Valuables
Coins, currency, jewelry and precious stones are confined to insured parcels. The listing offers that cover on the two Priority products, for merchandise only, so anything worth stealing belongs there rather than on the lightest tier.
Cross-border
Can USPS ship to Canada?
Yes. A parcel handed to the Post Office for a Canadian address leaves the country in postal channels and is delivered by Canada Post at the other end, which is why the terms attached to it are not the ones a courier quotes. The country listing sets the products, the weight ceilings, the customs form each product needs and a prohibitions list with alcohol at the top of it. We worked from the 2026-07-29 version of that listing throughout. We cannot sell you the label, and the last section is honest about what we can price instead.
Country listing, datedForms named per productPostal duty thresholds
Two postal systems, one parcel
The Post Office carries it to the border. Canada Post carries it from there, assesses the duty and knocks on the door.
The products the listing carries, and where each one stops
Canada is not served by every postal product, and the ceilings differ enough that the choice is usually made for you by the weight on the scale. The customs form column is the part people skip and then get a parcel returned over.
| Product | Weight ceiling | Size stated | Customs form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail Express International | 66 lb; Flat Rate Envelopes cap at 4 lb | Length and girth combined 108 in; no separate length limit listed | PS Form 2976-B enclosed in PS Form 2976-E |
| Priority Mail International | 66 lb, dropping to 22 lb for Canadian Forces post offices | Maximum length 79 in; length and girth combined 108 in | PS Form 2976-A enclosed in PS Form 2976-E |
| First-Class Package International Service | 4 lb | Not stated separately on the listing | PS Form 2976 |
| First-Class Mail International | 3.5 oz for letters and postcards; 15.994 oz for large envelopes | Letter and flat formats | None, unless customs requires one |
| Global Express Guaranteed | 70 lb where the product runs | Not stated separately on the listing | Not applicable while suspended: the listing states “Global Express Guaranteed service is suspended as of September 29, 2024.” |
Four pounds is the number worth remembering. It is the ceiling on the cheapest package product to Canada, and a pair of boots or a hardcover book set clears it without trying. Past that weight the parcel moves onto Priority Mail International, where the ceiling rises to 66 lb and the two size limits in the table start deciding what fits.
The two-part form on the Priority products catches people out as well. PS Form 2976-A is the declaration itself; PS Form 2976-E is the plastic envelope it travels in, taped to the outside of the carton so a customs officer can read it without opening anything. Filling the declaration in properly is its own subject, covered in our guide to customs forms and tariff codes.
What Canada refuses outright
The prohibitions on the Canadian listing are longer and stranger than most senders expect, and a few of them catch ordinary consumer goods rather than obvious contraband. These are the items named as prohibited, read 2026-07-29.
- All alcoholic beverages. The listing opens the prohibitions with “All alcoholic beverages including wines, etc.” There is no de minimis version of this and no gift exception in the postal channel.
- Vaping liquids at strength. Named as “Vaping liquids containing 66 mg/g or more nicotine by weight.”
- Firearms, and replica or inert munitions. Including items that carry no charge and are sold as collectibles in the States.
- Non-refillable lighters holding fuel. A common impulse addition to a parcel of camping gear.
- Gold bullion and nonmanufactured precious metals. Finished jewelry is treated separately, under restrictions rather than prohibitions.
- Perishable biological substances, infectious and non-infectious alike.
- Reproductions of Canadian postage stamps, unless printed in black and white with a defacing line across them.
- Prison-made goods offered for sale, plumage and skins of wild birds, and oleomargarine and butter substitutes.
The alcohol line is the one that ends the most transactions. A bottle of maple bourbon posted north as a birthday gift is prohibited matter, not a customs question, and the parcel is treated accordingly rather than assessed for duty.
Allowed, but only with the paperwork behind it
A second list sits under the prohibitions: goods Canada accepts on conditions. Each of these has a document attached, and posting the item without it is what turns a delivery into a seizure.
Anything edible or living
Meat products need an export certificate from the US Department of Agriculture. Eggs for hatching need certification from a USDA veterinarian. Pet food containing raw components needs a Canadian import permit alongside a USDA sanitary certificate.
