How the shared-cost postcard model works with Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail, from format limits to deposit
The shared-cost mailer model is simple: you sell ad spots on one large card to a group of local businesses, mail it to every home in a chosen area, and each advertiser pays a fraction of what a solo mailing would cost.
In the United States that runs on a USPS service called EDDM. In Canada, the equivalent is Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail, and it fits this business unusually well — Canada Post is one of the few postal services that formally recognises “co-op mailings” as a category.
Everything below is drawn from Canada Post’s Smartmail Marketing Customer Guide (version 1.0, effective 23 March 2026). Canada Post amends it regularly, so confirm current rules before your first campaign, and call the Commercial Service Network on 1-866-757-5480 if anything is unclear.
First: Will Your Card Fit?
This is where Canadian agencies need to pay attention, because the limits are tighter than in the US and one popular format is ruled out entirely.
On letter carrier routes, Neighbourhood Mail has two categories:
| Category | Max length | Max width | Max thickness | Max weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 30.50cm (12 in.) | 15.24cm (6 in.) | 2.54cm (1 in.) | 500g |
| Oversize | 30.50cm (12 in.) | 28.00cm (11 in.) | 2.54cm (1 in.) | 500g |
Measured against the common co-op layouts:
| Format | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 9x12 | 12 in. × 9 in. | Qualifies as Oversize — but sits exactly on the 12 in. length limit |
| 6.5x12 | 12 in. × 6.5 in. | Qualifies as Oversize (width exceeds the 6 in. Standard cap) |
| Jumbo 12x15 | 15 in. × 12 in. | Does not fit — 15 in. exceeds the 12 in. length limit |
Watch your trim. A 9x12 card is 12 inches on its long edge, and the Neighbourhood Mail maximum is 12 inches. There is effectively no tolerance. Tell your printer the finished size is a hard ceiling, not a target, and check a sample with a ruler before the full run.
Rural routes are more forgiving. For non-letter carrier routes there are no minimum dimensions, and the maximums rise to 35.56cm (14 in.) long, 28.00cm (11 in.) wide, 3.81cm (1.5 in.) thick and 1,000g.
The 50 gram rule
This one catches people out. You may not deposit any Neighbourhood Mail item weighing over 50g without Canada Post’s prior authorisation, because of limited network capacity. Canada Post can take up to 25 business days to respond, and can refuse or impose constraints.
The good news is that a normal card is nowhere near it. A 9x12 card on heavy 350gsm stock works out to roughly 24g. You have real headroom — but if you are considering a thick stock, a folded piece, or anything with an insert, do the arithmetic before you plan your schedule around it.
Canada Post Explicitly Recognises Co-op Mailings
Most postal services simply require every item in a lodgement to be identical, and a co-op card happens to satisfy that. Canada Post goes further and defines the category directly:
A co-op mailing is promotional content from two or more organizations, typically printed as booklets, cards or enclosed in an envelope.
Co-op mailings must not be catalogues, directories, newsletters, calendars or community newspapers. A shared advertising card is squarely inside the definition.
One caveat you must read before building a business on this. Canada Post also reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to refuse any co-op mailing that does not meet its criteria — including, in its own words, a mailing by a customer “primarily engaged in the reselling of the co-op item, rather than promoting its own products or services.”
An agency whose entire product is selling ad spots on a shared card should not assume this clause will never be applied to them. It is not a prohibition, and co-op mailings are plainly permitted, but the discretion is real and it is written down. Call the Commercial Service Network, describe your model plainly, and get their read before you sell your first campaign. Far better to have that conversation early than after ten advertisers have paid.
Step 1: Choose Your Coverage
The minimum is geographic rather than a quantity, which is good news if you are starting small. You need either:
- the complete distribution of one route, or
- the complete distribution to only residences, apartments, farms, businesses, or any combination, on a given route.
When you mail to more than one route, less than full coverage of a given route is allowed — those items are delivered in no particular order until depleted.
Canada Post’s targeting tools let you select cities, neighbourhoods and postal codes, and filter by building type (house or apartment), age and household income. For a shared card, full coverage of a defined neighbourhood is usually the cleanest thing to sell: every advertiser knows the whole area is covered.
Note the Consumers’ Choice feature — households can opt out of receiving unaddressed admail. Quote your coverage honestly and nobody is surprised later.
Step 2: Design to the Canadian Rules
The creative requirements differ from the US in ways that will trip you up if you reuse a US template unchanged.
- No postal indicia. This is the opposite of USPS EDDM. There are no postal indicia for Neighbourhood Mail, and indicia markings are not acceptable on the item, with narrow exceptions for Business Reply Mail and certain Publications Mail. If your template has an EDDM indicia block, remove it.
