Canada Post shipping options

What Canada Post is good for

Canada Post is the national postal service and the only carrier on our list that delivers to PO boxes and general delivery. It says it delivers to every residential and business address in Canada, and it has published delivery procedures for rural mailboxes.

Priority, Xpresspost and Expedited Parcel carry Canada Post’s on-time delivery guarantee, except to and from air stage offices; Regular Parcel doesn’t. We didn’t find a published time of day for any Canada Post service, so for a morning delivery time, look at Purolator, UPS or FedEx.

Services and delivery standards

Canada Post sells four parcel services within Canada, in its own words:

• Priority is “our fastest service, with next-day delivery”, with next-business-day delivery guaranteed between major urban centres.
• Xpresspost is “a fast and cost-effective shipping service” with next-day and two-day delivery.
• Expedited Parcel is a ground service “available to customers with a Standing Offer Agreement and to Solutions for Small Business cardholders only”.
• Regular Parcel is “our most economical service”. It has no on-time guarantee.

Canada Post publishes these delivery standards in business days. They are estimates unless the on-time guarantee applies.

Outside major urban areas the standards stretch, and northern and remote destinations take 5 to 14 business days depending on the service.

Size and weight limits

A parcel can weigh up to 30 kg (66 lb). No side can be longer than 2 m (78.7 in), and length plus girth can’t pass 3 m (118 in). Canada Post adds an additional handling charge when any side is over 1 m or the second-longest side is over 76 cm, and parcels over 22.7 kg (50 lb) need an Overweight Parcels sticker.

Dimensional weight depends on the service. Regular Parcel divides length × width × height in inches by 166 (6,000 in centimetres). Priority, Xpresspost and Expedited Parcel divide by 139 (5,000 in centimetres). Canada Post charges whichever is greater, the scale weight or the dimensional weight. Try a box in the parcel size calculator.

Weekends and delivery hours

Canada Post delivers to homes Monday to Friday from 9 am until as late as 8 pm, and to businesses Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. Its delivery standards count business days only.

It is starting weekend parcel delivery in select areas of Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. Eligible parcels to homes there may arrive on a Saturday or a Sunday; Canada Post picks the day for each area and senders can’t choose it. PO boxes and businesses that close on weekends aren’t included. Canada Post plans to add Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver in 2027. Our Canada Post weekend delivery guide lists the areas and which parcels qualify, and the weekend delivery overview compares the other carriers.

Holidays

Canada Post closes on national, provincial and territorial holidays, with no collection or delivery, though post offices run inside other stores keep their host’s hours. It still collects and delivers on Family Day, Louis Riel Day and Islander Day. A holiday that falls on a weekend may move to the next business day, which is why Boxing Day 2026 is observed on Monday, December 28.

Canada Post hasn’t published its 2027 dates yet. Our Canada Post holiday schedule lists every holiday on its calendar for 2027, with the last days to ship for Christmas 2026.

PO boxes, rural and remote addresses

Canada Post delivers to PO boxes and general delivery. If a parcel is too big for the box, it leaves a delivery notice card and holds the parcel at the post office for 15 calendar days before returning it. Rural mailboxes get parcels in the mail receptacle, or a delivery attempt at the door when the door is within 500 m of the route. How to address a box and which carriers take one is in shipping to a PO box in Canada.

Canada Post doesn’t list a separate residential or remote surcharge; distance is built into its rate codes. It does add a weekly fuel surcharge, and its price guides list peak season surcharges from November 2, 2026 to January 10, 2027.

Drop-off and pickup

Find a post office with Canada Post’s post office locator. Hours vary by location, and parcels left on a weekend count as deposited the next business day. Priority parcels can’t go in a street letter box.

Businesses with a Solutions for Small Business account can book a driver pickup on business days. Households at eligible addresses can book Home Pickup in the Canada Post app.

What Canada Post won’t carry

Explosive, highly flammable and radioactive items can never be mailed, and ammunition is prohibited under any circumstance. Other dangerous goods are non-mailable apart from lithium batteries packed as Canada Post describes. Alcohol, cannabis and firearms are accepted only from qualifying senders with conditions such as Proof of Age. Perishables travel at the sender’s risk with no damage coverage. The full comparison is on our prohibited items page.

Guides for Canada Post

• Does Canada Post deliver on weekends?
• Canada Post holiday schedule and hours
• Is Canada Post on strike?
• Alternatives to Canada Post
• Shipping to a PO box in Canada

Canada Post through ProtonShip

Canada Post is the carrier for PO boxes and general delivery, so it fills the gap the four couriers leave. When it joins ProtonShip quotes, it will sit next to UniUni, Purolator, UPS and FedEx in the same quote, priced per label with fuel and the carrier surcharges known at booking already in the price.