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Service Standards
The following sections are covered in this chapter:
2 | What Are Service Standards? |  |
Service standards are the number of business days Canada Post is committed to delivering an item, although delivery can take place earlier. Service standards are measured from the next business day after deposit to the first delivery attempt; a one-day standard means delivery on the next business day. For all services, holiday and weekend deposits are considered as being deposited on the following business day. Items deposited after the last collection time specified on the street letter box or after the post office cut-off time are considered as being deposited on the next business day.
Canada Post’s distribution network is constantly monitored to ensure that service standards are met. Service standards are subject to change without notice.
Service standards do not apply to redirected or returned items, to improperly packaged or prepared items nor to incorrectly addressed items. Service standards apply but are not guaranteed to items shipped using a Return Service label.
2.1 | What Is the Purpose of this Chapter |
The purpose of this chapter is to help Customers determine the service standard for a popular selection of Canada Post’s products. This chapter provides a general overview of the service standards for all documented products. In addition, Customers can calculate the exact service standard for some products by following the provided procedure.
This chapter refers to the following terms:
- Local – Where the destination city/town is the same as the originating city/town.
- Provincial – Where the destination city/town is in the same province as the originating city/town.
- Regional – Where the destination city/town is in the same region as the originating city/town. Canadian regions are grouped according to Table 1.
Table 1: Canadian Regions
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Northwestern Ontario (P7A-P7L, P8N, P8T, P9A, P9N, P0T-P0Y) counts as belonging to either the Central region or the Western region for the purposes of calculating the most advantageous service standard possible. |
- National – From anywhere in Canada to anywhere in Canada.
- FSA (Forward Sortation Area) is the first half (i.e., the first three characters) of the Postal CodeOM. The FSA identifies the major geographic area in an urban or rural location.
- LDU (Local Delivery Unit) is the second half (i.e., the last three characters) of the Postal Code. The LDU identifies the smallest delivery unit within the FSA.
- Major Urban Centre – a location with a processing facility for sorting, processing and distributing parcels and mail. Service standards to and from major urban centres are shortest because parcels and mail do not need to be transported to or from a processing facility before they are delivered.
- Non-major Urban Centre – a location without a processing facility. Service standards to or from non-major urban centres are longer because non-local parcels and mail need to be transported to or from a processing facility before they can be delivered.
- Processing Facility – a facility to which non-major urban centres send non-local parcels and mail for provincial, regional and national delivery.
- Northern Regions and Remote Centres – a location that is far removed from major urban centres or that receives infrequent service. All remote centres are listed in Table 2.
Table 2: Postal Codes of Remote Centres
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Only for Expedited Parcel, Regular Parcel, Publications Mail and Addressed Admail. |
3 | Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail (Domestic) | |
Service standards for Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail (domestic) are estimated in Table 3. The following conventions are used in Table 3: L = Local, P = Provincial, N = National.
Table 3: General Service Standards for Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail (Domestic)
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Addressed Admail mailings which consist of Dimensional Addressed Admail may take up to 2 additional days to deliver. |
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Publications Mail mailings which consists of time-committed Publications Mail take 2 less day to deliver. |
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Unaddressed Admail mailings require between 1 and 5 additional business days to deliver depending on the selected delivery cycle. |
Service standards for Direct Marketing and Transactional Mail (domestic) services are not guaranteed.
There are 25 Canada Post processing facilities across Canada that have been designated to receive and distribute Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail. Table 4 shows to which processing facility all non-local deposits are forwarded.
Table 4: Designated Processing Facilities for Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail (Domestic)
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For A0R and A2V (transported to the processing facility in Québec QC), add 6 business days to the service standard. |
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For P0T-P0X and P7A-P9N, mailings can be transported to either the Toronto or Winnipeg processing facilities for the purposes of calculating the most advantageous service standard possible. |
In order to calculate the estimated service standard for Addressed Admail, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the mailing is being sent locally, provincially or nationally.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 5: “Addressed Admail Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the mailing is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 or 3) and is a national mailing: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 and 3 are the same and the mailing is not a local mailing: add 1 day.
- If the mailing consists of Dimensional Addressed Admail: add 1 day for local or provincial; add 2 days for national.
- If the mailing is being combined with AdCard, the production standard for AdCard must be added to the service standard. For more information on AdCard and its production standards, contact your Canada Post representative.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 9 days.
