I was surprised to see a couple of Canada Post vans out yesterday while shopping and even more surprised when members on our forum package trains received her package yesterday.

Looking into it, Canada Post are starting weekend delivery for the holidays early.  They have no plans to continue this after the holidays but it is great for speeding up parcels during the busy holiday season.    Weekend delivery is not guaranteed so will not be factored into guaranteed delivery schedules and will only be in areas where the mail volume is high enough to make it worthwhile – mostly major urban centres.

They are also trying out a same day service in the GTA (called Deliver Tonight) allowing for delivery in the evenings when you are more likely to be home to sign for stuff, it has been in place since September but they expect to see more use of it during the Christmas shopping and gifting season.    In selected parts of the Greater Toronto Area, you can order an item online before 12:30 p.m. at certain retailers, and it will be delivered that same evening between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. The cut-off time and cost for the service depends on the retailer (Best Buy, Future Shop, Indigo and Walmart.ca) to test the marketplace and see if consumers are willing to pay extra fees for quicker service.