For Canadian e-commerce businesses, Canada Post is the most reliable way to get products into customers' hands. Because they deliver to every home and P.O. box in the country, they are a must-have partner for local brands.
Key Canada Post Services
- Fast & Guaranteed: Xpresspost™ is the go-to for urgent orders that need to arrive quickly.
- Business Value: Expedited Parcel™ is a budget-friendly ground service designed specifically for businesses.
- International: Services like Tracked Packet™ make it easy to ship to the U.S. and over 190 other countries.
By connecting Canada Post to ShipHero, the system automatically pulls your specific Canada Post shipping rates, prints your labels during the packing process, and sends tracking info to your customers instantly. It turns a multi-step chore into a single, seamless click.
Table of Contents
- How to Connect a Canada Post Account
- Available Canada Post Settings After Connection
- Known Limitations and Requirements
- Pro-Tip: Mastering the Canada Post Manifest
How to Connect a Canada Post Account
Connecting Canada Post to ShipHero follows an OAuth connection flow, meaning the Connect button on the carrier connection form in ShipHero will redirect you to complete the connection process from Canada Post's platform. Below are some important notes and the step-by-step process to follow when connecting Canada Post to ShipHero.
Important Notes:
- You must have an existing Canada Post merchant account before connecting to ShipHero.
- The connection requires accepting Canada Post's terms and conditions during the OAuth flow.
- If you cancel the authorization, you'll receive a notice that ShipHero cannot submit requests until you accept the terms.
Step-by-Step Connection Process
- Go to the Shipping > Carriers page and click the Connect Carrier button.
- Select Canada Post from the available carriers.
- Select the Profile and Warehouse the carrier will be connected to.
-
Click the Connect button. This will redirect you to Canada Post's site.
- Enter your Canada Post account credentials and follow the authorization flows. Once authorized, ShipHero automatically stores:
- Customer number
- Contract ID
- API key (merchant username)
- API secret (merchant password)
- Once complete, you will be redirected to ShipHero and see Canada Post in your list of connected carriers.
Available Canada Post Settings After Connection
After connecting your Canada Post account to ShipHero, the following settings are available for you to use:
- Cut-Off Time: Labels generated after this time will print with the creation date of the following day.
- Disable Quoting: Use this setting to prevent this account from being quoted in the rate shopping tools or when using the cheapest shipping methods.
Known Limitations and Requirements
ShipHero’s integration includes specific logic to ensure your shipments are accepted by Canada Post's API.
Address and Contact Constraints
- Origin Restrictions: Canada Post through ShipHero is only available for shipments originating from Canada (CA).
- Name Length: Names cannot exceed 40 characters.
- Invalid Characters: Ensure customer names and addresses do not contain special symbols (like non-standard punctuation). The API will reject these immediately.
- Email Required: A valid email address must be enetered in the billing information section on the order details page.
Package Weights and Dimensions
-
Canada Post operates strictly on the metric system. ShipHero automatically converts units as follows:
- Weight: Ounces are converted to Kilograms and rounded to 3 decimal places.
- Size: Inches are converted to Centimeters and rounded to 1 decimal place.
- No Zero Values: You cannot have a weight or height of 0.0. Even small items like stickers must have a minimum weight/dimension (e.g., 0.1 kg/cm) to be accepted.
- Polybag Exception: If you mark a package as a Poly in ShipHero, the system only requires the weight; dimensions become optional for the API request.
- Package Dimension Limits: Canada Post validates package dimensions according to their service-specific rules when requesting quotes or generating labels.
International Shipments & Tariff Codes
For orders leaving Canada, Tariff Codes (HS Codes) are mandatory. ShipHero validates these codes against a specific format: XXXX.XX.XX.XX.
- Requirement: Codes must be numeric and follow the 4-to-10 digit structure.
- Default Logic: If a valid code is missing, ShipHero may default to 0000.00.00.00 to prevent the shipment from failing, but it is highly recommended to provide accurate codes to avoid customs delays.
Canada Post Return Label Settings
To generate return labels with Canada Post when using a central payer setup, you'll need to have the paid-by-customer number properly configured. This is a required 10-digit numeric field when the paid-by customer is different from the mailed-on-behalf-of customer. Please contact Canada Post support to verify your paid-by-customer number and ensure it is properly linked as a valid payer partner for your account.
Pro-Tip: Mastering the Canada Post Manifest
Unlike some carriers that process shipments individually, Canada Post requires a Manifest (a summary of all shipments) at the end of the day. The "9153" Wait Rule: When generating your manifest in ShipHero, you might notice a brief delay. The system waits up to 20 minutes max for Canada Post manifests.
This is a purposeful "cooldown" to avoid Canada Post Error 9153, which occurs when a manifest is requested before the individual shipments have finished transmitting. Don't refresh the page—let the system finish the transmission process to ensure all shipments are included in your manifest!