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Table 5: Addressed Admail Service Standards Grid 
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Delivery to these cities occurs over the course of the last three days of the above published service standard. For example, the service standard from Calgary to Victoria is 6 days: delivery will begin on the 4th day and be complete by the 6th. |
In order to calculate the estimated service standard for Publications Mail, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the mailing is being sent locally, provincially or nationally.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 6: “Publications Mail Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the mailing is originating from, or is addressed to a non-major urban centre, as it was determined in steps 3 or 4, and is a national mailing, add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 and 3 are the same and the mailing is not a local mailing: add 1 day.
- If the mailing consists of Time-committed Publications Mail: subtract 1 day for local or provincial; subtract 2 days for national.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 9 days.
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Table 6: Publications Mail Service Standards Grid 
In order to calculate the estimated service standard for Unaddressed Admail, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the mailing is being sent locally, provincially or nationally.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 4, determine whether the mailing is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 7: “Unaddressed Admail Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the mailing is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 and 3) and is a national mailing: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 and 3 are the same and the mailing is not a local mailing: add 1 day.
- Using Table 8: “Unaddressed Admail Delivery Cycle”, add the number of business days to the service standard appropriate to the delivery cycle.
- If the mailing is being combined with AdCard, the production standard for AdCard must be added to the service standard. For more information on AdCard and its production standards, contact your Canada Post representative.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 9 days.
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Table 7: Unaddressed Admail Service Standards Grid  Table 8: Unaddressed Admail Delivery Cycle
In order to calculate the estimated service standard for Lettermail, follow these steps:
- Using Table 4, determine the names of the designated processing facilities for the origin and destination Postal Codes.
- Using Table 9: “Lettermail Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in step 1. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- The service standard between the following groupings of destinations is 3 days:
- between Campbellton NB (E3N), Campbellton DCF NB (E0K), Dalhousie NB (E8C), Kedgwick NB (E8B), Saint-Quentin NB (E8A), Matane QC (G4W), Mont-Joli QC (G5H), Mont-Joli DCF QC (G0J), Rimouski QC (G5L-G5N), Rimouski DCF QC (G0C, G0K) and Gaspé QC (G4X)
- between Ottawa ON, and all of Ontario and Québec
- between Saint-Régis QC (H0M) and Cornwall ON (K6H-K6K)
- between Ingolf ON (P0Y) and Winnipeg MB
- between Winnipeg MB, Thunder Bay ON (P7A-P7L), Dryden ON (P8N), Fort Frances ON (P9A) and Kenora ON (P9N)
- between Lloydminster SK (S9V, T9V) and all of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
- Use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either the originating or destination Postal Code is remote. If either Postal Code is remote: add up to 4 days.
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Table 9: Lettermail Service Standards Grid 
In order to calculate the service standard for Incentive Lettermail, follow the procedure for section 3.4 “Lettermail™”.
In order to calculate the service standard for Registered Mail, follow the procedure for section 3.4 “Lettermail™”.
In order to calculate the service standard for Business Reply Mail, follow the procedure for section 3.4 “Lettermail™” and add 1 day.
4 | Transaction Mail (U.S.A and International) | |
Service standards for U.S. and International Transaction Mail are estimates of how long it will take for a mail deposit to be delivered. These service standards are not guaranteed. All international mailings will be delivered by and in accordance with the requirements of the destination country.
4.1 | Letter-post™ (U.S.A. and International) |
The estimated service standards for Letter-post (U.S.A. and International) are:
4.2 | International Incentive Letter-post™ |
The estimated service standards for International Incentive Letter-post are:
U.S.A. Premium Incentive, U.S.A. Per Item Incentive and U.S First Class Direct |
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International Premium Incentive/International Per Item Incentive |
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U.S.A. Standard Incentive and U.S. Standard Direct |
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International Standard Incentive |
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5 | Parcel Services (Domestic) | |
Service standards for domestic parcels are estimated in Table 10.
Table 10: General Service Standards for Domestic Parcel Services
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Business days, between major urban centres. Some exceptions apply. |
Priority™ Next A.M., Xpresspost and Expedited Parcel offer the On-time Guarantee feature (some exceptions apply). Service standards for Regular Parcel are not guaranteed.
