Sending Packages Across Canada Might Be More Expensive This Holiday Season & Here's Why
Not what you want to hear this gift-giving season!
A Canada Post mailbox. Right: A package being delivered.
'Tis the season of giving! But if you've been thinking about sending gifts via parcel service, things might look a bit more expensive this holiday season.
Canada Post has been increasing fuel surcharges for domestic and international parcels this year, in line with rising diesel prices.
From November 28 to December 4, customers can expect to pay an additional 39.5% of the base cost of delivery in surcharges when sending packages domestically.
That's a 0.5% increase from last week when the price for domestic services was 39%.
This surcharge will include Priority, Xpresspost, Expedited Parcel and regular parcels.
While this surcharge is not new, it does seem to be increasing over the last few months.
The domestic surcharges are based on the average price of diesel, as measured by Kalibrate Technologies Ltd, an independent fuel price monitoring company, Canada Post said.
That means that the price might still move up or down, with the changes applied every week and announced on Mondays.
If you're thinking about sending packages to the U.S. or worldwide, the fuel surcharge has also seen an increase to 23% this week, up from 22.75% last week.
"Canada Post manages the largest, most intricate transportation network in Canada. As a transportation company, we are directly impacted by changes in fuel prices," Canada Post explained on its website.
Meanwhile, other courier services also have surcharges to deal with fluctuating fuel costs.
The FedEx Express surcharge is 39.5% for November 28 to December 4.
Canadian courier Purolator has announced a fixed surcharge of 39.75% from December 5 to January 1. That's quite the jump from its previous surcharge of 33.25% from November 7 to December 4.
All in all, you might notice that sending parcels becomes a bit more expensive.
If rising prices and inflation, in general, are getting you down, there are still ways to save money this holiday season.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.