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Delivery Standards
Delivery standards are the number of business days Canada Post is committed to delivering an item, although delivery can take place earlier. Delivery 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 Delivery standards are met. Delivery standards are subject to change without notice.
Delivery standards do not apply to redirected or returned items, to improperly packaged or prepared items nor to incorrectly addressed items. Delivery standards apply but are not guaranteed to items shipped using a Return Service label.
- 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
- 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. Delivery 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. Delivery 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. |
Delivery 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 Delivery 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 1 less day to deliver locally and regionally, and 2 less days to deliver nationally. |
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Unaddressed Admail mailings require between 1 and 5 additional business days to deliver depending on the selected delivery cycle. |
Delivery 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 delivery 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 delivery standard possible. |
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NOTE:
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Pallets and/or monotainers of brick-piled mail destined to a Major Urban Centre FSA are considered “LOCAL” only when they are deposited at the associated Processing Facility. All other destinations are considered to be “FORWARD”. |
In order to calculate the estimated delivery standard for Addressed Admail, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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 Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 delivery 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 Delivery Standards Grid
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Delivery to these cities occurs over the course of the last three days of the above published delivery standard. For example, the delivery 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 delivery standard for Publications Mail, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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 Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 Delivery Standards Grid
In order to calculate the estimated delivery standard for Unaddressed Admail, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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 Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 delivery standard appropriate to the delivery cycle.
- If the mailing is being combined with AdCard, the production standard for AdCard must be added to the delivery 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 Delivery Standards Grid Table 8: Unaddressed Admail Delivery Cycle
In order to calculate the estimated delivery 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 Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in step 1. Adjust the delivery standard as follows:
- The delivery 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 Delivery Standards Grid
In order to calculate the delivery standard for Incentive Lettermail, follow the procedure for section 2.4 Lettermail™.
In order to calculate the delivery standard for Registered Mail, follow the procedure for section 2.4 Lettermail™.
In order to calculate the delivery standard for Business Reply Mail, follow the procedure for section 2.4 Lettermail™ and Add 1 Day.
Delivery standards for U.S. and International Transaction Mail are estimates of how long it will take for a mail deposit to be delivered. These delivery standards are not guaranteed. All international mailings will be delivered by and in accordance with the requirements of the destination country.
3.1 | Letter-post™ (U.S.A. and International) |
The estimated delivery standards for Letter-post (U.S.A. and International) are:
3.2 | International Incentive Letter-post™ |
The estimated delivery standards for International Incentive Letter-post are:
U.S.A. Premium Incentive amd U.S.A. Per Item Incentive |
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International Premium Incentive/International Per Item Incentive |
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U.S.A. Standard Incentive |
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International Standard Incentive |
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Delivery standards for domestic parcels are estimated in Table 10.
Table 10: General Delivery Standards for Domestic Parcel Services
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Business days. Some exceptions apply. |
Priority™, Xpresspost and Expedited Parcel offer the On-time Delivery Guarantee feature (some exceptions apply, please refer to the General Terms and Conditions for more information). Delivery standards for Regular Parcel are not guaranteed.
Visit Canada Post’s online Canadian Delivery Standard tool at canadapost.ca/deliverytool to find the specific delivery standard from your Postl CodeOM.
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NOTE:
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Expedited Parcel is only available to contract Customers. |
There are 21 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: FSAs (Forward Sortation Areas) in Major Urban Centres and their Designated Processing Facilities for Domestic Parcel Services
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For A0P, A0R and A2V (transported to the processing facility in Québec QC for Expedited Parcel and Regular Parcel), add 6 business days to the delivery 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 delivery standard possible. |
In order to calculate the guaranteed delivery standard for Priority™, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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: Priority™ Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the nearest point of origin and destination obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 12: Priority™ Delivery Standards Grid
4.2 | Xpresspost™ and Xpresspost™ Certified |
In order to calculate the guaranteed delivery standard for Xpresspost or Xpresspost Certified, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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: Xpresspost and Xpresspost Certified Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 13: Xpresspost and Xpresspost Certified Delivery Standards Grid
In order to calculate the guaranteed delivery standard for Expedited Parcel, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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: Expedited Parcel Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 14: Expedited Parcel Delivery Standards Grid
In order to calculate the estimated delivery standard for Regular Parcel, follow these steps:
- Using section 1.1 Important Definitions, 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: Regular Parcel Delivery Standards Grid, determine the delivery standard using the names of the processing facilities obtained in steps 2 and 3. Adjust the delivery 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 15: Regular Parcel Delivery Standards Grid
Delivery standards for the International and U.S. Parcel services are estimates of how long it will take for an item to be delivered.
