How to obtain Canada Post Shipping Rates for your WooCommerce Store

Canada Post Shipping Rates
This article covers Canada Post Shipping Rates and highlights the services available to shippers and recipients and the overall process followed by Canada Post when it comes to generating Canada Post Shipping Rates for shipments. It covers the service availability with the WooCommerce Canada Post Plugin and provides the reader with the knowledge on how to handle Canada Post Shipping Rates Realtime and to utilize the feature called Offer Rates which enable users to obtain the cheapest rates available with the WooCommerce Canada Post plugin.

What are the services provided by Canada Post?

Canada Post classifies its services based on the type of package and the destination to where the package is being shipped. These are further classified into:
  • Letters & Mail
  • Parcels/Packages
Regular or Standard Letters and mail weigh between 0-50 grams; while Non-standard or oversized letters and mail weigh between 0-500 grams. Each type of mail has specific restrictions when it comes to dimensions of the package. These are:
  • Standard Lettermail Maximum dimension within Canada- 245 mm x 156 mm (9.6 in x 6.1 in)
  • Standard Lettermail Maximum dimension to the U.S and International destinations – 235 mm x 120 mm (9.2 in x 4.7 in)
  • Oversized restriction – 380 mm x 270 mm (15 in x 10.6  in)
Stamps for letters and Lettermail can be purchased either at the post office or by visiting Canada Post.

What is Registered Mail with Canada Post?

Users of Canada Post are provided with a service called Registered Mail, which basically is where the sender/shipper is given a confirmation that the package has been received by Canada Post. This is offered to those customers who require proof of mailing and delivery by providing them with a mailing receipt (a document containing the signature of the recipient and the date stamp of when the package was delivered. Registered Mail is again classified into Domestic (Canada & US or International) For those letters or documents being shipped within Canada the sender is provided with:

  1. Signature of the receiver.
  2. Date the package was delivered
  3. Official receipt of the mail.

For those letters and documents sent internationally, the sender is then provided with:

  1. Official receipt with the date of delivery stamped on it.
  2. Signatures are only available with XPressPost USA for registered mail sent to the US.

Shipping Parcels/Packages within Canada and International Shipments to the U.S and the rest of the world

canada post shipping rates
Parcels- Within Canada
  Priority Express Post Parcel
Delivery Speed Local (city or town) Next Day Next Day 2 Days
Delivery Speed Regional Next Day Next Day 3-5 Days
Delivery Speed National Next Day 2 Days 4-9 Days
Tracking & Delivery Confirmation Yes Yes Yes
Liability Coverage (Insurance) Yes Yes At a surcharge
Signature Yes At a surcharge At a surcharge
Return to Sender At a surcharge At a surcharge At a surcharge
Parcels to the U.S
  Priority WorldWide Xpresspost U.S.A Expedited Parcel U.S.A. Tracked Packet U.S.A. Small Packet U.S.A.
Delivery Speed by 10:30 AM the next business day 2-3 Days 4-7 Days 4-7 Days 5-8 Days
Customs Clearance (Postal presentation & handling) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Customs Clearance (Commercial) Yes No No No No
Tracking & Delivery Confirmation Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Liability Coverage (Insurance up to $100) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Signature Yes Yes No No No
Return to Sender At a surcharge At a surcharge At a surcharge At a surcharge At a surcharge
Parcels being sent Internationally
  Priority WorldWide Xpresspost International International Parcel Tracked Packet International Small Packet International
Delivery Speed 2-3 Days 4-7 Days 12+ Days 6-10 Days 6-10 Days
Customs Clearance (Postal presentation & handling) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Customs Clearance (Commercial) Yes No No No No
Tracking & Delivery Confirmation Yes Yes No Yes No
Liability Coverage (Insurance up to $100) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Signature Yes At a surcharge No No No

Canada Post shipping methods available for your WooCommerce store

Canada Post has various methods to help store owner fulfill their shipping needs, whether it is Domestic shipping or International shipping. Customers from various countries can place orders and obtain the cheapest method available based on their destination. Using the Canada Post shipping plugin, you can offer them the necessary International Canada Post service. The WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin will help you deliver your products to your customers by offering them the relevant and cheapest Canada Post shipping rates. In the Canada Post Shipping plugin for WooCommerce, you will be able to find the following shipping services that are offered. Domestic Services

DOM.EPRegular Parcel
DOM.EPExpedited Parcel
DOM.XPXpresspost
DOM.PCPriority
DOM.XP.CERTXpresspost Certified

Services to the U.S

USA.EPExpedited Parcel U.S.A.
USA.TPTracked Packet U.S.A.
USA.TP.LVMTracked Packet U.S.A. (LVM)
USA.PW.ENVPriority Worldwide Envelope U.S.A.
USA.PW.PAKPriority Worldwide PAK U.S.A.
USA.PW.PARCELPriority Worldwide Parcel U.S.A.
USA.SP.AIRSmall Packet U.S.A. Air
USA.SP.AIR.LVMTracked Packet U.S.A. (LVM)
USA.SP.SURFSmall Packet U.S.A. Surface
USA.XPXpresspost U.S.A.

