Thursday, December 3, 2015

Canada shipping time

We have received this question about 12 times today, "I was wondering how long this would take to ship to Canada? Would need it before Christmas."

I thought I would answer it and maybe cut down on the emails.

1) You place your order and they package it up and get it ready for pickup by USPS. We ship orders the same day if it is received before a certain time, such as 4pm.

2) USPS picks it up and brings it to the nearest depot to be sorted to correct destinations. This one would end up in the International parcels area, sorted for mail going to Canada. This may take a day.

3) Once sorted, it ends up on some form of transport to head towards Canada. This could go by truck, by train, or by plane depending on the service that was used with USPS. The fastest delivery method (plane) is usually more expensive. Here you are looking at anywhere from 1-3 days.

4) Whatever method is chosen, the parcel will be shipped to a Canada Border Services Agency authorized depot. Here's where it gets interesting. The CBSA is responsible for checking packages to make sure they are legal to enter Canada, and to calculate the amount of duty or taxes must be charged on the item. So your parcel could sit on a shelf in a warehouse (from a few days to a few weeks) until they inspect it and do the calculations.

5) Finally, US Postal Service does NOT deliver in Canada. It is not their responsibility. So they leave the parcel at the border and head home. After the CBSA approves the parcel, Canada Post gets involved. They have an agreement to deliver US mail, just as USPS will deliver US-bound mail from Canada. So Canada Post picks up the parcel, brings it to their depot, gets it sorted, and onto a truck headed to you. That may take a day or two.

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