Canada Post’s Small Business Program offers a range of solutions designed to help businesses save on shipping costs and streamline their operations. This article highlights how to leverage them for your business.
Solutions for Small Businesses with Canada Post
Canada Post stands out as one of the top postal service providers in the country, offering various services tailored specifically for small businesses. Whether it’s helping companies save money or making their shipping and delivery processes more efficient, Canada Post has a lot to offer. Their financial solutions cover everything from mail delivery to parcel services, ensuring small businesses can operate smoothly.
In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of the Canada Post Small Business Program. We’ll also introduce Vault for your business’s financial needs.
Canada Post Small Business Program
Canada Post is dedicated to aiding small businesses, and its Canada Post Solutions for Small Businesses program offers several key advantages designed for entrepreneurs.
Savings on Shipping Costs
Members of the Small Business Solutions program at Canada Post can take advantage of significant savings, with discounts ranging from 10-15% on lightweight shipping. There’s no need for promo codes, and for parcels weighing between 101-250 grams, an additional 10% discount is offered. For packages under 100 grams, the savings increase to 15%.
Convenient Drop-Off Locations
With a network of 5,900 post offices across Canada, Canada Post makes it easy for businesses to find nearby drop-off points. Members of the Canada Post Small Business Solutions program can also enjoy discounts at these locations.
Additionally, Canada Post offers the Snap Ship online tool, allowing businesses to schedule shipments and pickups for as low as $3.50, simplifying the shipping process even further.
Range of Shipping Options
Canada Post provides four different shipping service levels:
- Priority
- Xpresspost
- Expedited Parcel
- Regular Parcel
These options vary in cost, with Priority being the most expensive and Regular Parcel being the most budget-friendly.
Delivery Times
For businesses in a rush, Priority shipping offers next-business-day delivery. However, if cost is a concern, Regular Parcel provides a slower but more affordable option, with delivery times ranging from:
- 3 days for local deliveries
- 6 days for regional deliveries
- Up to 10 days nationally
Tracking and Delivery Notifications
Canada Post offers tracking services, delivery confirmations, and regular updates for all their shipping tiers. However, only Priority, Xpresspost, and Expedited Parcel come with an on-time delivery guarantee.
Insurance and Collect on Delivery
Additional fees apply for collect-on-delivery services and extra liability coverage. While all shipping tiers offer these options, Regular Parcel charges extra for liability coverage.
Signature and Identity Verification
Priority shipping includes signature verification for free, but other service levels charge extra for this feature. For businesses needing hard-copy signatures or proof of age, there’s an additional fee across all shipping tiers.
Flexible Delivery Choices
All service tiers offer flexible delivery, allowing businesses to opt for doorstep drop-offs without requiring a signature. However, only Xpresspost and Expedited Parcel offer the option for deliveries to a post office.
Pickup Services
While one-time on-demand pickups are included with Priority shipping, other service tiers require businesses to pay an additional fee. This applies to both recurring pickups and pickups scheduled from third parties.
Environmentally Friendly Shipping
Businesses committed to sustainability can benefit from carbon-neutral shipping by choosing Expedited Parcel or Regular Parcel services, the only two options offering this feature.
Return Services
Return labels and return-to-sender options are available for all shipping tiers, though they come at an extra cost.
Marketing with Canada Post
Canada Post not only helps businesses ship products but also offers direct mail marketing solutions to help businesses reach new customers. Two services, Snap Admail and Smartmail Marketing, are available to assist businesses in building and executing marketing campaigns.
Snap Admail is a user-friendly tool that helps businesses create marketing campaigns, layer social media ads, and even target specific customer segments. For those who prefer professional assistance, Canada Post Smartmail Marketing partners can handle the process for a small fee, ensuring ads are well-designed and effectively targeted.
Expanding Your Business Online with Canada Post
Canada Post also provides valuable support for businesses looking to expand their online presence. They help companies set up online stores, sell on e-commerce platforms, and integrate shipping software to streamline their online operations.
Save on Business Costs with a Free Vault Account
Vault offers a great financial solution for small businesses looking to save both time and money. By opening a Vault business account, companies can easily manage payments both domestically and internationally, without facing extra fees.
Vault’s benefits for Canadian businesses include:
- Batch payments for up to 5000 recipients
- Seamless integration with Quickbooks and Xero
- The ability to withdraw funds from Amazon, Stripe, and other sources, while holding funds in CAD, USD, GBP, and EUR.
There are no hidden fees or monthly charges, everything is laid out clearly so Canadian businesses can avoid surprises when making transactions.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about the product and billing.
Vault is the cheapest and easiest way to manage your business banking needs. We offer the best currency exchange rates in Canada, chequing accounts multiple currencies, domestic and international bank transfers, and a corporate Mastercard to manage all your spend. By signing up to Vault you automatically get:
- Accounts in Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds, and Euros
- Cheapest FX rates in Canada - Free domestic transfers (EFT, ACH, SEPA, FPS)
- A Mastercard Corporate card that gets you the same great FX rates
Transparency is key to us, that's why you'll find all of our fees listed on our pricing page: https://www.tryvault.com/pricing
We don't charge many fees and for the fees we do charge you'll find them to be well below market rates. You also get paid to use Vault via our cashback on card purchases!
We're only able to support Canadian corporations for now. If you have a sole proprietorship, partnership, or non-Canadian corporation we won't be able to support it at this time.
Yes, we have a direct integration with QBO and Xero. We are working on more integrations very soon!
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