This guide will show you how to link Canada Post to Smart Boxing. To learn how to link other carriers, go here.
To display live rates at checkout, you must have Carrier-Calculated Rates enabled on your Shopify account. Learn more here.
General Setup and Package Selection
1) Click Shipping on the main menu.
2) Click the Create shipping method button.
3) Click Select beside Canada Post.
4) Add a Title for your shipping method – e.g. ‘Canada Post’
5) Select who has Visibility of live rates calculated by this Shipping Method. You can choose Everyone or just those with Administrator access to your store.
When Visibility is set to Administrators only, your Shipping Method will only be visible at checkout by using a Customer Name that includes ‘Intuitive’.
6) Select which Packages you would like to include in the Shipping Method. By selecting multiple packages, Smart Boxing will have more options for choosing the most efficient packaging for an order.
Packages that are Inactive will be identified in the Shipping Method. Inactive Packages cannot be selected, and are ignored during rate calculations. To include Packages in rate calculations, edit the Package to set the status to Active.
Delivery Services
1) Select the carrier Services that you would like to have offered to customers at checkout – e.g. Expedited Parcel, Priority, etc.
Only Services that are selected will be included in the live rate shipping calculation, if available.
Canada Post offers these Delivery Services:
Within Canada
- Expedited Parcel – fast ground shipping; packages can be tracked and include guaranteed delivery times.
- Priority – deliver to any commercial or residential address within Canada; guaranteed next-day delivery between urban areas.
- Regular Parcel – regular ground shipping; packages can be tracked.
- Xpresspost – guaranteed next-day delivery to local or regional addresses; guaranteed 2-day delivery nation-wide.
- Xpresspost Certified – fast shipping for documents only where the recipient’s signature is required; available to contract customers only.
Canada To The United States
- Expedited Parcel USA – lower cost for non-time-sensitive deliveries; limited to packages under 30 kg.
- Priority Worldwide pak USA – fast, on-time delivery with money-back guaranteed delivery times to most US states.
- Small Packet USA Air – small items, less than 2 kg.
- Tracked Packet USA – small items, less than 2 kg; includes online tracking and limited insurance.
- Xpresspost USA – fast cross-border shipping; packages can be tracked and include guaranteed delivery times to most US States.
International
- International Parcel Air – recommended for large packages and shipments to countries that don’t offer Xpresspost.
- International Parcel Surface – more economical than Air, for non-time-sensitive deliveries.
- International Tracked Packet – small items, less than 2 kg; includes online tracking and limited insurance; limited to 31 countries.
- Priority Worldwide envelope/pak/parcel International – fast international shipping; can be tracked and include guaranteed delivery times to 192 countries.
- Small Packet International Air – cost-effective; small items, less than 2 kg.
- Small Packet International Surface – no-frills service for non-time-sensitive items less than 2 kg.
- Xpresspost International – fast international shipping, with guaranteed on-time delivery to 70 countries
Add Carrier Account Details
If you have an account with Canada Post, you can link it to Smart Boxing to have your discounted shipping rates displayed at checkout. If you already know your Username and Password, go to Step #5.
If you anticipate a high volume of orders, we recommend contacting Canada Post to request an API rate limit increase. Canada Post API provides quotes for up to 20 shipping rates per minute. If approved, your account will be able to pull up to 400 shipping rates per minute.
A Canada Post account is not required to use Smart Boxing. If you do not have an account, leave the Account Details blank. Returned shipping rates will be based on Canada Post retail rates.
If you don’t have an account with Canada Post, or you don’t know your Username and Password:
1) Go to the Canada Post Developer Program website.
2) Click the Sign in button to sign in with the username and password for your Canada Post Solutions for Small Business account. If you don’t have an account, click the Join now button.
3) Select your Account Number from the dropdown list.
4) On the Welcome page, in the API Keys section, find the Key Number beside Production.
The Key Number contains two parts, separated by a : character. The first part is your Username. The second part is your Password.
5) Copy and paste your Username and Password into Smart Boxing. Be sure not to include the : character in either.
6) Enter your Canada Post Account Number.
7) Click the Save button.
8) If desired, click Show optional settings to access additional carrier features, or make adjustments to the final shipping costs. To learn more about Optional Settings, go here.
Be sure to save your settings again if you make changes to your Optional Settings.
Restrictions
Each carrier has restrictions that may limit your shipping capabilities or prevent you from making certain shipments. Here are some restrictions to be aware of when using Canada Post.
- Originating address – To use Canada Post, the shipment origin address must be within Canada.
- Restrictions by country – each country you ship to may have its own trade and import restrictions. Not all Canada Post delivery services are available to all countries. To learn more about restrictions to specific countries, go here.
- Prohibited items – certain goods, including items considered to be illegal, may not be shipped by Canada Post under any circumstances. To learn more about prohibited items, go here.
- Controlled items – items such as tobacco and vaping products, plants and animals, and dangerous goods may be shipped if they meet certain criteria. Other items such as cannabis and pharmaceuticals may be shipped by Canada Post under strict regulations in some areas and prohibited in others. To learn more about controlled items, go here.
