On Tuesday, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced it would begin offering UPS Standard Service in major Canadian cities on the weekends.
The service would mean Saturday residential delivery in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) now, which would expand to Montreal, Laval, Calgary and Greater Vancouver in March. The service will come at no extra cost, officials said, and will provide businesses to reliably deliver packages to customers on the weekend.
“Canadian and U.S. businesses have a great new way to create growth by serving customers with our Saturday residential delivery service,” UPS Canada President Stephanie Dexter said. “UPS is helping businesses meet customer expectations for timely, convenient deliveries. We are excited to help them grow and compete in today’s market.”
The announcement makes UPS the first global small package carrier in Canada to commit to weekend ground delivery to residential customers from the United States and within Canada at no additional cost. Once fully implemented, the majority of Canadian addresses in metropolitan areas will be eligible for Saturday deliveries.
Officials said Saturday residential delivery in an important growth differentiator for the company, and will attract consumers who want their deliveries on a Saturday instead of the following Monday. A recent poll showed that more than half of Canadians (51 percent) expect online purchases to be delivered within 1 to 2 days, even over the weekend. The same pool, by Angus Reid Canadian, found that 74 percent of Canadian want delivery services to operate on the weekend, as well as during the week.