Cheapest way to ship a package within Canada

What sets the price of a parcel

• Billable weight. The higher of the actual weight and the dimensional weight worked out from the box’s size.
• Distance. Carriers price by origin and destination, so across the country costs more than across town.
• Speed. Ground and economy cost the least. Overnight and morning delivery cost the most.
• Home or business. Purolator, UPS and FedEx each publish a residential delivery surcharge. Canada Post’s price guides don’t list one.
• Remote and rural addresses. UPS, FedEx and Purolator add area surcharges for places off their regular routes.
• Size and handling. Long, heavy or odd-shaped parcels pick up extra handling charges.
• Fuel. Carriers add fuel surcharges that move with fuel prices. Canada Post resets its rate every week.

Why box size often matters more than weight

Dimensional weight is length × width × height in inches, divided by the carrier’s divisor. The smaller the divisor, the more a box’s size counts:

• 166 for Canada Post Regular Parcel
• 139 for Canada Post’s other services, Purolator Ground, UPS Standard and FedEx
• 115 for UPS Expedited, Express Saver and Express, and for Purolator Express

UniUni bills dimensional weight too, but doesn’t publish its divisor.

Take a 6 lb duvet. In a 24 × 18 × 18 in box it bills at about 47 to 68 lb, depending on the divisor. Vacuum-packed into a 16 × 12 × 8 in box, the same duvet bills at 9 to 13 lb.

Dense goods work the other way. A box of books is billed on its weight at every carrier, so splitting it into lighter boxes helps more than a smaller box would. Check your own box at every carrier

Ways to pay less

1. Use the smallest box that fits the item and its padding. Clothing and other soft goods can go in a padded mailer. Box sizes and what they bill at
2. Keep soft packs small. Purolator charges extra for soft packs over 18 in long, and UPS for soft packs bigger than 18 × 14 × 6 in.
3. Stay under the extra handling lines. UPS and FedEx add a charge above 48 in on the longest side, 30 in on the second-longest or 105 in length plus girth, and above 50 lb at UPS or 55 lb at FedEx. Purolator’s lines are 48 in and 50 lb. Canada Post’s is 1 m (39.4 in) on any side or 76 cm (30 in) on the second-longest.
4. Stay under 130 in length plus girth. Above it, UPS, FedEx and Purolator class the parcel as large or oversize and bill it at 90 lb or more.
5. Split heavy shipments. Two boxes under the lines above can cost less than one box over them.
6. Choose ground when time allows. Canada Post’s own standards put Regular Parcel at 4 to 10 business days between major cities across the country, and Xpresspost at 2.
7. Drop it off. Canada Post, UPS and FedEx each publish a fee for an on-demand pickup.
8. Declare the real size and weight. A carrier that re-measures the parcel bills the difference afterwards. How to measure a package shows how carriers round each side.
9. Compare every carrier for that exact parcel. The divisors, surcharges and limits above shift the order from one box to the next.

Light parcels and heavy parcels

Canada Post calls Regular Parcel its most economical service. It bills size at the 166 divisor and comes without an on-time guarantee. UniUni says it’s optimized for packages of 10 lb or less.

Heavier parcels narrow the field. Canada Post stops at 30 kg (66 lb), and Purolator at 70 lb through ProtonShip, while UPS and FedEx take up to 150 lb. Over 50 lb, expect an extra handling charge at most carriers, so a heavy box is worth pricing against two lighter ones. Our guides to shipping tires and furniture work through real heavy boxes, and every carrier’s limits are side by side in our Canadian parcel shipping facts.

What a ProtonShip quote includes

One quote shows every carrier and speed that fits the parcel and route. Fuel and the surcharges known at booking are in the price, and tax is added by the province the parcel ships from. A price changes later only if the carrier re-measures the parcel or corrects the address, and you see the carrier’s figures before anything is charged. How pricing works