Lettermail Stamp Cost

[schtupinator2011]

Just trying to confirm how much postage do I attach to regular lettermail.

$1.24 or $1.44? Thanks. 

[brettjet38]

Buy a single P Stamp @ the post office & it's a $1.44

Buy a pack of P Stamps it's $1.24 per stamp.

Use discount postage it's $1.44 

[schtupinator2011]

So if I put a P stamp on an envelope does it count as $1.24 or #1.44? Thanks. 

[brettjet38 · Accepted solution]

A P stamp value is the value of a regular stamp $1.44

The "P" stamp on a Canadian stamp indicates that it is a permanent stamp, and its value is based on the current domestic postage rate. You can use a "P" stamp at any time, even if postage rates increase. 

Explanation

• "P" stamps are always valid for postage, regardless of when or for how much they were purchased. 
• You can use a "P" stamp to mail a letter that weighs up to 30 grams anywhere in Canada. 
• If you need to mail a letter that weighs more than 30 grams, you can attach multiple "P" stamps or other stamps that add up to the correct postage. 
• "P" stamps are identified by the letter "P" instead of a value. 

Canada Post proposed new postage rates for 2025 that would increase the price of a single stamp for a domestic letter from $1.15 to $1.44. These new rates took effect on January 13, 2025. 

[schtupinator2011]

Thanks for your help.

[ricarmic]

@schtupinator2011 

A "P" stamp is currently worth $1.24

$1.44 is the cost if you purchase 1 stamp over the counter at the post office, it has $1.44 on it. (the extra costs covers the cost of the postal clerk having to intervene and sell/stick the stamp on the envelope)

If you purchase a book of 10 "P" stamps they cost $12.40 plus tax.

So if you are using multiple stamps for a package the "p" stamps currently are worth $1.24 each. (The value of them changes as the standard rate changes, before January 13 the value of a "P" stamp was 99c, after that the value of the same stamp changed to $1.24 even if you only paid 99c for it as many of us did by stockpiling some before the rate change).

PS if you use discount postage, (this is the never ending conversation), it is supposed to only be $1.24, but many folks in/outside Canada Post are confused about that and the risk you run by putting $1.24 on is that some folks in the postal system think its supposed to be $1.44 and will send it back as postage owing. Generally it is safest (and what I do) to use a "P" stamp on regular letters to avoid the risk of them coming back.

[dinomitesales]

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@brettjet38 wrote:

A P stamp value is the value of a regular stamp $1.44

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This is not correct. A 'P' (or 'Permanent') stamp is always worth the current Lettermail rate: at the moment, that is $1.24.

$1.44 is the "single stamp rate" that you will pay for a stamp if you only need one (or less than a book's worth). Consider it a surcharge or 'convenience fee' for only needing a single stamp.

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@brettjet38 wrote:

Buy a single P Stamp @ the post office & it's a $1.44

Buy a pack of P Stamps it's $1.24 per stamp.

Use discount postage it's $1.44 

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It's impossible to buy a "single P Stamp", they aren't sold outside of books/panes/coils. When you buy a "single stamp" (or less than a book's worth) you're paying $1.44 per stamp and are given a stamp with a denomination of $1.44.

When using loose or discount postage it only needs to add up to the Lettermail rate ($1.24) not the "Single Stamp" rate ($1.44).

@schtupinator2011 hopefully you come back and read these additional comments. The comment you marked as the "answer" of this post is incorrect.

[brettjet38]

The information provided was taken from the Canada Post Website.

According to current Canada Post rates, a standard letter weighing up to 30 grams would require one "permanent" stamp costing $1.44 if bought individually, or $1.24 if purchased in a booklet, which is considered the discounted option for a single letter in Canada. 

Key points about Canadian postage:

• Standard letter weight: Up to 30 grams
• Discounted price per stamp: $1.24 when bought in a booklet
• Single stamp price: $1.44 

NOTICE the use of the word "DISCOUNTED price per stamp"  discounted not REGULAR

Pricing

Print this page

You may apply standard postage rates by using a combination of stamps totaling the required value indicated in the tables below or pay the exact cost by going in to the post office.

Standard Lettermail prices (consumer)

Weight

Single stamp or stamps     / Stamps in booklets/coils/panes

0 g up to 30 g

Over 30 g up to 50 g        

$1.44	$1.24
$1.75	$1.75

[dinomitesales]

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@brettjet38 wrote:

The information provided was taken from the Canada Post Website.

According to current Canada Post rates, a standard letter weighing up to 30 grams would require one "permanent" stamp costing $1.44 if bought individually, or $1.24 if purchased in a booklet, which is considered the discounted option for a single letter in Canada. 

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Post the link to the page where you copied and pasted that from, please.

There is nowhere on the Canada Post website where it says that a Permanent stamp costs $1.44, because it isn't true. That is the "Single Stamp" rate.

[brettjet38]

My best friend is a Canada Post Supervisor you are incorrect.

[dinomitesales]

Lol, okay, so your "best friend" doesn't even know the rules.

