How much is a stamp in Canada?

The PERMANENT stamp and the single-stamp price

Canada Post sells the stamp for an ordinary letter within Canada at two prices, and which one you pay depends on how you buy it: a standard letter up to 30 g costs $1.44 with a single stamp but $1.24 per stamp when you buy stamps in booklets, coils or panes; from 30 g to 50 g the price is $1.75 either way. A coil is a roll of stamps and a pane is a small sheet, so the lower price is what you pay with a booklet of ten PERMANENT stamps for $12.40 or a coil of 100 for $124.00, while the higher one is meant for a single letter posted at the counter. Check that a coil shows the letter P, though, because Canada Post's shop says the $1.44 single-rate stamp is sold individually at post offices for a single mailing within Canada, and also sells it in a coil of 50 for $72, at the higher price per stamp.

The booklet and coil stamps are PERMANENT stamps, and the name is the point of them, because Canada Post says PERMANENT stamps are marked with the letter P instead of a value and are always accepted at the current domestic postage rate, so you can use one at any time, even after rates have increased. A P stamp you buy now will still mail a standard letter after the next increase, so stocking up costs you nothing extra. As of November 9, 2026, Canada Post itself has not announced new prices or a date, but the federal government's Budget 2026 (November 2026) proposes raising Canada Post's stamp rates beginning in 2027, to $2.00 for single stamps and by 7% per year continuously; it gives no date in 2027 and no price for stamps bought in booklets, coils or panes. Until a new price takes effect, the table above applies.

Standard or oversized: what your envelope pays

Canada Post sorts letters into two size classes, and the line between them decides whether one stamp is enough. The cheaper class, Standard Lettermail, is the one the two stamp prices above pay for, and it takes envelopes, cards and postcards up to 245 × 156 mm, 5 mm thick, 50 g; up to 30 g: $1.24 per stamp in booklets, coils or panes (one PERMANENT stamp), $1.44 as a single stamp. Anything bigger, thicker or heavier than that goes as Other (non-standard and oversize) Lettermail, which is for mail that is larger or thicker than standard, up to 380 × 270 mm, 20 mm thick, 500 g; heavier items go as parcels. Seal every card and include the postal code, too, because envelopes must be sealed: unsealed items such as brochures, fanfolds and newsletters, and items with a missing or incorrect postal code, must be paid at the Other (non-standard and oversize) Lettermail prices.

Most everyday envelopes are standard: a #10 business envelope, a 5×7 card in an A7 envelope and even a 6×9 envelope all fit inside the standard length and width, so unless a ribbon or other bulky decoration makes them too thick, what sets their price is weight. Weight is hard to judge by eye, so Canada Post gives a rough rule for paper: as a general guideline only, Canada Post puts up to 5 sheets of paper at 30 g, 9 sheets at 50 g, 20 sheets at 100 g and 100 sheets at 500 g, and says actual weight varies with paper type, size and envelope thickness. By that rule a two-page letter in a #10 envelope takes one PERMANENT stamp, while seven sheets in the same envelope land in the second step at $1.75.

A 9×12 envelope, the one for sending documents flat, is too long to be standard, so it pays the oversized rate however little is inside. A dozen sheets in it stay in the first oversized step at $2.61, which one oversized rate stamp covers. The big envelope weighs more than a #10, though, so it reaches $4.29 a few sheets earlier than Canada Post's paper guideline suggests, and you should weigh it if you're close. Square envelopes need their own check, because Canada Post's consumer price guide says standard square envelopes are acceptable, from 140 × 140 mm up to 156 × 156 mm and 5 mm thick, so a card in a 6-inch square envelope goes as a standard letter but a 7-inch square pays the oversized rate, as the page on square envelope sizes explains.

Getting the postage wrong costs more than the stamp you saved, since Canada Post's consumer price guide lists a Deficient Postage Fee of $1.24 plus the amount of postage that is missing. In the calculator above, choose the envelope and the number of sheets, or type in a weight, to see the size class, the price and the stamps to use. It can't judge thickness, sealing or contents, so check those yourself, and see how many stamps you need for combining stamps on heavier mail.

