Canada Post is experiencing what it calls “an unprecedented number of transactions at post offices across the country,” with a “significant increase in customers dropping off parcels for shipping to family and friends or purchasing stamps for greeting cards.”
More small business owners are also reportedly bringing packaged orders into post offices to ship to their customers.
“Canada Post has fully implemented plans to scale up and stay safe while responding to the heavy holiday parcel volumes this holiday season. We’re processing mail and parcels around the clock to respond to the increase in demand,” reads a Dec. 10 statement issued by Canada Post, which has added more than 4,000 temporary seasonal employees and about 1,000 vehicles to meet the demand.
The Crown corporation reported delivering 1.1 million parcels on Dec. 12-13 and nearly three million parcels on Nov. 28-30.
While Canada Post’s on-time delivery guarantees have been suspended since March 18 due to the pandemic, its revised holiday parcel shipping deadlines are listed below.
| Priority | Xpresspost | Flat-rate box | Regular parcel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local | Dec. 18 | Dec. 18 | Dec. 18 | Dec. 18 |
| Regional | Dec. 18 | Dec. 18 | Dec. 16-18 | Dec. 14-16 |
| National | Dec. 18 | Dec. 17 | Dec. 11-17 | Dec. 9-15 |