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Shipping Items from U.S. to CanadaEffective May 12, 2008, the USPS has changed the service classes and names of most of their international mailing options. This page has now been updated to reflect these latest changes. 
The best way (in my opinion) to ship small parcels (up to 4 pounds) to Canada is by USPS First-Class Mail International service. You can send a small box or padded envelope this way. The only size restriction is that the length + width + height must total less then 36", and the weight can be no more than 4 pounds.
You can not use the free Priority Mail boxes to send parcels to Canada by First-Class Mail, but many sellers I have dealt with, take the box apart and reassemble it inside out for Canadian parcels. Some wrap the boxes in brown paper instead.
I presume that the standard Priority Mail boxes will be usable for the Priority Mail International service (but I didn't actually see this on the USPS site). There is now a flat-rate Priority box to Canada, for up to 20 pounds, costing $23.00.
First-Class International postage to Canada is only slightly more than Priority mail in the U.S. A 1 lb. box goes for $4.76, 2 lbs. for $8.56, 3 lbs. for $12.36 and 4 lbs. for $16.16. These are the new rates current as of May 12, 2008 . Delivery time is usually 10-14 days.
Insurance is not available on First-Class packages. A larger package, sent by Priority Mail International, can be insured. Also, the thought of trying to figure out how to make an insurance claim with the USPS in another country, is mind boggling.
Here are links to the USPS website for with the new rates to Canada. Priority Mail International is about 2/3 of the way down the page, with First Class Mail International just below that.
Summary of Rates to Canada
Shipping Calculator to Canada
Detailed Information on these Service Classes
With the addition of the Priority Mail Flat-Rate box and envelope, there are a few new things to consider when deciding on how to ship something. The flat-rate prices are significantly less than the normal Priority Mail prices for the same weight. Therefore, if your item is up to 4 pounds, and can survive shipment in just an envelope, it could be sent for just $9.95 as opposed to $21.20 if you put it in a box. This is also much less than the First-Class price for 4 pounds of $16.16. If your item is more than 4 pounds, then, Prioiry Mail is the only option. However, if your item is between 7 and 20 pounds, and can fit into the Flat-Rate box, it would be much cheaper to use the Flat-Rate option. To send 20 pounds by Priority Mail would cost $46.10, whereas the Flat-Rate price is only $23.95. There is a new large size flat rate box, that costs $29.95 to send up to 20 pounds. Of course, this only works if your item can safely fit and be packed into a Flat-Rate box. Between 4 and 7 pounds, it is cheaper to just pay the Priority Mail rates.
Surface mail from the U.S. to Canada has been eliminated completely. On packages from overseas to Canada, surface mail can take from 2 to 3 months to reach Canada. Likewise, surface mail from Canada to anywhere else, can take 6 to 8 weeks to arrive.
A few eBay sellers I have spoken to, have said they had bad experiences shipping to Canada with parcels taking a long time to arrive. Part of the delay comes from our beloved Canada Customs people inspecting incoming parcels for anything harmful or terrorist related and/or trying to decide whether to tax it or not. Probably about 1 in 5 boxes that I get from the U.S. has been opened by Canada Customs for inspection. They have a special tape they use to reseal the boxes, so I can tell which have been opened. Also, there is sometimes a stamp on the box that says "Opened by Canada Customs". I once received a box shipped from Montana that was inspected by Customs in Vancouver, British Columbia, before being sent to me in Ontario. A couple extra 1000 miles of detour doesn't help it arrive any sooner.
Also, some sellers say they will ship to Canada by UPS. UPS is NOT a bonded Customs Courier, so a parcel crossing the border into Canada by UPS will incur an additional $20-40 in customs brokerage fees. To further clarify this... DO NOT USE UPS TO SHIP ITEMS INTO CANADA FROM THE UNITED STATES!
A long time eBay pet peeve of mine is sellers who charge an exhorbitant "Handling Charge" over and above the actual postage costs. 
If you are going to sell online to customers around the world, you have to realize that the time to pack items for shipment, and going to the post office to mail them, is a part of doing business on the Internet. Do the large online retailers charge extra to package and ship your purchases? No, they usually just charge something close to the actual postage costs. I don't usually object to a small handling fee to cover the cost of packing materials, boxes, tape, bubble wrap, etc., but let's keep it realistic. I know that U.S. sellers can get the Priority Post boxes free from the USPS. As mentioned above, you can't use the free Priority Post boxes to send to Canada, unless you do something to cover up the Priority Post logos. Our beloved Canada Post charges almost $4 for a box roughly the size of your 7" x 7" x 7" Priority Post box, and then we still have to pay postage above that.
Some sellers say they will charge an additional handling fee, because the parcel is going to Canada. This is usually purported to cover the costs of the additional paperwork required. As you can read in the next section of this page, the Customs paperwork for a small parcel takes about 1 minute to complete. Does this extra burden on the seller's time really warrant several extra dollars for "Special Handling"?
Copyright © 2007 - Doug Netzke and Micro Solutions of Sudbury