Letters and cards to the U.S. and other countries

Mail that leaves Canada needs different stamps: one kind for the United States and one for everywhere else. A standard letter or card in the lightest weight step takes a U.S. rate stamp at $1.75 (a booklet of six costs $10.50) or, to any other country, an international rate stamp at $3.65 ($21.90 for six). Standard letters abroad have the same size and weight limits as at home, and a heavier one in the second step costs $2.61 to the U.S. or $5.21 elsewhere. Anything larger, thicker or heavier than 50 g pays the oversized rate, which starts at $4.29 to the U.S. and $8.60 to other countries.

Cards need one more check, because the size limit is tighter once a card crosses the border: cards and postcards to the U.S. or other countries can be at most 235 × 120 mm to pay the standard price, while within Canada the standard maximum is 245 × 156 mm. Canada Post's size rules for mail abroad list envelopes and cards as separate categories, but they don't say which one a greeting card in a sealed envelope falls under. Judged as an envelope, a 5×7 card in an A7 envelope weighs about 25 g and takes one international rate stamp at $3.65 to the U.K.; because that envelope is wider than the card limit, check at the post office before you stamp a whole batch. Judged the same way, a 7-inch square invitation to the U.S. is too wide to be standard and costs $4.29 as an oversized letter, while a 6-inch square still goes at the standard price because Canada Post doesn't charge extra on stamped letters that miss its length-to-width rules but stay within the standard maximum size.

Canada Post calls letters to the U.S. and abroad Letter-post, and its rules add a marking you don't need at home, since Canada Post's Letter-post format requirements say envelopes to the U.S. and other countries must be rectangular and sealed and must bear the words AIR MAIL or PAR AVION printed in block letters on a black or blue label. Leave more time as well: Canada Post gives a delivery standard of 4 to 6 business days for letters to the U.S. and 4 to 7 business days to other countries, and says these standards are not guaranteed, and at the moment Canada Post warns of possible delays for letters and parcels to the U.S., because duties on postal shipments must now be assessed and collected before packages are accepted. If you're comparing with mail sent the other way, our page on US stamp prices covers the USPS side.

Registered Mail within Canada and abroad

Registered Mail is for a letter you need to prove was delivered, such as a signed contract or a formal notice. Within Canada the terms are simple, since Registered Mail within Canada includes a signature on delivery, tracking and $100 of liability coverage, and costs $13.15 on top of the postage; it is sold at post offices. Liability coverage is the most Canada Post will pay if you make a claim. For a standard letter carrying one PERMANENT stamp, postage and fee together come to $14.39, and a paper copy of the recipient's signature, requested after mailing, costs $7.25.

Abroad the rules split, because Canada Post gives no separate Registered Mail fee for the U.S., where pricing varies within its Xpresspost – USA service, so for a U.S. letter that needs a signature, ask for the price at the post office. To any other country, a standard letter of up to 30 g sent by Registered Mail costs $29.90 in total, or $31.46 from 30 g to 50 g.

Christmas cards: mail-by dates and address labels

Canada Post publishes recommended mail-by dates for holiday cards, and they depend on how far the card travels. Within Canada it suggests posting by December 22, 2026 for local mail, December 21, 2026 within your region and December 18, 2026 across the country; those dates assume mail between major urban centres, so a card to or from a smaller place is safer sent a little earlier. Cards to the United States should go by December 11, 2026. For other countries, find the destination in this table, and where a country has its own line, use that date rather than the one for its region. Cards to the Middle East deserve extra margin, because Canada Post warns that mail to and from the Middle East may be delayed by airspace restrictions and cancelled flights, which can also affect some other destinations, including Europe.

If your card list runs to dozens of names, printing the addresses is quicker than writing them by hand. The button on this page opens a Letter-size sheet of address labels in OpenLabelMaker's label editor, which runs in the browser with nothing to install. With a free account you can use mail merge to import your list from Excel, a CSV file or a Google Sheets export and print one label per address, as explained in printing address labels from a spreadsheet. OpenLabelMaker prints addresses, not postage, so every card still needs its stamp.