International Services

INT.XPXpresspost International
INT.TPInternational Tracked Packet
INT.IP.AIRInternational Parcel Air
INT.TP.SURFInternational Parcel Surface
INT.PW.ENVPriority Worldwide Envelope International
INT.PW.PAKPriority Worldwide PAK International
INT.PW.ParcelPriority Worldwide Parcel International
INT.SP.AIRSmall Packet International Air
INT.SP.SURFSmall Packet International Surface

In order to enable these services and calculate the shipping charges, you need to activate Canada Post Shipping Rates in the Canada Post settings page by enabling Real-time Rates. To obtain this page you must navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Canada Post

canada post shipping rates
Enabling Real-time Rates

Here, you will have the option to enable Realtime Rates. Doing this helps you to calculate Canada Post shipping rates and display the cost on the cart/checkout page. The added benefit is that the rates that are calculated are done in real time. Basically, if a customer decides to update his/her cart by either increasing the number of products or by adding another item. Once done, the cart refreshes, and the rates are updated based on the quantity. Since the plugin is integrated with the Canada Post API, the plugin instantly sends in the request with the updated quantity to the Canada Post servers, and a response is then provided with the updated Canada Post shipping rates. Most importantly, as a store owner, you are also able to configure the countries that you will ship to by setting the Method Availability to either All Countries or Specific Countries. (shown below)

canada post shipping rates
Choose the Method Availability

Upon Selecting Specific Countries, you are able to manually enter the list of countries you will ship to using Canada Post as your Shipping partner.

canada post shipping rates
Choosing Specific Countries to target

In order to choose the Shipping methods to offer your customers, you can select the appropriate services by enabling them within the plugin. This allows the plugin to calculate for only those services which have been selected. You can refer to the screenshot below.

canada post shipping rates
Rate Adjustment and Preferences

You are able to set your primary preferred service by clicking on the 3 lines toward the left of the service name and dragging the appropriate service into their required order. With the help of the Canada Post plugin for WooCommerce, you can even adjust the rates displayed by specifying if there is any additional charge (handling charges) in either the dollar format or as a percentage. Similarly, imagine a customer is going to purchase an item from your WooCommerce store and it costs $10 If you haven’t given any value in either of the adjustments, then the Expedited Parcel USA service will cost the customer about $30.57. Let’s say you want to increase this amount and want to add $1.25 to the ($)Price adjustment, then the corresponding shipping charges would come to be $30.57 + 1.25 = $31.82

canada post shipping rates
Standard Canada Post Rates
canada post shipping rates
Adjusted Canada Post Rates

In the above image, you can see the final price($31.82) after adding values to the adjustments.

Configuring Canada Post shipping rates for your WooCommerce store

canada post shipping rates
Primary reasons for Cart Abandonment – Statista

The key to retaining customers is to offer convenient shipping rates to them. Statistics show that customers abandon carts primarily when the cost of shipping is too high. Therefore, it is crucial to provide favorable shipping options to customers. One more thing to keep in mind is that not all services will be available to all areas, customers may only be able to view certain services on the WooCommerce checkout page. This happens because the location of the customer’s address may not be serviceable by some of Canada Posts’ services.

**NOTE – It is important to keep in mind that customers may enter a wrong address while completing their checkout formalities or in case they try ordering from a location that is not targeted, then they will receive an error or will not receive any rates and would probably have a Flat Rate or Free Shipping appear based on the Shipping Zones set-up.

Configuring ‘Offer Rates’ in the Canada Post shipping rates settings page

With the help of the Canada Post Shipping plugin for WooCommerce, you are able to offer customers the lowest Canada Post shipping rates available by enabling Offer Rates in the Rates section of the plugin settings page. In fact you need to go to the Canada Post settings page under WooCommerce settings and scroll down until you come to the option Offer Rates. Click on the drop-down menu and select  ‘Offer the customer the cheapest rate only, anonymously‘.
canada post shipping rates
Offer the cheapest Canada Post Rates to customers

In the example shown below, upon enabling the Cheapest Canada Post shipping rates to the customer the plugin calculates the rates and automatically displays only the lowest rate available to that destination.

canada post shipping rates
Expedited Parcel USA (Cheapest/lowest rate) offered

Based on the address above, the Canada Post plugin is able to retrieve rates for Priority Worldwide Parcel USA, Expedited Parcel USA and Xpresspost USA, but as the lowest rate was provided by Expedited Parcel USA at $30.57, only that service will appear in the Shipping calculator page.

Rate Settings in Canada Post Shipping plugin for WooCommerce

canada post shipping rates
Canada Post Rates Settings – Canada Post Shipping plugin for WooCommerce
  • LetterMail Rates are defined within the plugin and will not depend on the Canada Post API to generate rates. Therefore, labels and invoices are not possible when shipping a letter mail.
  • Additional Options are added benefits that will, in turn, affect all rates. This would be at a surcharge and is based on the contract or agreement the store owner has with Canada Post. These are:
    • Coverage
    • Signature
    • Age Proof – 18
    • Age Proof – 19
    • Do not safe drop
    • Deliver to Post Office
canada post shipping rates
List of services under Additional Options
  • Delivery Time – Estimated delivery times will be displayed for each service (Name of service – number of days)
  • Quote Type – Commercial (discounted rates) & Counter (regular rates)
  • Rate CostDue (cost of the shipment including the additional options selected, surcharges, discounts, and taxes) – Base (Only the base cost of the shipment before taxes)
  • Conversion Rate – Used in cases where the base currency is of another country (CAD – USD)
  • Fallback Rate – In the case where Canada Post does not provide any rate then the amount specified under Fallback Rate will be displayed in the shipping calculator so the customers can complete their checkout.

Conclusion…

This guide shows you how to make the best use of Canada Post Shipping Rates services for your Domestic and International orders. The Canada Post Shipping plugin for WooCommerce is the best e-commerce plugin available in the market to accomplish all your shipping needs. Luckily, it has all the available Canada Post services, live/real-time shipping, and Canada Post Shipping Rate calculation along with rate adjustments which enable you to run a successful e-commerce store. If you want to provide us with your feedback or in case you have any queries pertaining to the article on Canada Post Shipping Rates, please reach out to our Support Team or you can post a comment below.

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