Canada Jane

This is a rather strange question but one my husband asked me and I couldn't answer.

What is the postal system like in Canada. Do they operate a similar system to the US where you have a box at the end of the drive or is post posted through the doors? Specifically I am talking about Ontario.

Also, is the system any good? I know we moan about the post in the UK but really is is very good on the whole.

Thanks in advance
Jane

Smokey

Jane, others will post specifically about Ontario but here in SK on a new developement there was a 'bank' of post boxes on a stand at the corner of the road. We were given a key to be able to collect our post. Since we've moved, we now have a 'box' at the post office so we have to go into collect it. Its a wall full of boxes to service the whole town and when you open your box you can see through to the sorting office. When I first saw them it was a bit of a surprise to say the least! I have seen postmen in Saskatoon delivering in the older parts of town and the post boxes seem to be positioned near the door (usually attached to the house wall) rather than in the front yard.

CalgaryAMC

It is merely adequate; and getting worse, not better.

lee2

I find Canada Post more pleasant to use at the counter level, but shoddier and more expensive overall.

Here in Toronto there are lots of Post Offices with most in the back of pharmacies or other stores. There are several open late and on the weekend too. I find the service generally good and the queues shorter than British ones and a good deal less depressing too.

Canada Post also offer the Moneygram service to send money around the world, postal money orders (even in pound sterling!) and the usual array of related packaging etc. You can get a few government documents like passport applications or tax forms. It does not do all the things British ones do though, like offer banking services or cashing pension cheques.

But there's only one delivery a day and no Saturday post. I occasionally suspect our letter-carrier (as they're called here) of simply not showing up some days, especially Fridays.

Any letter you post within Canada will NOT get there the next day. If it's two days you're lucky, three or four days is the norm.

The service to and from the U.S is particularly bad and I think there must be a lot of border bureaucracy. Packages I send there seem to take AT LEAST a week and sometimes two.

International mail is expensive, especially to send any sort of package. I just sent my nephew two boxes of cereal and it cost $27 to send!

The only saving grace is that I've found the speed of service to and from the U.K quite good. Letters get there within four or so days, packages within a week. There's also special letter delivery (like the Royal Mail's Swiftair) which for a few extra dollars speeds things up considerably.

As for where you pick up your mail. In older houses an outside mail box, but it can be on your steps by your front door.
In rural areas they are out on the street like the classic looking American ones.
In newer developments they are in key boxes dotted around at the end of streets. In apartment buildings they tend to be in key mail boxes near the entance

iaink

Canada post is a lot cheaper for a start. Within canada, which lets face it covers huge distances, regular letter is 49c (~20p), similar to UK 2nd class.

Internationally its way cheaper. a 30g airmail letter is $1.40 (58p), 100g letter is $3.20 (133p). I am still confused about the tax on top, sometimes you pay GST/PST, sometimes you dont for the stamps.

Letterboxes vary depending where you live. Where I am its the box at the end of the driveway...they also pick up from there which is great...no searching for a pillar box. In my old apartment there were group boxes by the entrance (where they also picked up). Some houses in town have a "slim" box by the front door, New subs often have a metal cabinet at the end of the road with numerous mailboxes. Some folks pay a small monthly fee for PO boxes at the post office.

In the great scheme of immigration, its really a pretty trivial thing!

Iain

flashman

Given the size of the coutry that's not bad. Mail distances withiin the U.K. are local by comparison.

mickj

Hello there,

Put it this way, you are not going to get 2 posts a day like we do in london uk, also there is no saturday posts, and this is coming from someone living in Ontario. The post offices are not set up the way they are in london, with the windows and a calculator and a scale on the outside to way your package.

Some folks here have told you post is cheap, what they didn't tell you is how long it takes to get to where its going within canada. Sometimes a local letter takes about 5 days to get to you. I remember being in london uk, and sending a package to my now wife in Toronto, it sometimes took 4 days to get to her, usually its 5 days from london UK to north america.

I live in a new subdivision, and we have a box along with other residents, in the street that leads to our house, we just pick the mail up when coming back from work. Usually houses have a box in front of the house a postal worker driving a van delivers the mails.

xunzi

I don't have any complaints with the postal system. I've had a couple of items cross the border - one from L.A. took 4 days total to get to me.