Visit Canada Post’s online Canadian Delivery Standard tool to quickly determine and compare the service standards for all domestic parcel services.
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Expedited Parcel is only available to contract Customers. |
There are 25 Canada Post processing facilities across Canada that have been designated to receive and distribute domestic parcels. Table 11 shows to which processing facility all deposits are forwarded.
Table 11: Designated Processing Facilities for Domestic Parcel Services
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For A0R and A2V (transported to the processing facility in Québec QC), add 6 business days to the service standard. |
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These FSAs are considered non-major urban centres for the Expedited Parcel service. |
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For P0T-P0X and P7A-P9N, items can be transported to either the Toronto or Winnipeg processing facilities for the purposes of calculating the most advantageous service standard possible. |
In order to calculate the estimated service standard for Regular Parcel, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the item is being sent locally, regionally or nationally.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 12: “Regular Parcel Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the item is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 or 3) and is a regional or national shipment: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 or 3 are the same and the shipment is not a local shipment: add 1 day.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 5 days.
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Table 12: Regular Parcel Service Standards Grid 
In order to calculate the guaranteed service standard for Expedited Parcel, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the item is being sent locally, regionally or nationally.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 13: “Expedited Parcel Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the item is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 or 3) and is a regional or national shipment: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 or 3 are the same and the shipment is not a local shipment: add 1 day.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 6 days.
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Table 13: Expedited Parcel Service Standards Grid 
5.3 | Xpresspost™ and Xpresspost™ Certified |
In order to calculate the guaranteed service standard for Xpresspost or Xpresspost Certified, follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the item is being sent locally, regionally or nationally.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 14: “Xpresspost and Xpresspost Certified Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the item is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 or 3) and is a regional or national shipment: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 or 3 are the same and the shipment is not a local shipment: add 1 day.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 5 days.
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Table 14: Xpresspost and Xpresspost Certified Service Standards Grid 
In order to calculate the guaranteed service standard for Priority™ Next A.M., follow these steps:
- Using section 2.2 “General Information”, determine whether the item is being sent locally, regionally or nationally.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is originating from a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 11, determine whether the item is addressed to a major or non-major urban centre and retain the name of the designated processing facility.
- Using Table 15: “Priority™ Next A.M. Service Standards Grid”, determine the service standard using the nearest point of origin and destination obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the service standard as follows:
- If the item is originating from or is addressed to a non-major urban centre (as it was determined in steps 2 or 3) and is a regional or national shipment: add 1 day.
- If the processing facilities identified in steps 2 or 3 are the same and the shipment is not a local shipment: add 1 day.
- If either the originating or destination FSA is non-major, use Table 2: “Postal Codes of Remote Centres” to determine if either Postal Code is also remote. If the originating or destination Postal Code is remote: add up to 6 days.
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Table 15: Priority™ Next A.M. Service Standards Grid 
6 | Parcel Services (U.S.A. and International) | |
Service standards for the International and U.S. Parcel services are estimates of how long it will take for an item to be delivered. Xpresspost-International, Xpresspost-USA and Priority™ Worldwide offer the On-time Guarantee feature (some conditions apply).
There are 3 Canada Post processing facilities designated to receive and distribute international parcels: Montréal, Toronto or Vancouver.
The estimated service standards between major urban centres is from 6 to 12 business days.
The estimated service standards to U.S. destinations are:
The estimated service standard to international destinations are:
The estimated service standards for International Parcel are:
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International Surface Parcel |
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In order to calculate the guaranteed service standard for Xpresspost-USA, follow these steps:
- Use Table 16: “Processing Facilities and Additional Transit Time for Xpresspost-USA” to determine to which of the three processing facilities the shipment will be forwarded based on your originating FSA. Retain the number of additional business days to add to the service standard.
- Determine the applicable service standard, considering the processing facility determined in step 1, using one of the following tables:
- Add the number of additional business days retained in step 1 to the service standard.
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Table 16: Processing Facilities and Additional Transit Time for Xpresspost-USA Table 17: Xpresspost-USA Service Standards Grid to Major U.S. Cities  Table 18: Xpresspost-USA Service Standards Grid by U.S. State
6.5 | Xpresspost™-International |
Table 19: Xpresspost-International Service Standards Grid Table 20: Additional Transit Time for Xpresspost-International |
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