Canada Post

[Guest Chieka101]

I sent an American app (Yale) almost three weeks ago by regular mail (yes, very bad, I know), and they haven't received it yet.

 

Also, I'm no longer at my undergrad university and have been mailing my requests for my letters to my old profs, but there's been some crazy delay with the mail system.

 

So, I was wondering what your experiences have been with Canada Post. How long does it take usually?

 

Should I start express posting everything (and go bankrupt) or do you have any other suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Expresspost to the US is only "Expressposted" until you reach the Canada/US border. Then then on, it goes by regular US mail, so the advantage of sending it Expresspost isn't all that great. The tracking only works while you are in Canada.

 

I think your letter should have made it there by three weeks, but who really knows? If you are sending in Canada to a Canadian destination, I would definitely send it (at least!) Expresspost because then you will have it tracked for the entire journey. However, I've gotten some emails saying Canada Post has lost Expresspost items as well, so those people have since gone to use couriers and went backrupt even faster!

 

Ian

UBC, Med 4

[Guest aneliz]

I always used expresspost and it worked out okay for me. They never lost anything that I sent but they did 'mis-scan' it a few times and when I tracked it, they said that it had been delivered to a place that it wasn't supposed to be. (Sent to OMSAS in Guelph, tracker said 'has been successfully delivered to Kitchener). It never actually was delivered in Kitchener, it went to Guelph, but this causes just a little bit of anxiety!!

 

I never applied in the states so I didn't have the pleasure of dealing with the US postal system. I would think that it should have arrived in three weeks but I really don't know. I guess the moral of the story is that you should never mail or courier anything if you can hand deliver it. Failing that, it is always worth your while to spend the extra bucks if you want to be sure that it is going to get there. I would express/priority/courier anything of importance from now on. It may cost you some money but it will be worth it to save your sanity.

[Guest peachy]

Hey,

 

What do you all do about mail that needs to be sent by someone else, e.g. reference letters direct from your references or transcripts direct from the registrar? I've always sent these things by regular mail because it seemed like such a hassle to do otherwise. Obviously I don't want to ask my references to go to the post office or whatever ... what do people normally do for that? (To date I've had no problem with things arriving and arriving on time by regular mail!)

 

Thanks,

 

Peachy

[Guest BCgirl]

peachy,

 

For my references, I always bought them the expresspost/fed ex envelope, addressed it and gave it to them to mail.

[Guest peachy]

bcgirl - but don't those things need to be dealt with differently? I mean, they can't just drop them in a mailbox - isn't that a pain?

 

peachy

[Guest med2006McGill]

Peachy,

 

If you give the prof a pre-paid Expresspost envelope, the prof can drop it off at any regular mailbox. Plus, you can track them yourself (if you write down the tracking # before you give the envelope to the prof). I did that for all my reference letters and application documents.

[Guest peachy]

really? wow i definitely will do that next time. lol. i feel incompetent... ;-) thanks for the info.

 

peachy

[Guest cgb2006]

Hey Cheika:

 

I have had MANY horrible experiences using Canada Post to send mail between the US and Canada. I would advise anyone that needs to send mail to the US within a certain timeline to use FedEx over Canada Post. With regular mail service to the US there is little or no consistency. Sometimes it takes a week or week and a half, but other times it can easily take in excess of 3 weeks! Also, Ian is right when he says that mail is out of Canada Post's control once it crosses the border. Wether its Expresspost or Priority Post doesn't matter....there is no guarantee. Its also pretty interesting that FedEx's prices are significantly lower than the cost of Priority Post offered by Canada Post - within or outside of Canada! The added benefit, of course, is that FedEx will guarantee delivery within a 24 hour period.....depending on the destination of course.

 

Good luck with your situation....I really sympathize with you. Canada Post has really irritated me at times.

 

Good Luck

[Guest Chieka101]

I went to the post office yesterday and the nice gentleman at the desk patiently enlightened me:

 

1) Canada's Expresspost remains express post even after it crosses the U.S. border. The two nations have an understanding.

 

2) U.S. post offices can decide at any time to shut down and check everything for anthrax. This may delay mail considerably. (That explains the three weeks). Regular mail to the U.S. is supposed to take 7-10 BUSINESS days.

 

3) Expresspost is guaranteed for 3-5 business days and costs about $10. You get a tracking number.

 

4) Priority does next day service for a whopping $30.

 

5) With both Expresspost and Priority post, customs delays can mess up any guarantees they give you. This is the exception to the rule.

 

You should be able to find more info on their website - canadapost.ca, I think. (I tried, I couldn't, so the nice man gave me a pamphlet that I'm guarding with my life)

 

Thanks for feeling my pain, cgb2006.

 

Peace.