Does Canada Post deliver to the United States?

Does Canada Post deliver to the United States?

Canada Post’s delivery services include the United States and stretch to virtually every country worldwide. While Canada Post has been a storied and trusted carrier of documents and parcels over the generations, other couriers like Purolator, UPS, and FedEx are also available to Canadians. With such a variety of choices, Secureship – a Canadian-bred shipping broker – can find you the best deal for your delivery needs.

This blog outlines Canada Post’s services and shows you how easy it is to compare other shipping choices with Secureship, which could save a lot of money (typically 50%) and valuable time.

Table of Contents

• Shipping Costs to the USA with Canada Post
• Secureship’s Shipping Options
• Shipping to the USA
• Conclusion

Shipping Costs to the USA with Canada Post

Suppose you need to ship a medium-sized box of goods from Ottawa to Los Angeles. From Canada Post’s Find a Rate tool, for a box with dimensions of 33 x 33 x 28 cm and weighing 10 kg, there are two shipping options:

1. Expedited Parcel – $87 CAD with delivery within 5 business days.
2. Xpresspost – $134 CAD with a guaranteed delivery of 5 days.

However, other shipping options are available to Canadians when sending goods and papers to the USA, which the next topic below explores.

Secureship’s Shipping Options

As you well know, shippers have many options beyond Canada Post for their parcels. And by using Secureship’s estimator for a 10-kilogram parcel bound for Los Angeles International Airport from Ottawa’s International Airport you can find an array of choices as shown below:

Courier and its Service	Courier’s Retail Rate (CAD)	Secureship’s Rate (CAD)	Delivery Time
UPS Standard	$104	$52	7 business days
UPS Express	$475	$223	Overnight by next morning
FedEx International Two Day	$300	$134	48 hours
FedEx International First	$639	n/a	1 business day
Purolator Ground	$130	$91	6 business days
Purolator Express	$508	$356	2 business days

As is clearly evident from the table above, a parcel can be delivered in very short order, but it will be very expensive; however, if speed is not of the essence, then significant savings can be had.

And the data also show what Secureship can find for your shipments – a choice of couriers with varying delivery times, and substantial savings that range from 30 - 55%.

Shipping to the USA

Beyond a parcel’s basic shipping fee, shipping from Canada to the USA may trigger other costs. Goods may incur duties and taxes; an oversized container will be levied a surcharge; or if travel entails a Saturday, then an extra charge may be added to the bill.

Duties and taxes

While the USMCA (the trade deal between the USA, Mexico, and Canada) has reduced duties on most goods crossing the border into the respective countries, a few still remain. For instance, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages continue to be dutiable.

While the USA does not impose a value added tax on goods (VAT or GST), certain individual states levy a sales tax on the value of the incoming goods, which could reach 7.25%.

Oversized parcels

Generally, couriers consider a parcel oversized if it weighs more than 68 kg or has a length greater than 2.74 m. And as such, they will apply an extra fee for its delivery, which for UPS in 2024 could reach $1,100 CAD.

Saturday services

Saturday services means parcel pick-up or delivery on that day. And while that could be very convenient or helpful to the sender or recipient, there is a fee for that. So, unless this service is absolutely necessary, avoiding parcels moving on Saturdays is one way to save a little bit on your shipping costs.

Conclusion

Canada Post ably delivers Canadians’ parcels and letters to the USA and scores of countries beyond that. But the modern world has many other shipping options, and the Canadian broker Secureship has the online tools to find the quickest or cheapest or most convenient option for you or your business. And further, Secureship saves you a lot of money in the process – upwards of half of a courier’s retail price. While that is great news, shipping parcels to the USA may invoke other costs or fees beyond the basic price of shipping. The goods may be liable to duties or taxes; if the parcel is particularly large or heavy, the courier will apply extra charges; and when parcel handling occurs on a Saturday there is also an added fee.