Canada Post Duties-Prepaid Labels Available Starting August 28, 2025
Beginning August 28, 2025, international shipments from Canada to the U.S. using Canada Post must comply with Delivered Duties Paid (DDP) requirements. This significant change means that merchants must prepay duties instead of having customers pay them upon delivery.
To simplify this process, Shopify has partnered with Canada Post and Zonos to implement duty pre-collection for all Canada Post shipments to the U.S.
What This Means for Your Business
- Canada Post shipments to the U.S. will only be accepted if duties are prepaid (DDP). DDU (Delivered Duties Unpaid) shipments to the U.S. will be blocked at label creation.
- Merchants need to activate Shopify duty calculations to purchase duties-prepaid labels through Shopify Shipping.
- Failing to make these adjustments will result in blocked Canada Post labels for shipping to the U.S.
Required Actions Before August 28, 2025
To continue using Canada Post to ship from Canada to the U.S., you must complete the following steps:
Enable Duty Collection
- Navigate to Settings > Taxes > Duties in your Shopify admin and enable duty collection for the United States market.
Update Product Information
- Use Shopify's bulk editor to add HS codes and the Country of Origin to all products in your catalog.
Modify Duties Display Settings
- Go to Markets, select the United States, and adjust your duties display settings. You can either show import taxes and duties as a separate line at checkout or include them in your product prices. If you choose the latter, review your U.S. pricing strategy to ensure profitability.
Review Shipping Rates
- Ensure your U.S. shipping zone includes rates that account for DDP carriers, ensuring you collect enough from customers to cover your shipping strategy.
Coordinate with Fulfillment Partners
- If you work with an external fulfillment provider in Canada, confirm that they can generate Canada Post DDP labels. If not, consider purchasing shipping labels directly through Shopify.
Alternative Carriers
If you prefer to maintain DDU shipping, consider using commercial carriers such as DHL Express or Purolator, both available via Shopify Shipping.
For more details on shipping to the U.S. with Canada Post, visit the Shopify Help Center.