Canada Post
Pick up your prescription, post your parcel, and snag a bathmat.
On the surface, Canada and the United States are “the same.” But upon closer inspection, a myriad of differences appear. One such example is the postal system. As someone who loves to send (and receive) “snail mail,” I probably go to the post office more than most people.
In the United States, it was always a hassle to get to the post office – the post office in my town was only open from 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday (which is of course when many people are at work), and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.
Despite my best attempts to go there on “off hours,” there was inevitably a long line of people ahead of me. I could skip that line by using the self-service stamp machine which is – out of service. Again. After waiting in line, I was treated to deadpan service and inevitably reprimanded by the staff for doing something incorrectly in my labeling or packaging of the item.
Not long after I moved to Canada, I needed to post a document. I searched on Google maps for the closest post office, and saw it was a short walk away on the main street. I was surprised, as I hadn’t noticed a post office there before. I set off, arrived at the spot on the map, and saw – a drug store. No post office in sight. It took me a moment to figure out that the “Canada Post” was inside the drug store – all the way at the back.
It turns out that most “post offices” in Montréal are not stand-alone offices but rather “postal outlets” inside retail stores. So far I have seen them only inside Jean Coutu and Pharmaprix (two drug store chains), but it seems that any retailer can apply with Canada Post to become an authorized retail partner.
From a consumer perspective, I prefer the Canadian system, because the opening hours of the post office are much more convenient – the one near me is open 9am to 8pm Monday through Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturday. So it’s much easier to go to the post office after work, while also picking up other items from the drug store/pharmacy.
Interestingly, even though the post “office” is open on Saturday, post in Canada is only delivered Monday through Friday.