5.1 | Expedited Parcel™ – USA |
In order to calculate the delivery standard for Expedited Parcel-USA, follow these steps:
- Use Table 16: Transit Time - Expedited Parcel-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 delivery standard.
- Determine the applicable delivery 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 delivery standard.
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Table 16: Transit Time - Expedited Parcel-USA
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Please verify that your complete postal code does not appear elsewhere in the Transit Time table. |
Table 17: Expedited Parcel-USA Delivery Standards to Major U.S. Urban Centres Table 18: Expedited Parcel-USA Delivery Standards to U.S. States
Please note that delivery standards for Tracked Packet are expected delivery times and are not guaranteed.
In order to calculate the expected delivery time for Tracked Packet-USA., follow these steps:
- Use Table 19: Transit Time - Tracked Packet-USA to determine to which of the four processing facilities you item will be forwarded to based on your originating FSA. Retain the number of additonal business days to add to the delivery standard.
- Determine the applicable delivery 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 delivery standard in step 2.
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Table 19: Transit Time - Tracked Packet-USA
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Please verify that your complete postal code does not appear elsewhere in the Transit Time table. |
Table 20: Tracked Packet-USA Delivery Standards to Major U.S. Urban Centres Table 21: Tracked Packet-USA Delivery Standards to U.S. States
In order to calculate the expected delivery time for Tracked Packet-International, follow these steps:
- Use Table 22: Transit Time - Tracked Packet-International to determine to which of the three processing facilities you item will be forwarded to based on your originating FSA. Retain the number of additonal business days to add to the delivery standard. If your FSA* is in the range of P0V-T9X, X0B-X0G and Y0A-Y0B you will need to use the instructions in Section 4.2 to determine the domestic Xpresspost standard between your FSA and the Forward Processing Facility identified. Retain the number of additional business days to add to the delivery standard.
- Determine the applicable delivery standard, considering the processing facility determined in step 1, using Table 23: Tracked Packet - International Delivery Standards.
- Add the number of additional business days retained in step 1 to the delivery standard in step 2.
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Table 22: Transit Time - Tracked Packet-International
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Please verify that your complete postal code does not appear elsewhere in the Transit Time table. |
Table 23: Tracked Packet - International Delivery Standards
The estimated delivery standards to U.S. destinations are:
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Small Packet – Surface (available until February 10, 2013) |
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The estimated delivery standard to international destinations are:
The estimated delivery standards for International Parcel are:
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International Surface Parcel |
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In order to calculate the guaranteed delivery standard for Xpresspost-USA, follow these steps:
- Use Table 24: Transit Time - Xpresspost-USA to determine to which of the four processing facilities the shipment will be forwarded based on your originating FSA. Retain the number of additional business days to add to the delivery standard.
- Determine the applicable delivery 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 delivery standard.
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NOTE:
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The On-time Delivery Guarantee does not apply to: |
- post office box addresses;
- food items;
- items mailed to U.S. territories and possessions (American Samoa 96799; Wake Island 96898; Guam , Palau, Micronesia, Mariana Islands and Marshall Islands 969);
- United States Army Post Offices (APO's) or military installations (U.S. Military Zips 090-098, 962-966, 340).
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Table 24: Transit Time - Xpresspost-USA
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Please verify that your complete postal code does not appear elsewhere in the Transit Time table. |
Table 25: Xpresspost-USA Delivery Standards to Major U.S. Urban Centres |
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