The Cheapest Way to Ship to Canada in 2023
Finding the cheapest way to ship to Canada is important for any growing business. Whether you ship to Canada with UPS, FedEx, or USPS, there are many affordable options for getting your items cross-border. In fact, ShipStation gives you up to 84% on international shipping costs! If you’re looking to break into a new market, Canadian consumers are ready for you.
Why Canadian Shoppers Are Important
Other than China, Canada is the US’s largest trading partner. And since China has a population that is 40 times larger (1.4 billion more citizens) than Canada. It is also the easiest international market for American businesses to break into. We exchange over $500,000,000,000 in goods with Canada each year, don’t you want to be part of that? Because of this close relationship, shipping across the border to Canada is not particularly difficult. Furthermore, the US is the largest trading partner for Canada—accounting for 75% of all of their exports. So, basically, if you properly document your contents, and don’t ship banned items, you should be fine shipping to Canada from the US.
Cheapest Way to Ship to Canada
Canada is an affordable international market to break into. A large portion of its population is near their southern border to the US and despite packages having to pass through customs and potentially being handed off to a different carrier, it is quick, too.
Shipping Light Parcels to Canada
The USPS and UPS both offer affordable ways to ship to Canada for light parcels under 5 lbs. Once they reach the border, USPS hands the parcels over to Canada Post (the Canadian equivalent of USPS) for final delivery.
Shipping With First Class Mail International to Canada
First Class Mail International is the cheapest way to send parcels to Canada. Keep in mind, FCMI does not have an estimated delivery timeframe. So, you can expect it take about 2-3 weeks to make final delivery. And, the weight limit is 4.4 lbs.
Shipping With Priority Mail International To Canada
If you need a lightweight parcel delivered in a timely manner, USPS Priority Mail International is a good choice. Priority Mail International promises a delivery timeframe of 6–10 days to Canada. Priority Mail Express International has a delivery timeframe of 3–5-days when shipping to Canada.
Shipping Heavy Parcels to Canada
UPS has great options for getting your parcels to Canada. They offer a range of services—economical and express—when you ship to Canada. When you ship UPS on ShipStation, you can reach more than 90% of Canadian customers in five business days or less from most U.S. cities. Cost-effective services that are similar to UPS® Standard shipping to Canada are USPS Priority International and FedEx International Ground.
How to Create Customs Forms For Shipping to Canada
As with all international shipments, parcels shipped to Canada require customs forms. For the USPS, the customs declarations appear on the label. So, there is no additional documentation you need to provide beyond the label. But you do need to provide a customs description of each of the contents within.
FedEx and UPS require commercial invoices for international shipments. While these forms are required, it is possible to submit them electronically via EDI and ETD. For example, with UPS Paperless™ Invoice, UPS sends customs agencies the required information of your package without you having to print and attach documents to your package. This saves you time when preparing packages for international shipping and ensures confidentiality of invoice and package information.
Customs Costs When Shipping to Canada
Canada does have a few regulations around guaranteeing public safety around imported goods. The CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) screens mail for trade facilitation, tariff rating, and examining for potentially prohibited or controlled goods. Parcels valued at over $20 CAD can be searched and have a handling fee applied to the end consumer (or payor if selected). You can also prepay customs duties and taxes on your customers’ behalf with Delivery Duties Paid (or DDP) through ShipStation.
Canada does have a few regulations around guaranteeing public safety around imported goods. The CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) screens mail for trade facilitation, tariff rating, and examining for potentially prohibited or controlled goods. Parcels valued at over $20 CAD can be searched and have a handling fee applied to the end consumer (or payor if selected). You can also prepay customs duties and taxes on your customers’ behalf with Delivery Duties Paid (or DDP) through ShipStation.
Illegal Items to Ship to Canada
Be aware that Canada Post will not ship certain items, so if you ship USPS, these banned items will not be able to be handed off to Canada Post.
- Tobacco items of any form (cigarettes, cigars, chewing/dipping tobacco, and ecigs) are prohibited.
- Live animals
- Canada post allows exceptions via special permitting for bees, day-old chicks/hatching eggs, parasites, leeches, and some other small cold-blooded animals.
- Certain plants are also prohibited, for an up-to-date list of prohibited flora, contact Canada Post directly.
- Currency, even antique coins (I suppose arcade tokens, too?)
- Packages that are wet or emit a foul odor (Well la-ti-da!)
- Lottery tickets or any other gambling items
For a full list of prohibited items, read this
Fast, Affordable Shipping Options from ShipStation
ShipStation has partnerships with the world’s most trusted carriers. These partnerships provide you with a simple way to buy labels and manage multiple shipping accounts with a single source known as ShipStation Carrier Services.
ShipStation Carrier Services lets you access savings of up to:
- 84% off USPS® retail prices
- 82% off UPS international services*
- 78% off UPS® Ground service*
- 73% for UPS Next Day Air® service*
- 73% for UPS 2nd Day Air® service*
- 78% off GlobalPost Economy
- 75% off DHL Express
*Discounts off UPS daily rates. Rates are limited to shipping from the U.S. only. Rates and any applicable discounts are subject to change at any time without notice.