Medicines and veterinary products
Drugs and medicines have to comply with Canadian law at the receiving end, not the law of the state they were bought in, and veterinary biological products need a permit from the Canadian agriculture ministry before they travel.
The pattern across all of them is that the paperwork has to exist before the parcel moves. A certificate obtained after a shipment is held does not release it, because the item entered the mail stream without the condition satisfied.
Mail has different duty thresholds than a courier
Whether the person receiving the parcel ends up happy about it turns on this one detail, and it is the one place where the postal channel and the courier channel genuinely diverge.
On the postal side the listing is exact: goods valued under CAD 20 are exempt from duty and excise tax, and anything over CAD 20 is subject to the applicable duties and taxes. Gift shipments received by mail and valued under CAD 60 are exempt. For casual and commercial goods valued at or under CAD 1,600, Canada Post collects the assessed duties, the excise taxes and a handling fee from the addressee, which is the knock-on-the-door invoice Canadian buyers complain about. Above CAD 1,600 the shipment is handled by customs rather than settled at the door.
Send the identical item by courier instead and a different set of numbers applies, because the trade agreement thresholds for courier shipments sit well above the postal ones. Our page on cross-border value thresholds carries those figures side by side with Mexico and the United Kingdom. Quoting the courier threshold to a buyer whose parcel is moving by mail is a promise that arrives broken.
One address detail belongs here too, because it is stated as a condition rather than a suggestion: the name of the Canadian province in which the destination office is located must appear as part of the address. A Canadian address without the two-letter province is incomplete mail, not merely untidy.
The leg we can actually price
Our checkout produces United States domestic labels and files no customs entries, so there is no version of it that reaches a Canadian address. What it does reach is the border, and a well-worn workaround runs through exactly that point: the buyer rents a mailbox at a receiving depot on the American side, the seller ships an ordinary domestic parcel to it, and the buyer drives across and declares the goods in person. Buffalo is one of the standard addresses for it.
| What went in the box | Carton and weight | Cheapest quote | Window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| A pair of running shoes | 12 × 10 × 6 in 3 lb packed | $8.32 USPS Ground Advantage | 4-5 business days |
| Two hoodies and a pair of leather boots | 18 × 14 × 12 in 15 lb packed | $19.27 UPS Ground Saver | Not supplied by the carrier |
Those figures buy no customs clearance and no delivery in Canada. They are the price of getting the goods to a depot the buyer can reach, which is worth knowing before paying a postal international rate for the same box. Whoever carries it across the line still owes the declaration, and at that point the thresholds in the section above apply to the traveler rather than to the mail.
Where these conditions come from
- USPS International Mail Manual, Country Conditions for Mailing to Canada — the product list and ceilings, the customs form for each product, the prohibitions and restrictions, the province requirement and the duty thresholds. Read 2026-07-29.
Country listings are amended whenever the destination post asks for a change, and Canada has asked more than once in recent years. Check the listing again before a shipment of any value, because a condition added last month binds a parcel posted today.
Common questions
Can USPS ship to Canada?
Yes. The country listing for Canada carries Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International, First-Class Package International Service and First-Class Mail International, and Canada Post makes the delivery once the item crosses. Every package needs a customs form.
How heavy can a parcel to Canada be?
Sixty-six pounds on both Priority Mail International and Priority Mail Express International, and four pounds on First-Class Package International Service. Priority Mail International also stops at 79 inches of length and 108 inches of length and girth combined.
Which customs form does a package to Canada need?
PS Form 2976 for First-Class Package International Service, PS Form 2976-A enclosed in PS Form 2976-E for Priority Mail International, and PS Form 2976-B enclosed in PS Form 2976-E for Priority Mail Express International. Letters inside the First-Class Mail International limits need none unless customs asks for one.
Can I mail alcohol or vaping liquid to Canada?
No. The listing prohibits all alcoholic beverages, and vaping liquids containing 66 mg/g or more nicotine by weight. Firearms, non-refillable lighters holding fuel and nonmanufactured precious metals sit on the same list.
What value is exempt from Canadian duty by mail?
Goods valued under CAD 20 are exempt from duty and excise tax, and gifts received by mail under CAD 60 are exempt as well. Above those levels Canada Post collects the assessed amounts plus a handling fee from the addressee on anything valued at or under CAD 1,600.