- Customer identification is required. Canada Post requires the customer’s name — the advertiser, the agreement owner, an authorised user, or the “mailed on behalf of” / “mailed by” party — to be visible on the outside of the item. Your agency’s name on the card satisfies this and is good branding anyway.
- No destination address, but you may use wording such as “HOUSEHOLDER”, “OCCUPANT”, “RESIDENT” or “BUSINESS OWNER”. A business location address may appear on the item, just not formatted as an address block.
- Paper only from 1 June 2026. Items must be paper and cannot be wrapped in plastic.
- Minimum paper weight for a card or postcard is 135gsm. For a large co-op card you will want considerably heavier than the minimum anyway.
Everything else — collecting advertiser artwork, bleed, CMYK, 300 DPI, print-ready PDFs — is the same everywhere, and our design and print guide covers it in full.
Step 3: Print Locally
The US printers most co-op guides recommend are built around USPS EDDM sizes, and shipping thousands of cards across the border will erase any saving. Use a Canadian commercial printer and give them three things: your exact finished size, the fact that 12 inches is a hard maximum on the long edge, and your target weight per piece.
Ask whether they can bundle for you — it saves hours of manual work before deposit.
Step 4: Create Your Order and Deposit
Neighbourhood Mail runs on an Order created in Canada Post’s electronic shipping tools, which produces the paperwork you deposit against. You will need a customer number and an agreement in place before your first mailing, so set that up well ahead of your first sale.
At deposit you bring your mail, prepared and bundled per your Order, to the deposit location Canada Post specifies. Payment terms depend on your agreement.
Step 5: Plan Your Timeline Honestly
Neighbourhood Mail delivery standards combine a transportation time and a delivery cycle:
| Destination | Transportation time |
|---|---|
| Major urban centres | 2–7 business days |
| Non-major urban centres | 2–9 business days |
| Northern / remote centres | 2–13 business days |
On top of that sits a delivery cycle based on thickness and weight — for example up to 3 days at 19mm / 200g, and up to 4 days at 25mm / 300g. Delivery standards are estimates and are not guaranteed.
The practical consequence: sell a delivery window, never a delivery date. Tell advertisers the card lands in a given week or fortnight and make sure their tracking — QR code, dedicated number, coupon code — is live before the window opens. Our guide to measuring campaign success covers how to set that up.
A “Specified delivery start date” option is available if you need more control.
Canada vs the United States at a Glance
| United States (USPS EDDM) | Canada (Canada Post) | |
|---|---|---|
| Service name | Every Door Direct Mail | Neighbourhood Mail |
| Max size | Accommodates 9x12 and larger jumbo formats | 12 in. long, 11 in. wide (Oversize, letter carrier routes) |
| Indicia | Required, with fixed placement | Not permitted |
| Sender identification | Not required on the face | Customer name must be visible on the outside |
| Minimum | Full carrier route | Full route, or a full address-type segment of one |
| Heavy items | Priced by weight | Over 50g needs pre-authorisation |
Running a Canadian Agency on the 9x12 CRM
The 9x12 Agency CRM works for agencies outside the United States:
- Campaigns and ad spot pricing in Canadian dollars
- Your own white-labelled agency website and booking page
- Layout presets with ad slot sizes you control
- Canva ad templates for premium users, resizable to any dimensions
- Online booking and payment, so advertisers pay before you print
→ Try it free at crm.9x12agency.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I mail a 9x12 card in Canada? Yes, as an Oversize Neighbourhood Mail item on letter carrier routes — but its 12 inch long edge sits exactly on the maximum, so control your trim carefully.
What about the Jumbo 12x15? No. At 15 inches long it exceeds the 12 inch limit on letter carrier routes, and the 14 inch limit on non-letter carrier routes.
Do I need a mailing list? No. Neighbourhood Mail items are unaddressed by definition.
Does this work in other countries? Yes. See our guides for Australia Post Unaddressed Mail and Royal Mail Door to Door — note the UK will not take a 9x12 card flat.
How small can I start? One complete route, or a full address-type segment of one route. There is no minimum piece count.
Do I need to worry about the 50g rule? Only if your piece is unusually heavy. A 9x12 card on 350gsm stock is around 24g. Anything over 50g needs Canada Post’s pre-authorisation, which can take up to 25 business days.
Is the co-op model definitely allowed? Co-op mailings are an explicitly recognised category, but Canada Post reserves discretion to refuse a mailing from a customer primarily reselling the co-op item rather than promoting its own products. Confirm your specific model with the Commercial Service Network before you start selling.
Ready to run campaigns like a real agency? Start free at crm.9x12agency.com, or read the free course starting with why this business model works.
Next read: how to sell ad spots to local businesses · what to charge advertisers