Ask your best friend why their line of thinking goes directly against the official notices sent out by Canada Post, of which I've posted below. These are also set out in the Retail Operations Manual/Corporate Manual System available to all employees via Infopost (speciically Chapter 1610.04: "Unpaid and Shortpaid Mail in a Post Office"). These are sent to all post offices and staff as reminders any time there is a postage rate increase; I've worked for them for nearly a decade now. I'll admit the wording on the website can be ambiguous, but if you have a question about the verbiage on a specific page of the Canada Post website, feel free to link it and I can explain it to you.

Here are the relevant pages of the most recent Rate Action guidelines sent out to all post offices in advance of the January 13th rate increase (click to enlarge):

[ricarmic]

I'm sorry but @brettjet38 you are incorrect. If the single stamp referenced above is used, you paid $1.44 for it and it does not have "P" on it, it has $1.44. We can't buy the $1.44 as stamps ourselves unless we buy them as collectibles. The over the counter verion the PM puts them on the letter for us.

This is what they look like (sold as a strip of 10 for collectors):

https://store.canadapost-postescanada.ca/store-boutique/en/401425119/p/from-far-and-wide-part-4-sing... 

[brettjet38]

@dinomitesales "I'll admit the wording on the website can be ambiguous"

Ambiguous is an understatement, it makes more sense on the internal documents you made a copy of, thanks, which BTW I doubt many of the workers in the Pharmaprix or Jean Coutu bother to read.

Thanks for the pages, I rarely use stamps anymore but whenever I go to the post office they just stick a P stamp on the envelope not even a $1.44 one, will have to look at that the next time I go there...

And I like how the website presents them as being "discounted" when purchased in booklets/rolls on the website. 

[brettjet38]

I have never seen those stamps used on anything I sent from the post office, the last time I went my local Pharmaprix Post Office just stuck a P stamp from the roll on the letter and charged me $1.44.

[dinomitesales]

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@brettjet38 wrote:

Thanks for the pages, I rarely use stamps anymore but whenever I go to the post office they just stick a P stamp on the envelope not even a $1.44 one, will have to look at that the next time I go there...

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I find it very hard to believe they are actually doing this. The $1.44 stamps and the 'P' stamps from the most recent "Far and Wide" set (the Canadian landscapes ones that are on the current Permanent rolls and the most common domestic booklet) can look similar from a distance (they're both colorful and the same size, and they both come on a roll), so it's possible you're just thinking they're putting a Permanent stamp on the letter when it's actually a $1.44 "single stamp". There is no way to separate a booklet or coil of Permanent stamps for individual sale.

If they are in fact doing this, then they should be reported to Canada Post immediately, as they're essentially charging you $1.44 for a $1.24 stamp and then pocketing the 20 cents. I've never seen a post office so ignorant of the rules (it's literally the first thing a new clerk would be trained to do).

[brettjet38]

As a sidebar, many of the Supervisors at Canada Post are too distracted to keep up with half the nonsense of the Corporation they are too busy trying to hold onto their jobs, my friend is in one of the depots in Montreal.

The gossip on the inside is they are trying to sell off the parcel delivery to private industry and then they will use part-time "Gig" workers for weekend deliveries to compete with the likes of Amazon and all the other couriers.

Canada Post is already pushing their deliveries into the evening they want to deliver up to 9 pm, but the posties are not happy, they hate starting later in the day...

...this whole Canada Post issue is far from over, they are already talking about the month of MAY!! 

[flipistics]

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@brettjet38 wrote:

Canada Post is already pushing their deliveries into the evening they want to deliver up to 9 pm, but the posties are not happy, they hate starting later in the day...

...this whole Canada Post issue is far from over, they are already talking about the month of MAY!! 

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Last time I think it caught everyone by surprise (including the union) that the government let it go as long as they did.  This time everyone should have backup plans in place. I know I do.  Combined with the Trump tax it's still going to be another hard hit for small businesses though.

[brettjet38]

They keep the roll of stamps on the counter and use them as needed one roll next to each open cash, they use P stamps, I can even buy them individually and walk away with the stamp in hand.

I stuck it on the envelope myself and put it in the mailbox that's how I knew it was a P stamp and not the $1.44 stamp.

The other day I took prepaid packages to another Uniprix Canada Post counter and the girl could not even figure out how to validate the package into the system, I had to look at her screen and explain that she needed to enter the destination country and the postal/code in order to get my receipt, the customers behind me were mouths wide open...

Here in Montreal, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to get workers for these jobs, not the most illuminated people to deal with, nor the most speedy.

[fh991586]

Q3 on the 3rd pic [page¸13/16] is the clearest information as to what is the individual value of a P stamp I've ever seen!

"P stamps used on parcels are worth $1.24."

That settles the debate once for all.

[dinomitesales]

It's also very clearly stated in Canada Post's available service/price guides, that are publicly available from the wesbite. 

See here for example (Page 12, bottom):

"The Permanent™ stamp is a non-denominated stamp with a postage value of $1.24."