Canada Mail Forwarding Service

Now and then, every business organization closes up its physical office. It may be because you are remodelling the office, or maybe because you are taking a vacation, or just for renovation work.

“Capital expenditures on non-residential construction are expected to rise 8.6% to $298.2 billion in 2022, following a 10.4% increase in 2021.” – Statistics Canada.

Closing up the office is not an issue with other communication channels like emails and phone calls. But with postal mail, the only viable option is to have a Canada Post Mail Forwarding service to ensure you don’t miss any important business correspondence.

Below, we discuss everything you need to know about the Mail Forwarding service from Canada Post.

There are two types of Mail Forwarding service fees associated with Canada Post Mail Forwarding, and they are

• Residential Fee
• Business Fee

Residential Fee

As the name implies, the residential fee only applies to residential addresses. Canada Post applies a residential fee to one or more people living in the same household; in most cases, these are families or housemates.

Business Fee

The business fee for Canada Post Mail Forwarding applies to all types of enterprises. It means the business fee is also applicable to nonprofit organizations. Some of the other enterprises or organizations to which the business fee applies to include the following.

• Commercial
• Industrial
• Professional
• Social
• Artistic
• Altruistic

As you can guess, business pricing only applies to you if you include a business name. Suppose you do not include a business name. In that case, they may have to pay a residential fee to access the Canada Post Mail Forward service.

It is also worth noting that business organizations that receive high mail volumes may have to pay extra fees.

Business Prices

Business prices for Canada Post Mail Forward service apply equally to all organizations, including large enterprises and small businesses. Your organization can opt for business Mail Forwarding if you intend to change your business location or post office box.

Canada Post even considers home-based businesses. It allows small home-based businesses to include the names of up to two individuals living at the same business address. However, there is a delivery timeline that every business organization must follow for Canada Post Mail Forwarding, regardless of its size.

You must purchase the forwarding service from Canada Post before a specific number of days, so you don’t miss any important mail. The following table shows the slack period between purchasing the Mail Forwarding service and the business move date.

Factors Affecting Canada Post Mail Forwarding Pricing For Businesses

It is essential to understand that the Canada Post Mail Forward pricing for businesses is not set in stone. In other words, the Mail Forwarding price for companies can vary depending on several factors. Listed below are some prominent aspects that can influence the Mail Forwarding price for your business organization.

• The time duration for which you want the Mail Forwarding service
• The distance you want to move your business (within/across provinces or internationally)
• Whether you wish Mail Forwarding for temporary relocation or a permanent move
• Whether your company uses a unique postal code for high mail volume or not

The base fee for Canada Post Mail Forwarding includes up to two business names and two individual names. You also have the option to include up to four more individual names, for an additional fee, of course. Enterprise-level organizations or commercial users can even get customized services from Canada Post.

Contract Prices

Another vital thing to note about the Canada Post Mail Forwarding service is the contract prices. These are the prices companies pay Canada Post for Mail Forwarding after signing an agreement. You can get the agreement’s specifics sorted by contacting a Canada Post sales representative.

Residential Prices

Typically, a business organization wouldn’t need to know the Canada Post Forwarding Mail price for residential addresses. But, from our experience, we have found that it is not always the case. We have had a couple of our clients come to us seeking advice on using their residential addresses for business communication.

There are two reasons why a few clients wanted to use their residential addresses for their business correspondence. One of these reasons was to ensure they never miss important mail, and the other was to cut back on their expenses. And if you are also thinking the same, listen to what our experts say about Canada Post Mail Forward for residential addresses.

“Using the residential addresses to forward your business correspondence is good in theory, but there is a catch. You can not include a business name in your residential request. So if you can find a way around this problem, then it is all good. Otherwise, you are just risking the delivery of your crucial mailers.”

Now, you know the problem with using the residential address for forwarding your business correspondence. Nonetheless, you can use the following table to compare your Canada Post Mail Forwarding price for residential and business addresses. You can then decide for yourself if it’s worth your time and effort.

The standard payment options for Canada Post Mail Forward services are the same for residential and commercial customers. Here are the different ways your business can pay for the Mail Forwarding service from Canada Post.

• Business cheque or certified cheque
• Cash
• Credit card (where available)
• Debit card (where available)
• Money order

As you can see, Canada Post provides you with various payment options. Hence, making the payment for the Canada Post Forwarding Mail service should be no problem for you. However, there is one thing we wish to point out to you. If you choose to pay for the assistance online, you must pay by credit card or bill to your account.

Acceptable Proofs Of Payment

There are several acceptable proofs of payment as far as Canada Post is concerned. The following table shows the acceptable payment proofs for the Canada Post Mail Forwarding service for payments made via different channels.

Canada Post provides delivery standards for the Mail Forwarding service. It gives you an estimate of how long the mail takes to reach its destination or forwarded address. However, this is nothing but an estimate. And even though this estimate is accurate in most cases, there are no guarantees in the Canada Post Mail Forward delivery standards.

