You're moving WHERE?

September 15, 2005 11:19 AM

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.

posted by Tomatillo to Travel & Transportation around Canada (11 answers total)

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.
posted by smcniven at 11:25 AM on September 15, 2005

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.
posted by acoutu at 11:25 AM on September 15, 2005

Canada post, surface is great. For that matter, US post is also highly under-rated.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 11:34 AM on September 15, 2005

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.
posted by phearlez at 12:30 PM on September 15, 2005

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.
posted by winston at 1:07 PM on September 15, 2005

What is media mail?
posted by acoutu at 1:39 PM on September 15, 2005

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.
posted by andendau at 1:57 PM on September 15, 2005

Another option is the train. Via rail has "VIAPAQ"
posted by clord at 2:43 PM on September 15, 2005

Except that Via doesn't go to Regina. I've used Greyhound successfully (Edmonton to Ottawa).
posted by mcwetboy at 4:28 PM on September 15, 2005

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.
posted by dobbs at 8:31 PM on September 15, 2005

Oh, the shipping is called Expedited (only available with the card). Here's info on the VentureOne card.
posted by dobbs at 8:34 PM on September 15, 2005