Connecting Canada Post

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10

What this is

How to connect your Canada Post account so its rates and labels are available in CanShip. You connect by signing in at Canada Post. There is no API username or password to type.

Before you start

• You need a Canada Post account with a customer number, and the username and password you use on Canada Post's site. A commercial contract is optional.
• You need a CanShip login that can open Settings > Carriers.
• If you ship to the US with Canada Post, have your Zonos account key to hand.

1. Sign in at Canada Post

1. In CanShip, go to Settings > Carriers.
2. On the Canada Post card, click Connect Canada Post. The page goes to Canada Post.
3. Sign in and follow Canada Post's steps.
4. Canada Post sends you back to the Carriers page, which says "Canada Post is connected. Check the sender address under Edit, then Test Connection."

The card now shows the date you signed in and your customer number.

2. Finish the details

1. On the Canada Post card, click Edit. The Configure Canada Post form opens.
2. Customer Number and Contract ID were filled in by Canada Post when you signed in. They cannot be changed here.
3. Enter the Origin Postal Code your parcels ship from.
4. Leave Payment Method blank to bill your account when you have a contract. Without a contract, Canada Post charges the credit card it has on file.
5. Fill in the Sender Address. Sender Company, Sender Phone, Address Line 1, Sender City, Sender Province and Sender Postal Code are required.
6. If you ship to the US, enter your Zonos Account Key under US Duty Prepayment (Zonos). Since August 2025, postal shipments under $800 USD to the US need duty prepaid through Zonos.
7. Under Which clients can ship with this carrier?, choose All clients, None for now, or pick individual clients.
8. Click Save.
9. Click Edit again, then Test Connection. It answers "Connection test successful." or gives Canada Post's reason.

Canada Post rates now appear when you rate a parcel for an assigned client.

Trying it on Canada Post's test environment

If Canada Post issued a test key when you signed in, the form has a Canada Post environment setting with two choices, production and test.

• On test, rates and labels are samples and nothing is billed. The card reads "Environment: Test (labels are not real)".
• Canada Post rates carry a Test account chip.
• A label bought on test is a page marked TEST LABEL. It is not valid for shipping. It shows the service, the tracking number, the order and the ship-to address.
• The shipment's window says the label was made on Canada Post's test environment and that nothing was tendered or billed.
• A test label is left out of End of Day. It can be voided like any other label; nothing is refunded, because nothing was billed.

Set the environment back to production before you ship real parcels.

Signing in again

Once connected, the button on the card reads Sign in again. Use it when:

• your customer number or contract has changed, or
• the card says "Sign-in: refused by Canada Post" with a date.

What can go wrong

• "Canada Post sign-in was cancelled. Nothing was changed." You left Canada Post's site before finishing. Click Connect Canada Post and start again.
• "That Canada Post connection link had expired." Too long passed between starting and finishing. Click Connect Canada Post to start again.
• "US shipments are off for Canada Post". The Zonos account key is missing. Click Configure on the warning and add it under US Duty Prepayment.
• Every Canada Post rate is the same price. The account is on the test environment. Set it back to production under Edit.
• A client gets no Canada Post rates. Check the client is assigned to Canada Post on the card, under Assigned Clients.

See also: Connecting a carrier, How to print a Canada Post end-of-day manifest and Shipping across the border: customs details.