Canada Post holiday shipping deadlines 2026.

Within Canada

Canada Post's holiday sending guidelines, dated October 2026, give send-by dates by service and zone. For packages: Priority is December 23 in the local, regional and national zones. Xpresspost is December 23 local and December 22 regional and national. Expedited Parcel and flat rate box are December 22 local, December 18 regional and December 14 national. Regular Parcel is December 21 local, December 16 regional and December 10 national. For cards, the dates are December 22 local, December 21 regional and December 18 national. Canada Post notes the dates are between major urban centres, depend on origin and destination, and that some restrictions apply; its online delivery standard tool gives the expected time between two Canadian addresses.

To the U.S.A. and other countries

For the U.S.A., Xpresspost USA is December 17, Expedited Parcel USA is December 14, and Tracked Packet and Small Packet USA is December 11; cards are December 11. For other countries the page lists popular destinations with two package services, Xpresspost International and Tracked Packet or Small Packet: for example Europe is December 15 and December 9, the United Kingdom December 15 and December 11, Australia December 14 and December 9, and Africa December 10 and December 3. Cards to those destinations have their own dates. All 15 destinations on the page are in the dropdown.

Postal holidays

Canada Post's holiday schedule lists Christmas Day on December 25, 2026 and Boxing Day on December 28, 2026. Its note says that when a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday it may be applied to the next business day, in which case post offices are closed and there is no collection or delivery of mail.

Worked example

On Thursday, December 10, 2026 you want to mail a parcel to a destination in the national zone. Priority has until December 23, 13 days away. Xpresspost has until December 22, 12 days away. Expedited Parcel has until December 14, 4 days away. Regular Parcel has until December 10, which is today, so it is the last day. A parcel to Berlin (Germany) by Xpresspost International has until December 15, 5 days away; by Tracked Packet it has until December 11, which is tomorrow.

Sources and how this is calculated

Days left = send-by date − today's date on your device, in calendar days. Retrieved October 26, 2026. The tool reproduces the dates printed on the Canada Post page for the destinations it lists; it does not estimate dates for destinations or services that page omits. Canada Post can change its dates, so confirm on the Canada Post site before you mail.

• Canada Post: Plan your holiday sending
• Canada Post: holiday schedule