SASKATCHEWAN — To assist both the sender and the receiver, Canada Post has issued their holiday mailing deadlines as well as extended community post office hours in December.
Sending Christmas mail? Don’t forget deadlines. While annual Christmas cards aren’t nearly as popular or common as they once were, Christmas mail still keeps post office staff busy, especially with parcels.
Canada Post is asking people to plan ahead for sending holiday cards and packages to ensure they arrive at their destination in time for Christmas.
Regular local mail parcel deadline is Dec. 20 while priority or express post is Dec. 22. Regional deadlines are Dec. 16-20 for regular parcels while priority and express post are Dec. 21. For parcels going to a national location, regular parcel posts need to be sent between Dec. 9-19 while all others are Dec. 21. International parcel posts have different deadlines and can be found on Canada post online.
For those that still send Christmas cards and letters, those going to local destinations have a Dec. 20 deadline, while regional destinations must be put in mail by Dec. 19. Sending to a national destination? Make sure you have it posted by Dec. 16 to arrive in time. International deadlines are earlier and can be found online.
For complete details on holiday deadlines, go to www.canadapost.ca
Sending a letter to Santa? Everyone knows how busy St. Nick is this time of year so you must have your letter in the mail by Dec. 9 to ensure he receives it in time for Christmas. Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada
Extended hours for Kerrobert, Unity and Wilkie community post office locations begin Dec. 5 and will remain until Dec. 23.
At Unity, mailbox holders received a card in their post office box outlining holiday hours as 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Fridays the location will be open until 5 p.m., with Saturday hours from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Unity location postmaster, Karen Fell, says they have already seen in increase in mail activity for about two weeks. She reminds those mailing items out of country the importance of creating their customs documents online at Canada Post website prior to mailing.
Wilkie’s post office is extending their hours Dec. 5-23 working Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7 p.m. and opening every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
At the Kerrobert post office, hours are also extended Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7 p.m., while adding in Saturday opening from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The location says they didn’t need to hire extra staff to accommodate the extended hours as they have a part-time person who will fill the need with additional hours. Kerrobert’s Canada Post location affirms that parcels are starting to pick up and they expect after Black Friday that activity will increase.
