Canada Post Hold Package: Step by Step Guide

Canada Post usually holds a package for as long as two weeks or 15 Days from the date of request. During this period, they ensure the held package is secured against all adversities. Also, special attention is paid to the high-valued and temperature sensitive items that are kept in hold under them.

On the applicable return date, the parcel will be available for pickup at the Post Office till the close of business at their end. Customers can visit the Post Office any time during their business hours on or before the return date to pick up their held package.

Also, one is not required to expire 15 days before visiting the Post Office to pick up their package. If a customer no longer needs to hold their mail, they can cancel the held service any time in between, as per their convenience. The held mail will then be available for pickup or delivered to the address. And the normal pickup and mail delivery services will resume immediately after the cancellation of the hold package request.

Naturally, after the designated time period expires, the Canada Post’s Hold Package Service will no longer be available to the customers. So, if you miss the pickup date without informing the Post Office or providing any further request to renew the service or extend the hold time, the parcel will probably be shipped back to the sender.

The returned package automatically receives the tag “refused” or “not picked up.” If the item is returned, the cost of the parcel might be refunded by the sender. The exact refund amount would depend on the specific retailer policy, which might include a cancellation charge or payment forfeiture. 

However, the shipping costs and the additional postage charges (if any) for returns or otherwise will not be refunded under any condition. It would have to be covered, either by the sender or the addressee. Also, the charge for their Hold Package service will not be returned either.

Hence, the customers shouldn’t miss the pickup date to avoid losing their hard-earned money on a package they didn’t even receive. If they can’t pick up their package due to unavoidable circumstances, informing the Post Office or extending the holding time for their parcel will be the most sensible option. If they don’t want to receive their package for any reason, they should refuse it beforehand without availing of their held package services.

Checking the status of your held package at Canada Post isn’t much trouble. You don’t need anything special other than the unique Tracking ID of your package. It’s the same tracking number that allows you to check the status of delivery that can be used to check the status of your held package.

The unique tracking number can be found on your package’s shipping label or receipt copy. You can also request the sender provide you with your parcel’s tracking ID. It’s a 16 Digit number for domestic delivery and a 13 character code with a combination of alphabets and numbers for international shipping. Once you have the tracking ID, you can use it to check your parcel’s delivery or held status by visiting Canada Post’s official website.

The Tracking ID is an important piece of information that enables customers to track their parcels in real time and know the status of their held packages. Hence, it’s necessary that you keep it safe with you and do not lose it at any cost until the package arrives at your door.

Regarding providing their Hold Package Service, Canada Post has certain rules and regulations.

First and foremost, they won’t be holding items that they are prohibited from shipping or items that offer control shipping. These include items that are either dangerous or perishable, illegal or obscene items and everything else that they aren’t allowed to ship.

Secondly, the parcels which fall under the category of priority shipping, Xpresspost, Xpresspost Certified, Expedited Parcel, or Regular Parcel cannot be held at the Post Office. Also, prepaid envelopes might get delivered even during the Hold Mail period. Hence, in case such deliveries are expected, the customer must inform the sender to hold the delivery until they are again available to receive their mail.

Moreover, the “Everyone” option of the Hold Package Service is unavailable to customers who receive mail through rural route addresses. It’s applicable only when no person at the residence requires mail delivery during the Hold Mail period. Suppose Canada Post feels that the option will impede mail delivery for other recipients. In that case, they can change it to “only specific people” or cancel the service altogether.
Next, Canada Post’s Hold Package Service is not available to customers who receive their parcels through institutions like schools, hospitals, hotels, or other Businesses. The service is also unavailable to customers who use a shared postal address, receive their mail through privately administered mailboxes, or have their parcels delivered to Automated Parcel Locker.
Furthermore, Canada Post reserves the right to cancel their Held Mail Services anytime, with or without prior notice to the customers.

Canada Post does allow its customers to redirect their package to a different address, provided they have an account with them. But there is a minimum redirection fee that needs to be paid to avail of their Package Redirection Service in addition to the applicable shipping charges. Also, a few rules and regulations are required to be observed to access their redirection tool.

You can even use this service to redirect a held package to a different address. However, both services can’t be used at once. That is to say; you cannot redirect a package currently under their hold. To redirect your held package to another location, you must cancel the Hold Package service with Canada Post and then avail of their Package Redirection tool.

Moreover, Canada Post has some strict rules and regulations regarding redirecting mail. So, the customer first needs to check whether their package is eligible for redirection. It can be done by entering the Tracking ID of the parcel in the package redirection tool. If it’s eligible, only then will they be allowed to input the address of the new destination.

Canada Post allows its customers to renew or extend the hold time for a package before their hold mail service ends. Irrespective of whether you purchased its Hold Package service online through their website or offline at the Post Office, Canada Post allows you to extend the service online, provided you have an account with them.

So, if you cannot pick up your package or have it delivered to your address within 15 days, you can request Canada Post to extend its hold time. All you require is the reference number from the confirmation email or the post office receipt you received when placing the original order.
However, you must ensure that you send in your request before the designated time for holding the package ends. If you request an extension after the service ends, you must purchase their Hold Package Service again. Moreover, if you don’t extend the hold time before it ends and the package leaves their facility, Canada Post can do little to renew the service.

Canada Post needs a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 5 days to process a hold package request. But it’s advisable to leave some room for them to get done with the processing. So, if you wish the postal company to hold your parcels for a while, you must purchase the service at least 5 business days before the date from when your mails are to be held.

Whether you purchase the service online or via the post office, and whether it’s for a residential or business address, ensure that you give Canada Post 5 days’ processing time to execute your hold package request. 

It’s a little easier and less time-consuming if you purchase the service online, provided you have an account with Canada Post. Else, you can visit the post office to complete the process. Ordering it at the post office would require you to fill out their Hold Mail order form. However, you can save a little time by filling it out in advance. Whichever way you take, have at least 5 days to spare for the processing time.

Canada Post also allows its Hold Package Service to be used for international shipments. In the case of international mail, it holds the package for 30 days to be picked up by the addressee or delivered to the address.

However, the items shipped through their inbound Express Mail Service cannot be held for such long periods. Unless otherwise mentioned by the shipper, they must be shipped back to the sender after 5 days.

For other international shipments, Canada Post’s Hold Package Service works as usual, keeping the mail safe for 30 days with room for providing time extension and service renewal.

Unfortunately, Canada Post would not be able to execute their Hold Package Service if they did not receive their customer’s payment for the service.

The Canada Post must get their payment cleared before activating their services. Hence, they can only hold the package for their customers if they have cleared their payment online or offline. Otherwise, there is no way that the postal company can allow its customers to avail of its services.
Hence, if the payment for the hold package service is not received, the package will be returned to the sender after a failed delivery attempt. 

There is no strict limit on the number of packages Canada Post can hold at once. However, given the limited space in some of their facilities, it’s not always possible to hold many parcels from each of their customers. 

Still, they try to accommodate as many packages as possible.

However, in case of a huge volume of mail or shortage of space, Canada Post might deter from holding certain parcels that do not fall under their Hold Package Services category. The parcel might be shipped back to the sender or delivered to an alternate address. It can also be redirected to a different address if the recipient requests it.

Hence, even though Canada Post does not limit the number of packages that can be held, it’s advisable that you don’t test its limits. So, try to confine the number of held packages to a minimum amount. To ensure that, you can either ask the sender to put a hold on your shipments for the time being or apply Canada Post’s Redirection Tool on some of the parcels expected to be delivered within the period.