Canada Post says COVID-19 bans on gatherings and restrictions on travel has led to unprecedented demand this winter, forcing the national postal service to move up its deadlines for packages to arrive on time for Christmas.
Regular parcel deliveries regionally will need to be mailed out no later than Dec. 16, according to the revised shipping schedule. Meanwhile, regular parcel deliveries going national carry a deadline of Dec. 15.
Dec. 18 remains the deadline for those using priority or Xpresspost to ship most of their parcels locally or regionally.
Over the weekend, Canada Post said it delivered 1.1 million parcels. Ahead of the holiday season, 4,000 seasonal employees were hired while more than 1,000 vehicles were added to the Canada Post fleet.
“Not only are Canadians shopping online in record numbers for gifts and other items; we’ve also seen a huge influx of customers at post offices shipping gifts to replace their traditional holiday visits,” Canada Post said in a news release Monday (Dec. 14).
On-time delivery guarantees were suspended during the height of the pandemic back in March.
Purolator has set a deadline of Dec. 22 for packages to arrive before Christmas.
FedEx deadline for ground shipping within Canada is Dec. 15, with new deadlines each day for higher-priced options, including overnight delivery.
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ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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