Experience transformation

Get ready for changes coming in early 2025

As part of our transformation to improve your customer experience, Canada Post will migrate from our current SAP platform to the next generation cloud-based SAP solution.

This upgrade in early 2025 will immediately improve how customers ship, mail and access parcels pricing. It will also provide improved billing and invoicing.

Previous communications stated a target go-live date of September 3, 2024. Canada Post has re-aligned the target go-live date to early 2025. All the changes outlined below will come into effect in early 2025 and not this year. Please come back to this page for regular updates.

What changes you need to make before early 2025

We’re changing how we work together. You’ll need to prepare your business for the changes.

This includes Commercial customers and Canada Post Solutions for Small Business™ customers. Our invoice changes will impact your accounting.

Expand all Collapse all

- All charges and adjustments issued by Canada Post will appear on a single consolidated invoice per invoicing period, with filtering available on the new data file.
- There will no longer be separate summary and detailed invoices. The first page of the new consolidated invoice will include a summary of charges by product or service, followed by the detailed section(s).
- Preview the sample updated invoice and inform your Accounting team or third-party vendors (such as freight auditors) that manage your invoices to determine if this may affect current processes.
- Update: Statement of Account will no longer be available after early 2025. The new consolidated invoice will provide a summary of charges by product and/or service.
- Data file invoices will continue to be available through Connect or SFTP.
- The data file invoice is changing. As of early 2025, the new file format will be CSV (currently it is TXT format). Some data field headers have changed and there may be additional reference fields.
- If you currently receive a data file for your invoices via Connect or SFTP, please review the specifications for the data file and inform your Accounting team, or third-party vendors (such as freight auditors) that manage your invoices, to update your current templates or databases with the new field headers and other adjustments to ensure the right data is transmitted.

We’re introducing event-based billing and optional paperless manifests.

Expand all Collapse all

- Customers must continue to transmit their manifest data to Canada Post for parcels orders.
- Shipments will only be billed once the item(s) receive a physical scan captured in Canada Post’s network. You will no longer be required to submit label cancellation requests for items not shipped. Please inform your Accounting team, or third-party vendors (such as freight auditors) that manage your invoices, to determine if this may affect current.
- Update for Parcels customers paying by credit card: Payment for a parcels shipment may include any surcharges as one single charge on your credit card statement and your weekly Canada Post invoice. If your credit card payment fails, the amount owing will be posted to your account and your invoice will identify shipments we weren’t able to process payment for. Your invoices will be issued weekly. You must review your invoices and pay any amounts owing or risk having your account blocked for future transactions. This includes Solutions for Small Business customers.
- Customers must continue to transmit their manifest data prior to pickup.
- Printing and providing of the paper copy of the manifest is now optional for Parcels shipments. The current surcharge will continue to be applied if any item is shipped with Canada Post and is not declared in the electronic parcel order. This change may help streamline your shipping processes and/or reduce the amount of paper used as an environmental benefit. If you choose to no longer print the paper manifest, please update your shipping processes, as needed. Paper manifests are still required for items that are part of a continuous inbound freight shipment and manually prepared manifests or bills of lading (e.g. paper order forms that are not transmitted electronically).
- If you do not transmit manifest data today or are a Solutions for Small Business customer, there will be no change to how you ship parcels with Canada Post. Only the changes with payment and invoicing above apply.

What's changing

Discover all the changes coming in early 2025 and how they may affect your business with Canada Post:

As the result of this upgrade, our price changes for parcels services will come into effect with the early 2025 go-live timing of the new SAP platform deployment.
In early 2025, our rate codes for parcels services will expand from 45 to 128, while maintaining the current number of weight steps. The new pricing grid offers more competitive rates across a wider range of shipping lanes.
We will notify you with the exact date of the new SAP deployment and when the price changes for parcels services will come into effect. You will receive your customized Price Guide specific to your parcel services agreement per your contractual agreement.
For customers shipping through the eLink program, the new rate code mapping was sent in April to help you determine how to update your systems, if needed.
There will be no changes to any other rate structures, such as for Commercial Mail.

Expand all Collapse all

- Our billing is changing for the better. We're introducing event-based billing for parcels shipments. This means you'll only be billed for items that are physically scanned in Canada Post's network. You must continue to transmit your manifest data to Canada Post. You'll no longer be required to submit label cancellation requests for items not shipped.
- The new consolidated invoice format will capture exactly how you use your account and services per invoicing period. All charges, including adjustments, will appear on a single consolidated invoice per invoicing period, grouped by product type (if applicable) for easy reconciliation, with filtering available on the data file.
- In cases where Canada Post collects the cubing surcharges for parcels within the same invoicing period as the billing events, the surcharge amount can be combined with the declared amount to bill customers for the total actual cost of the parcel in one entry on the invoice. This reduces the amount of back-end reconciliation for customers.
- As the new consolidated invoice provides a summary of charges of all products and services, the Statement of Account will no longer be available after early 2025.
- Please review the sample updated invoice and inform your Accounting team, or third-party vendors (such as freight auditors) that manage your invoices, to determine if there will be any impact to current processes.
- Customers may continue to access data file invoices through Connect or SFTP.
- The data file invoice is changing. As of early 2025, the new file format will be CSV (currently it is TXT format). Some data field headers have changed and there may be additional reference fields.
- If you currently receive a data file for your invoices via Connect or SFTP, please review the specifications for the data file and inform your Accounting team, or third-party vendors (such as freight auditors) that manage your invoices, to update your current templates or databases with the new field headers and other changes.
- When you ship a Parcel through an online shipping tool, you will pre-authorize your credit card for payment. Payment will be processed on your credit card once the item(s) receive a physical scan in Canada Post’s network.
- Cubing and/or other surcharges may be incorporated into one single charge on your credit card statement and your new weekly Canada Post invoice.
- If your credit card payment fails, the amount owing will be posted to your account and your invoice will identify shipments we weren’t able to process payment for. You must review your weekly invoices and pay any amounts owing or risk having your account blocked for future transactions. This includes Solutions for Small Business customers.

Customers must continue to transmit their manifest data prior to pickup or deposit.
Paper manifests are now optional for Parcels shipments. The current surcharge will continue to be applied if any item is shipped with Canada Post and is not declared in the electronic parcel order. This change may help streamline your shipping processes and/or reduce the amount of paper used as an environmental benefit. Please update your shipping processes, as needed, if you choose to no longer print the paper manifest. Paper manifests are still required for items that are part of a continuous inbound freight shipment and manually prepared manifests or bills of lading (e.g. paper order forms that are not transmitted electronically).
If you do not transmit electronic manifest data today or are a Solutions for Small Business customer, there will be no change to how you ship parcels with Canada Post. Only the changes with payment and invoicing above apply.

Get help

Have questions? Get answers on our help page.
If you require further assistance, please email us at newSAPinfo@canadapost.ca or call us at 1-866-757-5480 (volume-based Commercial customers) / 1-877-262-5762 (Solutions for Small Business)

Experience transformation

Get ready for changes coming in early 2025

What changes you need to make before early 2025

All business customers must prepare for invoice changes

Additional changes for customers who ship parcels

What's changing

Parcels rates

Billing and invoices

Shipping requirements

Get help