Calculating the delivery standard for your forwarded mail is pretty straightforward. First, you must consider the delivery standard of the first postal service, i.e. to your original/old address. Next, you must consider the delivery standard from the actual or old address to the new address. And then you must add these two standards together.

But, before you get carried away, this is not yet the delivery standard for your Canada Post Mail Forward. There is one last step to find the delivery standard to your new address. You must add one day to the total you obtained in the previous step. The number of days you have now is the delivery standard for your new address.

You should have no trouble setting up a Canada Post Mail Forwarding service for your business organization, as the process is straightforward. There are two ways to set up the Mail Forwarding option for your business.

It is also important to remember that Canada Post has an authentication process to confirm your identity. The process typically uses your credit card information. If the authentication fails, you have the option to verify your identity at the post office using a government-issued photo ID.

How To Set Up Mail Forwarding Online

The most convenient way to set up the Mail Forwarding service for your business is to do it online. You can buy the Mail Forwarding service from Canada Post. And all you need to set it up is a valid credit card and email address. However, suppose you want direct confirmation about the Canada Post Forwarding Mail service. In that case, you can always go directly to the post office.

Here is the step-by-step process of buying a Mail Forwarding service online.

Step 1: Sign in (or sign-up) to your Canada Post account

Step 2: Provide your identification and address data

Step 3: Choose the duration of the Mail Forwarding service

Step 4: Make the payment using your credit card

Step 5: Visit the post office with your barcode (if required)

Right now, you are probably wondering what the purpose of the barcode is and whether you need to take it to the post office. You need to use the barcode only if you buy Canada Post Mail Forward online and cannot verify your identity. In that case, you would have to visit the nearest post office so you can verify your identity and finalize your Mail Forwarding order.

How To Set Up Mail Forwarding At The Post Office

If you are worried about the online procedure going wrong or prefer to communicate in person, you set up the service at the post office. Many business organizations still prefer the in-person approach. If that is the case, you can buy the Canada Post Mail Forwarding service directly from the post office.

Furthermore, you can save valuable time by filing the Mail Forwarding order form. It is worth noting that the order form also requires you to submit a government-issued photo ID like a driver’s license, passport, or citizenship card.

In addition, you must show the necessary authorization if you want Canada Post Mail Forwarding for someone else’s mail.

Here is the step-by-step process of buying a Mail Forwarding service from a post office.

Step 1: Fill out the Mail Forwarding order form (PDF)

Step 2: Visit your nearest post office

Step 3: Submit your identification documents

Step 4: Make the payment for the Mail Forwarding service

Sometimes that office renovation you put off for ages takes more time than you might expect. Or maybe you decided to extend your vacation. Perhaps you would still want to receive all your crucial mailers for whatever reason. Thankfully, an option lets you spread the validity of your Canada Post Mail Forwarding service.

To ensure there is no interruption to your Mail Forwarding service, you must extend it before it expires. You can extend the Canada Post Mail Forwarding service in two ways. Either you can do it online, or you could do it at the post office.

Extending Your Canada Post Mail Forwarding Service Online

Follow the steps below to extend your Canada Post Mail Forwarding Service.

Step 1: Sign in (or sign-up) to your Canada Post account and provide the following information.

• Reference number (you can find it on the confirmation email from Canada Post after purchase)
• Postal code of the original address
• Email address (same as the one on order)

Step 2: Choose how long you want to extend the service.

Step 3: Make the payment for extending the Mail Forwarding service.

Extending Your Canada Post Mail Forwarding Service At The Post Office

You must take the following items to the post office to extend your Canada Post Mail Forwarding service.

• Service reference number (you can find it on the receipt, expiry notice card/letter, or confirmation email)
• Government-issued photo ID for identity verification

Suppose you can not find or access the reference number. In that case, you may need to provide the following information with your government-issued photo ID card.

• Your last name
• Your new/current address’s postal code
• Your active telephone number

Business organizations often receive crucial information via mail, including legal and time-sensitive documents. The last thing you want is to miss such mailers because your address is undeliverable at the moment. One of the best ways to ensure it doesn’t happen to your business is to use the Canada Post Mail Forwarding service.

It ensures that your mailers reach you even if your business address is inaccessible. In other words, Canada Post Forward Mail helps you to maintain efficient postal mail communication for your business.

However, receiving mail is just as important as sending them, and you also need to consider securing the mailers you send. To accomplish this, you need the help of an automated direct mail solution like PostGrid. If you think about it, solutions like Canada Post Mail Forwarding and PostGrid are all part of the same puzzle.

On the one hand, you can use Canada Post Mail Forwarding to ensure that your business does not miss any incoming mail. At the same time, PostGrid allows you to accurately and efficiently send personalized mail with advanced capabilities like scheduled and triggered mail.