Although Canada Post is known for its excellent national postage delivery service, you can easily ship your eCommerce shipments internationally with the Canada Post customs documents.
Customs can be frustrating when shipping packages across the Canadian border or to any foreign shoppers. There shouldn’t be any destination limits when it comes to the eCommerce industry. The market is endless and if someone in Libya wants to purchase your product, then borders and oceans shouldn’t be an issue.
Most shipping carriers, like UPS and Purolator, offer international services (including to the USA), so it’s important to accurately do your research to find the best shipping services for your Canadian eCommerce business needs. Canada Post is the most trusted shipping company in Canada and we should just as easily trust them to get out packages internationally as well.
Canada Post has specific customs documents and information needed that make the entire international shipping process easy and understandable.
What are the prices of shipping internationally with Canada Post?
Canada Post international shipping offers multiple options to ship based on the speed and features you require for your shipment.
Shipping to the USA…
Priority Worldwide delivers to both US and foreign destinations and has an on-time delivery guarantee. While all other USA options (other than letter mail) have the option to pick up at a post office, Priority Worldwide does not.
XpressPost USA, Expedited Parcel USA, Tracked Packet USA, and Small Packet USA each offer various features for shipments. Only XpressPost and Expedited Parcel offer on-time guarantees, although most shipments are delivered on time without any hiccups. Tracking is available too on all but Small Packet USA shipments (as well as anything sent by letter mail via international stamps which can be purchased from your local post office). Tracking means that customers and other parties with the number can easily check in on their package in real-time.
The signature option can also be requested for an extra fee for Priority Worldwide and XpressPost USA shipments, which offers more peace of mind to you and your customers.
Shipping to other International destinations…
Canada Post offers an extensive list of international countries and their rate codes, weight maximums, and max declared value for businesses to look up and search estimated shipping costs. These costs will automatically generate on your eCommerce platform when you’ve partnered with an automated shipping label application like PluginHive as well as integrated Canada Post’s business services.
Sending a 2.2-pound package to the Bahamas, for example, by Priority International, using the rate code 5 as assigned, would cost approximately $147.64. Sending that same package to the USA would be about $71.33. This is the fastest shipping available to international locations.
XpressPost will also ship internationally. That same package that’s going to the Bahamas would cost $59.65 to send by XpressPost. International Parcel – Air, which is another option for international shipments, would cost $49.36 to ship to Bermuda (the Bahamas is unavailable for this option). Other shipping options include International Parcel -Surface, Tracked Packet, Small Packet (no tracking available), Letter-post (no tracking available), all of which come with their own costs and take their own timeline to make it to their destination. The cost is typically cheaper as you move down the list while taking longer to ship.
Many customers are willing to pay these shipping costs in order to gain access to your product which may not be available where they are located.
One problem however that many businesses and customers face is added customs fees.
Custom requirements that may affect your Canada Post International shipments
All packages entering and exiting Canada are subject to the Customs regulations and laws of both Canada as well as its destination country. It’s important to understand that there are requirements and restrictions in place for packages LEAVING Canada as well as foreign rules at the destination country that may affect your shipment. You must be aware of these rules and fill in the proper customs documents (properly) to ensure no unexpected fees or issues arise during the shipment process.
For Canada Post international shipments leaving Canada:
- Packages must not include any items in Section 7 Dangerous Goods.
- All forms must be filled out in English or French (only English if being sent Priority).
- All items must have the proper service label affixed.
- A hard copy of the required documents must be included in the shipment regardless of using online data or being electronically transmitted.
You must research your destination country to make sure no other documents from their Customs will be required. If you don’t send everything properly, the shipment could be returned to you, given a fee to your company or to its destination, which won’t result in a happy customer.
The following is a list created by Canada Post of required documents for international shipments. Document in refers to only paper documents being sent, while non-document would be your product being shipped to the customer.
While your business grows and you start shipping internationally, it is important to automate the shipping process with automated shipping software, such as PluginHive, which integrates seamlessly into your eCommerce website and platform. From Shopify to WooCommerce, we have your back. Shipping labels, both domestic and international, are filled in and printed automatically, saving your team time and money. There’s no better shipping label app than PluginHive.
Reach out to PluginHive customer support to learn more about how to integrate Canada Post into your eCommerce website today so you can get those international shipments out by tomorrow!
