Most US WMS treat Canada Post as a third-party plugin. We built it into the core. Rate shopping, 4x6 thermal labels, end-of-day manifest, tracking writeback. Every service. Every province. Every territory.
Canada Post is the backbone of Canadian shipping. We built our carrier integration around it from day one, not as a bolted-on plugin like the US WMS platforms do.
Every Canada Post commercial shipping service is supported. Choose at the order level, set defaults at the SKU or client level, or let rate shopping pick the cheapest eligible service for each shipment.
Rates pulled from Canada Post's API for every shipment, sized against actual package weight and dimensions. The cheapest eligible service that meets your delivery deadline rules ships.
Industry-standard 4x6 thermal labels printed directly from CanShip. Compatible with Zebra ZD420, Brother QL-1100, Dymo LabelWriter, and any thermal printer that handles 4x6. Bilingual EN/FR for QC destinations.
When the last package is labeled for the day, click Close Manifest. CanShip generates the Canada Post manifest, transmits it electronically, and prints the operator copy. No manual paperwork, no missed transmissions.
Canadian shipping is not just the GTA and Lower Mainland. CanShip's Canada Post integration handles delivery anywhere Canada Post delivers, including northern remote codes, FSAs requiring extended delivery surcharges, and the territories.
The moment a Canada Post label prints, CanShip captures the tracking number and writes it back to the originating order in Shopify, Amazon, or Extensiv. Customer notifications fire automatically. Your client portals update instantly.
Below is the setup flow for bringing your own Canada Post commercial account. Marketplace path is even simpler: toggle Canada Post on in CanShip's Carriers page and skip directly to shipping. About 30 seconds.
From CanShip's Carriers page, add your Canada Post account number, contract ID, API username, and API password. Stored encrypted at rest, transmitted over TLS only.
Print a test label against your account. CanShip validates that rates, labels, and manifest endpoints all respond correctly. Any account or contract issues surface here, before they affect production shipping.
Set your Canada Post defaults (preferred service, account-level surcharges, return service if applicable) and start shipping. Total setup including testing: about fifteen minutes.
Most US WMS implement Canada Post via a third-party shipping aggregator (EasyPost, Shippo, etc.) which adds latency, fees, and a single point of failure. CanShip talks to Canada Post directly. No middleman.
Breakthrough Studio, our own 3PL in Metro Vancouver, ships every order through this integration. When Canada Post changes a rate card or an API field, we feel it before customers do.
Canada Post's Solutions for Small Business (SfSB) program rates pull directly from your account. No markup, no surcharge. The rate Canada Post quotes is the rate you ship at.
Quebec destinations get bilingual or French-only label markings per Canada Post's bilingual labeling guidelines. Pro and Enterprise plans extend this to bilingual return labels and packing slips automatically.
Free ships through CanShip's bulk Canada Post account at our negotiated rates plus a transparent $0.50 + 6% per-shipment fee. No commercial account needed, no setup fees, no minimum volume.
Starter, Grow, Pro, and Enterprise default to BYOC: your own Canada Post commercial account, your negotiated rates, no per-shipment fee from us. Or opt into the CanShip marketplace per carrier (same $0.50 + 6% transparent fee as Free) and skip the account setup. Toggle either way, any time.
We'd rather flag the practical limitations up front than have you discover them mid-peak. The two below cover almost all real-world questions Canadian operators ask.
Canada Post throttles their commercial API, especially during peak season. CanShip queues and retries, but if you ship thousands of orders in a five-minute window during Black Friday, expect Canada Post-side delays.
Pre-paid return label generation requires your Canada Post account to have the Returns Service product enabled. Most commercial accounts already do; if yours doesn't, Canada Post enables it on request.
Your call, on every paid tier. Bring your own (BYOC, default, no fee from us) or opt into the CanShip marketplace per carrier (uses our bulk Canada Post account, transparent $0.50 + 6% per-shipment fee). On Free, no account needed, the marketplace is the default and only path.
Yes, on BYOC accounts. SfSB rates pull directly from your Canada Post account during rate shopping with no CanShip markup. Marketplace-path customers ship at our bulk-account rates instead.
When you're done labeling for the day, CanShip generates the manifest, transmits it electronically to Canada Post, and prints the operator copy you hand to the driver. One click. No paperwork.
Yes, on Grow and above. CanShip queries each connected carrier in real time and ships the cheapest eligible option that meets your delivery deadline and service preferences.
Returns: yes, requires Canada Post's Returns Service product on your account. Bilingual labels: yes, automatic for Quebec destinations. Bilingual packing slips: included on Pro and Enterprise.
The integration itself is included on every plan. On BYOC: you pay Canada Post for shipping, you pay CanShip for the WMS, no per-label fees from us. On the marketplace path: a transparent $0.50 + 6% per-shipment fee, same as Free tier. No middleman, no hidden surcharges either way.
Live demo using a CanShip environment that's yours to drive. Add credentials, print a label, close a manifest. Most calls wrap in 30 to 45 minutes.