Connecting your Canada Post account to Shippo allows you to view Canada Post rates and to purchase labels. To connect, you first need to create or locate your Canada Post API Username and API password.
Create a Canada Post API Username and API Password
To automate your Canada Post shipments, you need to create a Canada Post API Username and Password by following the instructions below.
- Go to the Canada Post Developer Program website and click Sign in.
Note: You need to have a Canada Post account for this to work. If you don’t have one, you can register with them by clicking Sign up. |
- If you have never accessed the Developer Program website, a License Agreement may be shown to you. Click Agree and continue.
- Click Developer program on the left-hand side at the top. Then you will see an overview of your API keys.
- Lastly, copy the API username (the left, before the colon) and then the API password (the right, after the colon) and paste them into your Shippo account in your Carrier settings.
Note: Canada Post has different credentials, depending on whether you want to use your account in test mode (“Development”) or in production (“Production”). When in Test Mode in Shippo, you'll need to use your "Development" credentials and to see live rates, you'll need to use your Production credentials. |
Connect your Canada Post Account to Shippo
After you have the API Username and API Password, you can connect Canada Post to Shippo following the steps here: Connect Your Own Carrier Account.
Canada Post will bill you for postage purchased using your Canada Post account in Shippo (the exception to this is the eBay-provided Canada Post account).
See more details here: Using Shippo for eBay Canada Shipping.
How do I contact Canada Post Customer Service?
For issues pertaining to Canada Post, you can find answers to your commonly asked questions here via support tickets or phone (they operate dozens of phone numbers depending on the type of inquiry and depending on whether you have a Personal or Business account, so the best way to determine which number to call is to use their selector).
Canada Post Label Fees
Canada Post may return a higher-than-expected rate for a lightweight package if it is large or bulky because they use the Volumetric Equivalent weight. Alternately, smaller but heavy items will also be impacted by this policy because, in that case, they will use the item's actual weight.
When shipping via Canada Post, Shippo will submit the weight and dimensions of your package to Canada Post, and the returned rate will be either the greater of the actual weight of the package or what Canada Post calls the Volumetric Equivalent of Actual Weight (VE). You can read more about how they determine a package's Volumetric Equivalent here.
The best practice to avoid unforeseen surcharges after shipment is to submit the most accurate weight and dimensions possible when generating your labels.