Comments on: You're moving WHERE?

Question: You're moving WHERE?

Tomatillo — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:19:55 -0800

Does anyone know a cheap and mostly reliable way to ship things across Canada? I'm about to move from Toronto to Regina, and want to be able to send some boxes (clothes, books, kitchen stuff etc.) ahead. My fella's already there, so I don't have to worry about pickup/storage.

By: smcniven

smcniven — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:25:29 -0800

Greyhound. Or a reputable moving company. My paper (Ottawa Citizen) ran an few articles back in the spring about a woman who had hired a cheap company and never got her stuff delivered.

By: acoutu

acoutu — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:25:34 -0800

Try the bus -- e.g. Greyhound Courier Express. Your guy would need to go to the bus depot, though.

I used Canada Post when I moved from Ottawa to Vancouver after a co-op term. It cost me about $12 a box. I'm sure it's a bit higher now, given fuel charges, but you might still want to check them out. You can calculate parcel weights on their site.

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:34:41 -0800

Canada post, surface is great. For that matter, US post is also highly under-rated.

By: phearlez

phearlez — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:30:48 -0800

I concur with PP on the US Post, at least. Dunno if Canada has something similar but when I moved the USPS's media mail service was a godsend. Books are damned heavy and getting the PO to handle all mine for so little was very rewarding for me, if not for my carrier's back.

By: winston

winston — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:07:08 -0800

You can get Greyhound to deliver to the door for a little extra. Probably still cheaper than any other method.

CP doesn't have media mail, BTW.

By: acoutu

acoutu — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:39:33 -0800

What is media mail?

By: andendau

andendau — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:57:09 -0800

From here
This classification of mail is a less expensive, but non-expedited, way to send books, printed matter, audio recordings, and other media mail. Delivery standards are 5-8 business days.

Cheap and gets there when it gets there. I use it all the time for sending/receiving textbooks.

By: clord

clord — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:43:44 -0800

Another option is the train. Via rail has "VIAPAQ"

By: mcwetboy

mcwetboy — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 16:28:19 -0800

Except that Via doesn't go to Regina. I've used Greyhound successfully (Edmonton to Ottawa).

By: dobbs

dobbs — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 20:31:12 -0800

Get a Venture One card (they're free, just lie and say that you own a company). With it, you can ship as quick as Xpress Post for half the cost. So, it's insured, fast, and pretty cheap.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 20:34:03 -0800

Oh, the shipping is called Expedited (only available with the card). Here's info on the VentureOne card.