- Packaging restrictions – some products can only be shipped if they comply with certain packaging standards. To learn more about Canada Post’s packaging requirements for odd items, go here.
- International restrictions – customs requirements may limit what you ship, how you ship it, and how it can be returned to Canada. You may also require additional documentation and fees to complete your shipment. To learn more about meeting customs requirements, go here.
- Size & weight restrictions – all parcels and documents shipped by Canada Post must not exceed a length of 2 meters (6.5 feet), a length plus girth of 3 meters (9.8 feet), or 30 kg (66 lbs). Parcels exceeding the limits may be subject to additional fees and may be shipped only at the discretion of Canada Post. For more information about Canada Post size and weight restrictions, go here. Individual delivery services may have size limitations; for example, Small Packet services are limited to 2 kg (4.4 lbs).
For more information about Canada Post restrictions, please contact Canada Post.
Troubleshooting
Live rates from Canada Post may not be appearing at checkout, or they may not be displayed as expected.
You may be able to determine why rates aren’t being displayed correctly by reviewing the rate calculation Activity.
1) Click Activity on the main menu.
2) Select ‘Unsuccessful requests only‘ from the Filter by request status drop-down list. This will display only Activities where rates were not returned.
4) Click View beside any ‘unsuccessful’ Activity.
5) In the Details section, click View log beside Warnings and errors, if available.
Warnings & errors are not displayed as a result of missing information, such as missing customer address information – or an invalid request – e.g. Visibility is turned off, Carrier-Calculated Rates are not enabled.
6) Review the warnings for Canada Post Shipping Services.
Here are some of the common reasons why some or all of your Canada Post live rates may not be appearing at checkout.
Setup & Testing Mode
While you are in Setup & Testing mode, live rates will only appear at checkout when the customer name contains ‘Intuitive’. To make your rates available in a live setting, you will need to activate your account and begin your 14-Day FREE Trial.
Visibility Settings
If your Canada Post rates are not appearing in a live setting, it may be because Visibility is set to Administrators only. This could be General Visibility, or your Canada Post Shipping Method. To learn how to adjust Visibility settings, go here.
Carrier-Calculated Rates
Shopify’s Carrier-Calculated Rates feature must be enabled on your Shopify account in order to use any third-party shipping rate calculator app, including Smart Boxing. To learn how to enable Carrier Calculated rates, go here.
Account Credentials
Double-check to make sure that you’ve entered the correct Username, Password, and Account number, and that there are no spaces or extra/ missing characters.
Packages
Rates may not appear if suitable Package sizes are not available. For example, when the appropriate package size is set to Inactive, the next largest size package will be used. If the larger package exceeds Canada Post’s size limitations, a rate will not be generated.
When no Package is available, Smart Boxing will attempt to create a custom package using the dimensions of the product(s) in the cart. Similarly, if the custom package exceeds Canada Post’s size limitations, a rate will not be generated.
Check to make sure that Packages in your Canada Post Shipping Method are suitable for products you’re shipping with Canada Post and that they do not exceed the size limitations.
Services
Some Canada Post services may not be available due to restrictions, such as size & weight or customer address. If some Canada Post Service rates are being generated, but others are not – or, if rates from another Carrier Shipping Method (e.g. FedEx) are being generated, but rates from Canada Post are not – it is most likely due to service restrictions.
Be sure to check that the selected services are compatible with the shipping address. For example, if the customer address is in the US and only domestic ‘Within Canada’ services have been selected, rates will not be displayed.
If some rates were returned at checkout, but others were not, check for Warnings & Errors in the Activity Details.
Product Dimensions
Smart Boxing requires all Products to have dimensions assigned to them. Package dimensions are sent to Canada Post to calculate the dimensional weight of the order. When Product dimensions are missing, the packing process fails, and package information cannot be sent to Canada Post.
Syncing
When you first begin using Smart Boxing in Setup & Testing mode, be sure to sync your Product catalog with to ensure that all of your products are available in the system. Products that have not been synced with Smart Boxing will not have dimensions. When Product dimensions are missing, the packing process fails, and package information cannot be sent to Canada Post.
Once you have activated Smart Boxing, products will be synced automatically. Be sure to add dimensions to each new product you add to Smart Boxing.
Multiple Package Blending
Smart Boxing lets you decide how to manage package blending. You can choose either Flexible or Strict.
Flexible blending means an attempt will be made to blend costs based on services. The lowest cost for each package will be blended together if packages do not have matching services.
Strict blending means costs will be blended only if all packages have matching services. No costs will be returned if packages do not have matching services.
Cost Adjustments
If rates are returning but appear to be either too high or too low, cost adjustments may have been applied to the Shipping Method in the Optional Settings section. Check the Cost adjustment section of your Canada Post Shipping Method’s Optional Settings.
Contact Us
If Canada Post rates are not being displayed as expected and you are unable to resolve the issue, please contact us. We’re here to help!