For Larger-Volume Business

Canada post considers you a larger-volume business if you ship at least 1250 or at least 100,000 direct mail pieces over a year. And if you use the Canadian postal service extensively, you qualify for volume-based discounts. 

You can get discounts when sending your business letters using a Canada mail service based on the mail volume. That’s not all. Canada Post also provides you with lower postage and shipping rates. 

Since the discounts and lower rates are all volume-based, the more mail you send, the more you can save. The Canadian postal service provider even has an Electronic Shipping Tool that gives you access to shipping prices upfront. You can also use the tool to track shipments and print labels. 

Besides that, the tool also helps you keep track of your account balance, access billing history, and even supports online payments. Of course, you can do all this and more using an automated solution to access the Canadian postal service for your business.

An automated direct mail like PostGrid lets you control your mailing operations from a central system. It becomes significantly easier to manage your direct mail marketing and communication operations using PostGrid. Hence, it is always better to use a direct mail partner with an automation capability like PostGrid for your marketing and communication efforts.

Sending Business Mail From The US To Canada

Sending business mail from the US to Canada by yourself can be confusing at times. Most of us have never sent a postal letter, except maybe sending a holiday card once a year. Hence, it is not surprising that if are filled with questions when sending international mail for the first time. You might wonder, “who does USPS use in Canada for mail fulfillment?” 

You may even consider the possibility of Canada Post having an office here in the US. However, that’s not how international mailing work. There is a formal agreement between countries, including the US and Canada, on international mail and postage. In other words, you can’t directly access the Canadian postal service from the US.

Who Does USPS Use In Canada For Mail Fulfillment?

By now, you can guess who does USPS use in Canada for mail fulfillment. USPS hands over international mail addressed to Canada to Canada Post. Once Canada Post receives your international mail, they use their regular mailing process to deliver them to their final destinations.

Of course, sending your business letters would be much less expensive if you could access the Canada postal service directly. PostGrid has dedicated printers in Canada that can help you send your business letters anywhere in the world.

What Are The Canada Postal Service You Can Use For Your Business?

Canada Post offers several mailing services that can suit that enable businesses to meet all their mailing needs. In other words, there is a Canada mail service for every business document or marketing material you want to send.

Canada Post offers special mailing services and offers to business organizations. Similar to how USPS offers bulk mail discounts to businesses, Canada Post provides business letter discounts. Companies that send a specific number of letters can access the Canadian Postal Service at a discounted price.

Regarding Canadian postal service for businesses, your best option is to use the Lettermail service. Canada Post’s Lettermail service comes in two types – the Standard Lettermail service and the Other Lettermail service. The latter option includes Non-Standard Lettermail and Oversize Lettermail.

Hence, you could say that there are mainly three options you can choose for sending your business letter using Lettermail, and they are 

• Standard Lettermail
• Non-standard Lettermail
• Oversize Lettermail

Standard Lettermail

The Standard Lettermail is the ideal Canada postal service for you if your priorities are convenience and cost-effectiveness. Business organizations prefer using Lettermail for business correspondence. You can use it to send all types of business correspondence, including invoices and billing statements.

It is also ideal for sending personal messages. But, none of us use letters for private messages except perhaps for sending Christmas cards. And let’s face it, you are not here to learn about sending Christmas cards, at least, not the personal ones. Following are some of the materials you can send using a Canada mail service like Lettermail:

• Business letters.
• Cards, including postcards.
• Self-mailers.
• Annual, quarterly, or semi-annual reports.
• Invoices, receipts, or similar financial documents. 
• CDs and DVDs (includes testing and approval).
• Flexible magnets.

As we mentioned before, not every Lettermail is a Standard Lettermail. Only the mailers that meet Canada Post’s size requirements are Standard Lettermail. You are probably wondering what the size requirement for using a Canada mail service like Standard Lettermail is. The section below discusses the size requirements for Standard Lettermail.

Size Requirements For Standard Lettermail

Every Standard Lettermail must meet the size and weight requirements Canada Post specifies. Suppose your business mailer does not meet these requirements. In that case, you may pay a more significant amount for the Canada mail service.  

Standard Lettermail can not weigh more than 50 g. Furthermore, the mailer should have a minimum dimension of 5.6 x 3.6 x 0.007 inches to access this Canadian postal service. The good thing about your business letters qualifying as Standard Lettermail is that you only need to use a single stamp. 

Meeting the minimum standard dimensions is often easy, and you don’t have to try too hard. However, there is a chance you get carried away with the design of your marketing or communication mail and make it too big. As a result, the Canada mail service can cost you more than you think.

The maximum dimensions for Standard Lettermail are 9.6 inches x 6.1 inches x 0.2 inches. Make sure that your mailer does not exceed these dimensions whenever possible. 

Non-Standard And Oversize Lettermail

If your business mail exceeds the maximum allowable size for Standard Mail that we discussed above, it becomes an Oversize Lettermail. As you can guess, there is a minimum and total weight/dimension requirement for Non-Standard and Oversize Lettermail. And the Canadian postal service cost climbs up if it exceeds the maximum dimensions/weight.

Your Non-Standard Lettermail must weigh at least 3 g, and for the Oversize Lettermail, the minimum weight is 5 g. The maximum dimension allowable for your business letter is 14.9 inches x 10.6 inches x 0.8 inches. As long as your business mail does not exceed this limit, the pricing for Canada postal service won’t adversely affect your budget.

The Canadian postal service lets you send other items using the Lettermail service. You can use this option to send promotional materials for your business. Following are some things you can send using Non-Standard and Oversize Lettermail.

• Pencils 
• Pens
• Keychains.
• Etc. 

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