How much does it cost to ship from Canada to Australia?

How much does it cost to ship from Canada to Australia?

You may suspect that it’s not cheap to ship from Canada to Australia – and you’re right about that. First and foremost, there’s the distance, but a host of other elements contribute to the cost. How big and heavy is the parcel? When does it need to arrive? Does it require special handling, insurance, residential delivery, or Saturday services? Also, the carrier you choose will affect the cost.

With so many variables, there is no simple answer to this question. But this blog describes the major cost factors affecting shipments to Australia. And it presents Secureship, a Canadian shipping broker who can find you great deals for all of your shipments whether globally or across town. As well, Secureship’s years of experience have amassed a volume of material that will answer any of your shipping questions and provide you with shipping guides to Australia and a hundred-and-forty-plus other countries and territories.

Table of Contents

• The Basics
• Options and Extras
• What Secureship Can Do for You
• Conclusion

The Basics

Reason dictates that heavier, larger parcels will cost you more to ship, and that is indeed true. But over a certain size and weight, carriers add an oversize surcharge. For example, when shipping with UPS, an oversized parcel is one that is heavier than 68 kg or longer than 2.74 m. As of June 2024, such a parcel will incur a $1,100 CAD surcharge. And if you are shipping during the peak period of Christmas (mid-November till mid-January), that charge could reach $1,550 CAD.

Another key determinant of a parcel’s shipping cost is when it needs to arrive in Australia. As expected, the shorter the travel time, the more expensive the shipment. Air freight services overseas typically promise deliveries from 3 - 8 business days. But if time is of lesser concern to you, sending a parcel by sea freight is the most economical choice, but that could be a three-month journey from Canada.

Options and Extra Services

Once you have a quote for shipping a parcel to Australia from Canada, any added option or extra service will up your expenses – things like special handling, insurance, residential delivery, and Saturday services..

Special handling

Special handling charges are incurred when instead of using a regular cardboard box for your goods, you package them in a plastic, metal, or wood container. So, this fee is easy enough to avoid unless for particular circumstances, the items demand a specialised box for shipping purposes.

Insurance

Insurance is also an option, and depending on the goods and your risk tolerance for lost or damaged parcels, you may wish to skip this payment. However, with valuable goods or those that will affect your firm’s profits if they go missing or break in transit, insurance is a wise choice.

But be advised that packaging becomes especially important so that insurance will be valid. In short, all items need to be encased in package peanuts or bubble wrap, and then placed a minimum of 5 cm from each other and all sides of the box. FedEx provides further details concerning safe and secure packing.

Residential delivery

It may be very convenient for your recipient to receive his or her parcel at home. But you pay for that. If that is a cost you wish to sidestep, one option is to use the recipient’s workplace as the parcel’s destination. Another way is to address the parcel to the courier’s local outlet.

Saturday services

Similar to residential delivery, Saturday services cost extra whether it is for a parcel pick-up or delivery. So unless absolutely necessary, you can bypass Saturdays and its accompanying fee.

What Secureship Can Do for You

Secureship’s agreements with noted couriers – Purolator, FedEx, UPS – can at times save you up to 50% of your shipping costs. But our services go well beyond that. Once a courier is selected, our system automatically guides you through the parcel’s required paperwork and finishes the process with you arranging a convenient parcel pick-up.

And there is more. Shipping internationally has far more rules and restrictions than domestically-bound parcels. So, to help you understand how to ship from Canada to Australia, we have assembled a country shipping guide that covers all you need to know so your parcels smoothly enter Australia.

Conclusion

Though shipping from Canada to Australia can be expensive, it is difficult to state precisely how much it costs to ship there because of the numerous variables involved. And while heavier, bigger parcels cost more, obviously, over certain criteria (heavier than 68 kg or longer than 274 cm) a parcel will incur an oversized surcharge. Beyond that, you may encounter extra fees for options such as insurance, residential delivery, and Saturday services.

But do not despair. There is help and big savings to time and pocketbook (up to 50%) when you use Secureship for parcel shipments from Canada to Australia.