Here are your Christmas shipping deadlines
With less than two weeks before Christmas, time is running out to ship packages and greetings cards to make sure they're under the tree on Christmas morning.
It's a busy time for Canada Post and couriers. At the Ottawa Purolator sorting facility on Hawthorne Road, an average of 30,000 packages are expected to go through each day throughout the holiday season.
"All the sorting takes place here and gets shuttled out to other locations within the city," says Jason Belgrave, Purolator Director of Operations for Northeast Ontario.
Packages, ranging from things you buy online to those special gifts all come through the facility.
"Christmas packages, food, cakes made by grandma and grandpa, they come through all the time," he says.
Santa might be able to deliver all of his presents on Christmas Eve, but for anything you're sending, couriers need a head start. If you want that gift to be under the tree on time, Belgrave says to ship your package earlier than later. "
The key date for people to keep in mind, if you're shipping Purolator Express, is December 21st," he says.
Dec. 21 is Purolator's deadline for next-day deliver to destinations in Canada or United States. If shipping by Purolator Ground to the U.S., the deadline is Dec. 13.
Other international deadlines for Purolator:
- East Asia (including China, Japan and Thailand): Dec. 15
- Australia, Caribbean, Mexico, South and Central America: Dec. 18
- Western Europe (including the United Kingdom, France and Germany): Dec. 18
Canada Post
Here are the deadlines to send cards and packages within Canada to arrive in time for Christmas.
Packages:
Priority and Xpresspost:
- Local Zone: Dec. 21
- Regional Zone: Dec. 21
- National Zone: Dec. 20
Regular Parcel:
- Local Zone: Dec. 19
- Regional Zone: Dec. 14-19
- National Zone: Dec. 8-18
Sending Cards:
- Local: Dec. 19
- Regional: Dec. 18
- National: Dec. 15
Shipping deadlines for sending cards internationally have passed.
When to send international packages to popular destinations via Xpresspost
- USA: Dec. 15 (Expedited Parcel deadline is Dec. 13)
- UK: Dec. 14
- Netherlands: Dec. 14
- Switzerland: Dec. 14
- France: Dec. 14
- Germany: Dec. 14
- Japan: Dec. 14
FedEx
Within Canada to most metropolitan areas:
- FedEx First Overnight / FedEx Priority Overnight: Dec. 21
- FedEx Standard Overnight: Dec. 21
- FedEx 2Day: Dec. 20
- FedEx Economy: Dec. 19
- FexEx Freight Priority: Dec 13
Canada to U.S.
- FedEx First Overnight / FedEx Priority Overnight: Dec. 21
- FedEx International Economy: Dec. 19
- FedEx Freight Priority: Dec. 13
UPS
Canada Domestic:
- UPS Expedited: Dec. 20
- UPS Express: Dec.21, (Dec. 22 with Saturday Delivery option)
Shipments to certain destinations may require an earlier ship date
Canada to the U.S.
- UPS 3 Day Select: Dec. 19
- UPS Expedited: Dec. 20
- UPS Express: Dec. 21
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