Canada Post raises letter and stamp rates

Summary#

These final regulations, Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Post Corporation Act: SOR/2024-67, raise postage and related fees for letters and registered mail. The changes take effect on May 6, 2024 and include a new price for a single domestic stamp of $1.15 (up from $1.07).

What it does#

• Raises the price of a single domestic stamp (letter up to 30 g) to $1.15 (from $1.07) — a 7.5% increase.
• Raises the price of a stamp bought in a booklet, coil or pane (letter up to 30 g) to $0.99 (from $0.92) — a 7.6% increase.
• Increases other domestic letter weight steps. Examples:
  • Over 30 g up to 50 g: $1.40 (was $1.30).
  • Over 100 g up to 200 g: $3.43 (was $3.19).
  • Over 200 g up to 500 g: $5.89 (was $5.47).
• Raises fees for letter-post items to the United States and to other international destinations. Examples:
  • To the United States, up to 30 g: $1.40.
  • To international destinations (non‑US), up to 30 g: $2.92.
• Increases the fee for domestic registered mail to $10.50 (from $9.75).
• These rate changes were made by Canada Post under the Canada Post Corporation Act and come into force on May 6, 2024.

Who's affected#

• Everyday Canadians who buy stamps or mail letters. The government estimates an average household increase of about $0.65 per year.
• Small businesses that use stamps: average estimated cost increase of $12.07 per year; about 1.2 million small businesses are counted as potentially affected.
• People and communities that use physical mail more often — including those in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, and many seniors — are likely to feel the change more. The analysis shows slightly higher per-person impacts in those groups (differences on the order of $0.12–$0.19 per year).
• Canada Post will collect additional revenue estimated at about $23.8 million for the period May 2024 to April 2025.

Why it matters#

• The increases are intended to help Canada Post cover higher operating costs caused by inflation (consumer prices rose about 14.8% from 2020 to 2023) and fewer letters being mailed to more addresses.
• For most people, the extra cost is small — typically cents per piece of mail and less than $1 per household each year — but it adds up across the system and is larger for groups that rely on mail more often.
• The revenue from the increases is meant to support the continuation of postal services across Canada, including delivery to rural and remote areas. Service standards are not changed by these regulations.