It's that time of year when Canadians start thinking about sending that special someone a gift through the mail. "Annually we process about 1.6 billion pieces of mail, that includes parcels," says Sandra Sobko from Canada Post. That's just Canada Post. Private courier companies, such as Greyhound, also do a brisk business. "We've done this a number of years. It's something that we're used to doing," says Ivan Wannamaker from Greyhound Courier Express. When it comes to shipping a parcel, there are several companies to choose from, but which one is the best for your budget? We sent a five pound parcel to three different locations to find the lowest shipping cost. As well as Canada Post and Greyhound, we looked at the shipping rates for UPS, Canpar and Fedex.

Here's the breakdown for regular parcel service. Canpar offered the lowest rates for our five pound package, starting at seven dollars and eleven cents to send it to Edmonton. It was also the cheapest to send that same package to Toronto and New York. New GFX Fedex and Canada Post offered very similar rates, starting at around nine dollars to Edmonton, and just under $20 to New York. Greyhound and UPS charge the most, starting at $14 and $18 respectively just to get to Edmonton. "We do business seven days a week. Our facility here in Calgary is open from seven to seven, seven days a week, right up until Christmas. So that is an advantage that we have," Wannamaker from Greyhound.

Canada Post says one of its advantages is the number of retail outlets, where you can either pick-up or send a parcel. "Canada Post has 23 thousand outlets in Canada. That's a lot. So really, there's a postal outlet close to where you live or work," says Sobko. Although, you don't necessarily need a retail outlet, you can also ship your parcel online.