If you’re across the country and far away from your loved ones you have to plan ahead — far ahead — in order to make sure that their festive greeting cards and gift parcels get through the mail system to them in time this holiday season.
Every year, Canada Post experiences a surge in mail volume, bogging down cars and carriers. This means that it’s crunch time so you should get it all stamped and sent now before it’s too late.
Teresa Williams, Canada Post’s media relations co-ordinator for Alberta and Saskatchewan, said that December is a very busy month for the mail system.
“In Edmonton, on any kind of regular day throughout most of the year, we process roughly one million pieces of mail every day. At Christmas time, that volume doubles.”
She added that normally the heaviest volumes come on the Monday before Christmas. This year that is December 20.
Standard postage rates are $0.57 for Canada, $1.00 for the United States and $1.70 for international shipping.
Holiday cards and other envelopes being sent outside the province should be dropped in the post by Dec. 16, but you have until Dec. 17 if your item is being sent within Alberta. Locally, the deadline is Dec. 20.
Packages are another story entirely. If you are looking for the most economical solution within Canada then regular parcel mail is your best bet. Your item must be in the system by Dec. 11. Xpresspost is pretty fast and you have until Dec. 22 to send something off. If you have put it off until absolutely the last minute then Priority is the only way to go. You can get a parcel anywhere across the country by the following morning, so if Christmas is your target then you have until Dec. 23.
If you are shipping a parcel outside of the country, Priority service can still get to the United States by the next morning but you should allow for two or three days for international destinations. Xpresspost can take two or three days for the United States and from four to seven days for international destinations. Regular parcels take at least four days but you’ll have to check on schedules for other countries around the world. Some delivery options can take from four to six weeks.
And don’t forget to get those letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole. His postal code is H0H 0H0.
You can find out more information about rates and delivery schedules from www.canadapost.ca.
