Reducing price on Special Handling phantom items

Canada Post will make the Personalized Mail Special Handling category even more convenient and accessible to customers with smaller mailings by reducing the phantom pricing applied when minimum volumes per deposit cannot be met. The current minimum deposit for Personalized Mail Special Handling is 1,000 items. Refer to the 2020 Personalized Mail price sheet for details.

Eliminating the fee for the Return to Sender option

To add value to Personalized Mail and reduce mail on hold, we are eliminating the fee for the Return to Sender (RPG - Return Postage Guaranteed) option. When Return to Sender is identified on the mail item but not declared on the Statement of Mailing (Order), it results in mail on hold due to insufficient payment for RPG. Eliminating the fee will result in an improved customer experience at the time of induction.

There is no change to the process for customers requiring this service. The correct indicia must still be applied, however no fee will be associated with its use.

Reduced pricing for postage meter usage

Standard Machineable Personalized Mail items up to 50 g will change by introducing separate Meter and Postal Indicia prices:

• Postal Indicia prices will increase from $0.485 to $0.495
• Meter prices will increase from $0.485 to $0.49

The new Postage Meter pricing will support small and mid-size businesses by increasing access to Personalized Mail.

When using meter as a method of payment for Standard Machineable Personalized Mail items up to 50 g, customers are not required to create an Order in our Electronic Shipping Tools (EST).

Aligning item level surcharges

Over the past year, customers and the mail industry have invested effort to improve the quality of mail deposited at Canada Post. As a result, we are removing the item level $0.10 surcharge fee, and will align all item level surcharges to $0.05 effective January 13, 2020. Canada Post sincerely thanks our customers and partners for their ongoing efforts to produce quality mailings, and we will continue to evaluate remaining item level surcharges in 2020.

We would like to remind all customers that missing paperwork is still a large contributor to mailing delays at deposit. Please ensure copies of the Order (Statement of Mailing) are with each deposit, and/or the Statement of Mailing number is printed on shipping unit labels.

Introducing a new maximum bundle weight

To address health and safety concerns when processing Neighbourhood Mail bundles, we are introducing a maximum bundle weight of 4 kg or 8 lbs 13 oz. For example, using a typical flyer, this would translate to bundles of approximately 150 items.

Given the impact this change may have on your mail preparation process, we are giving our customers a transition period to adopt this change and the new requirement will be in effect June 30, 2020.

Importance of proper container fill

To help ensure safe handling and protect items from damage, we remind you not overfill containers. We recommend 2 inches of space be left in a container to allow an operator to remove the mail. A simple way to test this is to tilt the Letterflatainer (LFT) on an angle so that the envelopes gravitate downwards, when about 2 inches remain, the container is at capacity.

Introducing a new Publications Mail Annual Fee

Customers have told us they value the undeliverable Publications Mail service (uPM) and want to continue using this feature. To help cover the cost of uPM, a $200 Publications Mail Annual Fee will be added in 2020 for all Publications Mail customers. The fee is non-refundable, payable once per year, per agreement, and billed on the contract anniversary date. No increase will be made to the per-item uPM Processing Fee or to applicable postage fees. For information on Publications Mail or the uPM service refer to the 2020 Commercial Mail Customer Guide at canadapost.ca/notice.

New 2D barcoded Postal Indicia

In 2016 Canada Post introduced a 2D barcode indicia for Personalized Mail to support mail processing. Effective January 13, 2020, the Domestic Lettermail indicia will be updated and include a static 2D barcode. The new indicia templates will be available at canadapost.ca/indicia and become mandatory by January, 2021. Customers are encouraged to deplete existing stock in 2020. These changes support future service improvements.

Customers should contact the Customer Service Network or their Canada Post representative if they have questions about indicia artwork.

Meter pricing lower than Postal Indicia

Postage meter pricing will be lower than postal indicia pricing for Standard and Oversize Lettermail items across all weight levels. Refer to the 2020 Lettermail price sheet for details.

For example Standard Lettermail items weighing up to 30 g will change as follows:

• Indicia (full commercial rate Lettermail) will increase from $0.87 to $0.90
• Meter will increase from $0.87 to $0.89

The new Postage Meter pricing will support small and mid-size businesses making it easier and more cost effective to use Lettermail.

When using meter as a method of payment for Standard or Oversize Lettermail items, customers are not required to create an Order in our Electronic Shipping Tools (EST).