Canada Post Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2026: Dec. 3 for Africa Small Packets, Dec. 23 for Priority

Canada Post’s first 2026 Christmas send-by date is Thursday, Dec. 3, for Tracked Packet or Small Packet to Africa and to Central and South America and the Caribbean, and for cards to Africa. Letters to Santa have to go by Wednesday, Dec. 9, and Priority parcels within Canada by Wednesday, Dec. 23, according to Canada Post’s “Plan your holiday sending” page.

Checked Oct. 26, 2026. Dates below come from the three Canada Post pages listed under sources. Canada Post says its dates are between major urban centres, depend on origin and destination, and that some restrictions apply.

What are all the Canada Post Christmas deadlines, earliest to latest?

Canada Post lists its dates by destination. This table merges them into one countdown, so you can see what is due next. “Intl” means international.

Send-by date	Day	What must be sent	Days from today
Dec. 3	Thursday	Tracked Packet or Small Packet to Africa and to Central/South America and the Caribbean; cards to Africa	-
Dec. 9	Wednesday	Santa letters; Tracked Packet or Small Packet to Asia, Australia, China, Europe, India, New Zealand and the Middle East; cards to Europe	-
Dec. 10	Thursday	Xpresspost International to Africa and to Central/South America and the Caribbean; domestic Regular Parcel, National Zone	-
Dec. 11	Friday	Xpresspost International to Asia, India, New Zealand and the Middle East; Tracked Packet or Small Packet to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, the UK and the U.S.; cards to the U.S. and the UK	-
Dec. 14	Monday	Xpresspost International to Australia, China and Japan; Expedited Parcel USA; domestic Expedited Parcel, National Zone	-
Dec. 15	Tuesday	Xpresspost International to Europe, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK	-
Dec. 16	Wednesday	Domestic Regular Parcel, Regional Zone	-
Dec. 17	Thursday	Xpresspost USA	-
Dec. 18	Friday	Domestic Expedited Parcel, Regional Zone; domestic cards, National Zone	-
Dec. 21	Monday	Domestic Regular Parcel, Local Zone; domestic cards, Regional Zone	-
Dec. 22	Tuesday	Domestic Expedited Parcel or flat rate box, Local Zone; domestic Xpresspost, Regional and National Zones; domestic cards, Local Zone	-
Dec. 23	Wednesday	Domestic Priority, all three zones; domestic Xpresspost, Local Zone	-

When do Santa letters need to be mailed?

Canada Post’s Santa letter program says: “Send your letter to Santa no later than December 9, 2026!” Dec. 9 is a Wednesday. The address is Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.

What are the deadlines for parcels and cards within Canada?

Canada Post groups domestic dates into Local, Regional and National zones. The Priority date is the same in all three.

Service	Local Zone	Regional Zone	National Zone
Priority	Wed., Dec. 23	Wed., Dec. 23	Wed., Dec. 23
Xpresspost	Wed., Dec. 23	Tue., Dec. 22	Tue., Dec. 22
Expedited Parcel (Local: or flat rate box)	Tue., Dec. 22	Fri., Dec. 18	Mon., Dec. 14
Regular Parcel	Mon., Dec. 21	Wed., Dec. 16	Thu., Dec. 10
Cards	Tue., Dec. 22	Mon., Dec. 21	Fri., Dec. 18

The gap between zones is widest for Regular Parcel: 11 days separate the Local date (Dec. 21) from the National date (Dec. 10). That figure is our subtraction from Canada Post’s dates.

What are the deadlines for the U.S.?

Service to the U.S.	Send by
Xpresspost USA	Thursday, Dec. 17
Expedited Parcel USA	Monday, Dec. 14
Tracked Packet or Small Packet USA	Friday, Dec. 11
Cards	Friday, Dec. 11

What are the deadlines for international parcels and cards?

Canada Post lists two services for each destination. Cards range from Dec. 3 (Africa) to Dec. 11 (UK); the card date for Europe is Dec. 9.

Destination	Xpresspost International	Tracked Packet or Small Packet
Africa	Thu., Dec. 10	Thu., Dec. 3
Asia	Fri., Dec. 11	Wed., Dec. 9
Australia	Mon., Dec. 14	Wed., Dec. 9
Central/South America and Caribbean	Thu., Dec. 10	Thu., Dec. 3
China	Mon., Dec. 14	Wed., Dec. 9
Europe	Tue., Dec. 15	Wed., Dec. 9
France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland	Tue., Dec. 15	Fri., Dec. 11
India	Fri., Dec. 11	Wed., Dec. 9
Japan	Mon., Dec. 14	Fri., Dec. 11
New Zealand	Fri., Dec. 11	Wed., Dec. 9
United Kingdom	Tue., Dec. 15	Fri., Dec. 11
Middle East	Fri., Dec. 11	Wed., Dec. 9

When is Canada Post closed around Christmas 2026?

Canada Post says it is closed on national, provincial and territorial holidays, with no collection or delivery of mail on those days. Its 2026 schedule lists these:

Date	Day	Holiday
Dec. 25	Friday	Christmas Day
Dec. 28	Monday	Boxing Day (observed)
Jan. 1, 2027	Friday	New Year’s Day

Canada Post’s holiday schedule page does not give hours for Dec. 24 or Dec. 31 in the table we used, so check your local post office. For the date itself, see when Christmas Day falls and when Christmas Eve falls. Mailing to Britain? Our UK Christmas bank holidays story covers the December 28 substitute day there, and the Canada holidays calendar lists the other days off. For 2027 dates, see Canada’s statutory holidays.

Free printable send-by checklist

The one-page printable lists the same dates sorted earliest to latest, with Christmas Day and Boxing Day closures at the bottom and a Done column to tick. An ink-saver version is included. Our USPS holiday shipping deadlines cover the American side if you are shipping within the United States.