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General / next steps

Q: What do I need to do now?

Review the details and technical specifications under the “What changes you need to make” section. Share this information with any impacted stakeholders, such as third-party shipping systems vendors, third-party logistics vendors, direct ship vendors, any other third parties you may work with, and your internal teams to determine the impact to your current systems and processes. Make note of the changes you may have to make before early 2025 to ensure a smooth transition.

Q: When will these changes come into effect?

Early 2025. Exact date to be communicated by August 2024.

Previous communications targeted a September 3, 2024 deployment date. With any project of this scale and scope, it is not uncommon for timelines to shift in the interest of achieving the best possible outcomes. Shifting to early 2025 will ensure Canada Post is able to complete critical system testing.

Q: Why is the change being made?

To better meet customer expectations in an evolving market, Canada Post is transforming our platforms and processes. You'll experience simpler processes, among other benefits, with our new cloud-based SAP system.

Q: Will my rates change?

There will be no price changes for parcels services in 2024. Our price changes for parcels services will come into effect with the early 2025 go-live timing of the new SAP platform deployment. We will notify you with the exact date and you will receive your customized Price Guide specific to your parcel services agreement per your contractual agreement.

Q: How will this simplify things for my business?

Some examples of how we are simplifying customer-facing processes:

• Simplifying induction processes by making paper manifests optional for Parcels customers
• Simplifying invoicing processes with event-based billing, streamlining invoice types and content, and updating invoicing delivery options

Q: I ship and mail with Canada Post, how does this change impact my business?

The following changes are only applicable to shipping with Canada Post:

• Event-based billing
• Rate codes for parcels services will expand from 45 to 128
• Optional to print the paper manifest

Changes that will impact both shipping and mailing:

• Consolidated billing on one invoice, Statement of Account will no longer be offered
• Changes to the invoice data file (for customers receiving their invoice data file via Connect or SFTP only)

Billing and invoicing

Q: Will my rates change?

There will be no price changes for parcels services in 2024. Our price changes for parcels services will come into effect with the early 2025 go-live timing of the new SAP platform deployment. We will notify you with the exact date and you will receive your customized Price Guide specific to your parcel services agreement per your contractual agreement.

Q: What is event-based billing?

Canada Post's current process for parcel orders is to bill immediately upon electronic receipt of the parcel order. In the future, customers will continue to transmit their parcel order data to Canada Post and Canada Post will only bill the items once we have received a physical scan (an event) in the Canada Post network. You may see parcels from a single order split over multiple invoices based on when they receive a physical scan.

Q: Why do I no longer have to cancel labels?

Currently, billing takes place when the electronic manifest data for parcels orders is sent to Canada Post. Customers must cancel labels if they don't use them. With event-based billing being introduced in early 2025, Canada Post will bill only when a shipment receives a physical scan in Canada Post's network.

Q: Will event-based billing apply to U.S.-bound shipments leaving Canada?

Yes, this would apply to U.S.-bound shipments. This is good news for customers who are looking to do returns to the U.S.

Q: What does consolidated charges to a single invoice mean?

All products, credit and debit adjustments will now be available on one invoice, with filtering available on the data file. Customers with different customer numbers and/or with different billing terms will continue to receive separate invoices for each customer number and/or products and services.

Q: Why the change to a single invoice?

To standardize and simplify processes and forms, creating a better experience for customers (especially businesses that use multiple Canada Post services and products).

Q: What happened to Statement of Account?

Statement of Account will no longer be available after Q1 2025. The new consolidated invoice will provide a summary of charges by products and services.

Q: I pay for shipping by credit card, what is changing?

If you pay for shipping by credit card, you will be impacted by the new event-based billing processes, you will start receiving invoices weekly instead of monthly, and you will need to review your invoice weekly and pay any amounts owing.

Currently, your credit card is charged when you complete your parcels order through a shipping tool. After early 2025, when you ship a parcel through a shipping tool, you will pre-authorize your credit pard for payment and payment will be processed once the parcel(s) receive a physical scan in Canada Post’s network. If your credit card payment fails, the amount owing will be posted to your account and your weekly invoice will identify shipments we weren’t able to process payment for. You must pay any amounts owing or risk having your account blocked for future transactions.

Parcels rates

Q: When will my Parcels rates change?

There will be no price changes for parcels services in 2024. Our price changes for parcels services will come into effect with the early 2025 go-live timing of the new SAP platform deployment. We will notify you with the exact date and you will receive your customized Price Guide specific to your parcel services agreement per your contractual agreement.

Q: What does the new Parcels rate code structure mean?

Until the new SAP platform deployment in early 2025, your contracted rates will not be affected by this change. Canada Post is optimizing our pricing grid for Parcels to offer more competitive rates across a wider variety of shipping lanes. Our pricing will expand from its current 45 rate codes to 128 rate codes, while maintaining the current number of weight steps.

Q: Will the Transaction Mail and Direct Mail prices also change in September?

There is no impact to pricing for Transaction Mail and Direct Mail products and services in September.

Shipping and mailing

Q: I use Web Services for my Ship From Store or Returns operations, how am I impacted by these changes?

You already have access to accurate pricing through Web Services and that will continue after early 2025. There is no action required on your part related to this change.

Q: Does this change affect how I complete returns today?

The change to make paper manifests optional applies to outbound shipping only, there will be no changes to the returns process.

Q: I ship cross-border, do I still need to print the paper manifest?

Continuous inbound freight and other cross-border operations may still require a paper manifest as part of your documentation. We recommend you reach out to your broker to confirm.

Q: Can I still print and provide paper manifests?

Yes, you can continue to print paper manifests and provide them to the pickup agent. Some third-party shipping tools may still automatically print the paper manifest.

Q: Will any of these changes impact shipping and mailing tools with Canada Post?

Customer use of Canada Post shipping and mailing tools (including EST 2.0, EST Online, Canada Post Snap Ship™, Shipping Manager, Express Order Entry, Express Order Entry Secure, Precision Targeter, Order Entry, EasyFlow, and Snap Admail) will remain unchanged, but they will see changes to their invoices. The following backend changes will be introduced, though there will be no impact to how you use Canada Post's shipping and mailing tools:

• Credit validation will be done for every single order (real time credit check) for all products (Transaction Mail, Direct Marketing and Parcels)
• Master data changes (including pricing, customer information, and products) will be synchronized to shipping and mailing tools in real time (currently they are visible after 24 hours from the moment SAP is updated)