In the final days before Christmas trucks exiting FedEx Canada’s international shipping hub in Ottawa come as quickly as they go. Demand for the international shipping company is way up this month as shoppers turn to the internet for presents to put under the tree.

The company estimates 25 million parcels will be shipped globally every Monday leading up to Christmas, a sharp jump from an average of 12 million. The busiest day is expected to be December 19th.

Here in Ottawa, employees say they’ve experienced a noticeable rise in demand.

“Right now we are about 15 to 20 per cent higher than our normal volume would be for sure,” said Greg Carter, the senior manager for FedEx Operations in Ottawa. 

Carter says e-commerce has changed how people buy and send parcels. While Cyber Monday and Black Friday still lead to a spike in shipments, Carter says peaks now happen throughout the month of December. 

“It’s all the way through (December) that we see peaks and valleys. If there is a massive sale online, people will be purchasing their things,” he says. 

Some of those packages arrive at the FedEx facility near the Ottawa International Airport by truck, while others are unloaded from the body of an Airbus 300. The FedEx airplane drops off more than 100,000 pounds of parcels destined for residents across the Ottawa area almost every day at 10 a.m. The same plane takes-off at 8:00 p.m. filled with boxes with international addresses. 

“The plane network we have here in Canada and across the world gives us the ability to cover the world very fast and efficiently,” says Jared Hunt, the Ramp Manager responsible for the FedEx Airplane here in Ottawa. 

Once the packages arrive, they are checked by customs, sorted and given a little yellow label containing a route number, and shelf number for the delivery trucks. To the naked eye the hustle and bustle looks slightly chaotic but staff say their sorting system is highly organized and efficient. 

“This time of year we definitely have an increase in volume but we go through a lot of planning and preparation for it and we are able to meet that demand every year,” Hunt says. 

In Ottawa, there are more than 100 different routes and 110 couriers working to deliver parcels to residents from Ottawa and surrounding towns like Petawawa, Rockland and communities bordering Brockville and Cornwall. 

If you want your gift to arrive by Christmas, FedEx lists December 22nd as its drop dead deadline, while Canada Post’s deadline is December 21st, and Purolator lists a December 22nd date. Deadlines for each company depend on what is being shipped, and where.