ENVELOPE SIZE CHANGES
A silly policy of Canada Post has been the unacceptability of US-size 6x9 inch envelopes.
They exceeded Canada Post's 150x245mm size (approximately 5 7/8x9 5/8 inches).
Yes, they rejected mail if it was 1/8" over, I experienced that - though it was several years ago.
Guides for the increase of January 12, 2004 allow 156x245mm or approximately 6 1/8x9 5/8 inches within Canada.
Oddly, those guides specify a limit to the US of 150x245mm (the old value which did not match US practice anyway), and on January 28 Canada Post's web site had a smaller limit (one not usable for 8.5x11 inch paper folded over). I'd be careful.
NEW
In August 2007 Canada Post advised me that:
- A few years ago the internal size was changed to 156 to accommodate volume mailings by US entities in Canada.
- However the size from Canada to the US was left at 150 in accordance with "Universal Postal Union" requirements.
So apparently that means we don't have to worry about the height difference within Canada anymore. (I understand that inbound from the US had to be accepted, by Canada Post policy - good for them, though it did not conform to "Universal Postal Union" requirements.) However, technically we cannot use the higher envelope to mail to the US even though it is their size. So be careful what envelopes you purchase (I've often found 6x9 in Canadian stores).
(It's about price - over the allowable letter size required Canadian postage is double. (In the US the surcharge is about 30% at letter rate as it is a fixed amount.) The approximately 6x9 size is convenient for 8.5x11 inch and A4 paper. Of course acceptibility also is about your communication getting through without being delayed by rejection or by loss in the deal-with-it-someday pile or asking the recipient to pay more.)
The short postal prices guide 2005 for the increases effective January 17, 2005 clearly contains the Canada-US descrepancy by specifying maximum size for "Lettermail" and "Letter-post" and using those terms in the Canada and [to] USA sections of the guide..
Note: the foregoing size information is for envelopes.
Postcards mailed in Canada cannot be as large as envelopes even though the price is the same within Canada. I cannot imagine what they are thinking.
In other news, both Canadian and US postal services are being sticky about addressing of mail. The USPS is refusing parcels in re-used boxes if any of the original content markings are visible. And Canada is doing something requiring precise address and format, according to this slightly confused/garbled announcement to USPS customers (is Canada Post actually requiring all capital letters?). ******
© Keith Sketchley Page version 2007.09.04 (1504PDT)
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