My post is delivered consistently too, around 10:30am. I'd prefer it to be earlier but it's not so bad.

Canada Jane

Many thanks for all your replies. It seems that on the whole the postal system is ok.

I like the idea of the post being picked up from your box too. That is a definate plus.

thanks again
Jane

lee2

It appears to be successful too!

From Canadian Press today:

OTTAWA (CP) _ Canada Post delivered a higher profit than expected for 2003, sending some of it back to its only shareholder the federal government.
The corporation reported net income of $253 million for the last
year _ about four times the $58 million it expected, Canada Post
said Friday in its annual report.
This marks the Crown agency's ninth consecutive annual profit.
From that it said it expects to pay a dividend of $63 million to the
federal government this year.
That's considerably more than the $18 million it paid to Ottawa
last year, the corporation said.
The results are particularly strong given the tough times the
economy endured in 2003, said Vivian Albo, chairman of the Canada Post board of directors.
``The SARS outbreak, the war in Iraq, the blackout in Ontario,
forest fires in Alberta and British Columbia, the outbreak of mad
cow disease and the hurricane in Nova Scotia had a serious impact on the Canadian economy,'' she said in a statement.
``That Canada Post Corporation succeeded in these challenging conditions is an enormous credit to the organization.''
The report says postal operations accounted for about 81 per cent of the income for the corporation while its Purolator courier
operation contributed about 16 per cent.
Purolator recorded a net income of $43 million, an increase of
$16 million in 2002.
The courier service has become controversial as rivals contend it
has an unfair advantage as a Crown agency over private-market
delivery firms.
Much of the jump in Canada Post income came from settling
international accounts and changes to benefit plans.
But even if those items were excluded, the corporation says it
would still have beaten its profit target by 14 per cent for a net
income of $66 million.
The report also noted that Canada Post processed 10.7 billion
pieces of mail last year.
Because of population growth, it also added about 240,000 new
points of delivery which increased the cost of postal services by
more than $25 million.

babsi

What I find bad about the Canadian parcel system is sending parcels abroad.

Here are the Canadian tariff's:

0g-250g $6.40 0g-250g $4.20
250g-500g $12.20 250g-500g $6.25
500g-1kg $23.95 500g-1kg $10.70
1kg-2kg $37.35 1kg-2kg $15.55

The first one is by air and the second one is by ground, and looking at that I notice they have put their prices up

What is bad for example is if you have a parcel for 600g you have to pay $23.95 for only being 100g over. This happened at Christmas, and of course everywhere is busy and you want to send your gifts and I didn't know the tariff's then, so I just sent it. Of course when I came back to check on the internet I was a little upset, as I could have taken something out and sent it seperately and it would have worked out cheaper, it is a shame they didn't tell me that

In the UK the gaps between weights are a lot fairer. If I can I rather send the stuff by sea if it is not urgent as it is very expensive.

lee2

Yes I mostly send parcels which is why I don't find it cheap.

souls canuck

canada post has been great.. but its all I know.

old sub divisions are set up to receive door delivery, where as the new homes all have the "super mailbox" where you go and pick up your own mail.

if you are lookign for a cheap land parcel, is ups an option? used to be fairly reasonable if you werent in a hurry.. if you are , then ya, always pay more.

CalgaryAMC

As I said, Canada's postal service is merely adequate. You get daily delivery five days a week.

I also said the service is getting worse, not better. By that I mean that slowly but surely door-to-door pick-up and delivery is being phased out in favour of neighbourhood mailboxes. I disapprove of this trend but there you are.

It is slow, but geography surely accounts for most of that, and it is still inexpensive.

Private delivery companies like UPS, Fedex etc. are used much more routinely than is the case (as I remember it) back in the UK.

souls canuck

true, saturday delivery would be nice.. and right to my door.. guess I have had both and it doesnt bother me so much.. lived in an apt and had to pick up my own mail.. and now its a super box.. I need the exercise..

I have noticed that most mail, within the city, gets to its destination usually under 2 days.. I mailed something uptown and it got downtown the next day.. all for 50 cents.

across the country usually within about 3 or 4 days.

I get stuff from the uk in like 4 days. sending in the same.

and if it is going anywhere else.. well, not sure who is to blame there.. I send stuff to southern az and it takes a week.. grrr..