Last update on October 10th, 2023 at 12:03 pm
Think of how your regular email services work; you receive emails from anywhere worldwide regardless of your location and can instantly take necessary actions. Virtual mailboxes are like cloud-based management services for physical mailboxes.
With a physical mailbox that you can manage online, you have the flexibility to receive and attend to your mail from anywhere in the world. Also, because virtual addresses will usually not be traceable, they offer you reasonable anonymity and security.
By the end of this article, you will better grasp what virtual mailboxes are, how they work, and information on the best virtual mailbox services in Canada.
Best Virtual Mailbox Services in Canada
- Anytime Mailbox
- iPostal1
- PostScan Mail
- Canadian Address
- eSnail.ca
Several factors determine the quality of virtual mailbox services, the most important of which include location coverage, pricing, use of third-party partners, and the speed of delivery. Below are five of the best virtual mailbox service companies in Canada.
#1) Anytime Mailbox
Anytime Mailbox is one of the world’s leading virtual mail companies, and it has hundreds of locations in the United States and other international locations, including 20 real street addresses in Canada, specifically Alberta (3), British Columbia(2), Ontario (10), and Quebec (5).
Since it uses a real street address, customers can use it remotely to manage post mail and serve as a business address. In addition, they offer a safe and easy way to handle your postal mail online.
Anytime Mailbox Pricing
Pricing arrangement varies by location as listed below:
- Alberta: Pricing starts from C$17.99/month across Calgary and Cochrane
- British Columbia: Kelowna (starts from C$10.99) and Vancouver (starts from C$9.99)
- Ontario: Prices start from between C$8.99 to C$20.00 across Acton, Brampton, Etobicoke, Hamilton, Mississauga, North York, Ottawa, Thornhill, Toronto (Dundas Street, Roehampton)
- Quebec: Brossard (C$20.00), Laval (C$20.00), Montreal – Queen Mary Road (C$20.00), Montreal – Rue Saint-Denis (C$24.99), Montreal – Rue Saint-Catherine (C$20.00)
Pros
- Virtual mail client mobile application
- Real street addresses
- Global Network
- Free and Unlimited cloud storage
Cons
- Accepts only credit card payment
#2) iPostal1
iPostal1 is one of the largest international virtual mail companies, with over 2300 real street addresses in the United States and other international addresses. They offer various virtual mail options, including mail scanning, mail forwarding, virtual business addresses, virtual office service, and mail shredding.
iPostal1 offers Canadian street addresses in 5 cities, including (Calgary, Cochrane, Oakville, Ottawa, and Vancouver).
They also offer a check deposit service. iPostal1 will deposit your check directly into your bank account no matter where you are.
iPostal1 Pricing
They are a very affordable virtual mail service, and its pricing starts from $9.99.
Pricing arrangement varies by location as listed below:
- Vancouver: $9.99 – Local Pickup: $1 for any number of letters, $1 Per Package, $3 Per Oversized Package.
- Ottawa: $39.99 – Local Pickup: $1 for any number of letters, $1 Per Package, $3 Per Oversized Package.
- Oakville: $39.99 – Local Pickup: $1 for any number of letters, $1 Per Package, $3 Per Oversized Package.
- Cochrane: $39.99 – Local Pickup: FREE for any number of letters, FREE Per Package, FREE Per Oversized Package.
- Calgary: $39.99 – Local Pickup: $1 for any number of letters, $1 Per Package, $3 Per Oversized Package.
Pros:
- Virtual Offices are available.
- Mail and Package Forwarding
- Free physical mail storage for 30 days
- Free physical package storage for ten days
- Available check deposit service
- Two free months with the yearly plan
Cons:
- Prices vary by mailbox location
- Only 2 GB of mail cloud storage
#3) PostScan Mail
PostScan Mail is a virtual mailbox services company headquartered in California and other locations, including Canada. It offers customers various virtual PO boxes and services, including digital mailroom, virtual business address, mail forwarding services, and Package Forwarding Services.
PostScan Mail offers five virtual address locations in Ottawa, Vancouver, Thornhill, Calgary, and Abbotsford, Canada.
PostScan Mail Pricing
The pricing plan and pricing options that PostScan Mail offers are listed below:
- Starter: $15 per month/ 30 mail items/ 5 scans/ 1 Mail Recipient
- Standard: $20 per month/ 60 mail items/ 10 scans/ 2 Mail Recipients
- Premium: $30 per month/ unlimited mail items/ 20 scans/ 60 Mail Recipients
Additional fees apply to services exceeding each plan’s limits, such as extra mail, scans, and users.
Pros
- 30-day Money Back Guarantee
- Mail and Package Forwarding
- Mobile app for Android and iOS devices
- Automated scanning of inbound mail
- Round-the-clock customers’ access to mail items
- Unlimited Cloud storage space
- Unlimited Recycling of Junk Mail
Cons
- Junk mail adds up to the account limit.
#4) Canadian Address
Your Canadian street address is physically located in Montreal, Quebec. It offers the best virtual PO Box services for persons, businesses, and organizations within and outside Canada. Their virtual mailbox service allows people to reserve a Canadian street address and a mail forwarding service. If you’re shopping online or live outside of Canada yet want to get goods delivered only to Canada, you may use YCA’s services by receiving the goods in a virtual mailbox and having the company ship them to your location of choice.
When Canadian Address receives your packages, they will send you a notification by e-mail with the dimensions and the shipping calculator so you can decide what kind of shipping you prefer. After you select the method of shipment and details, they send you a PayPal money request for the total amount. Also, they offer package consolidation for free.
Canadian Address Pricing
Unlike most virtual mailbox companies, Canadian Address does not charge a monthly subscription fee; instead, customers only have to pay a $20 one-time fee when they create an account. Subsequently, the company charges customers based on their actions in their mails. The following are the applicable forwarding fees:
- Package $10
- Letter $2
- Scanning $3 (First 3 pages)
- Fax $3 (First 3 pages)
The fees above are flat, and there are no hidden or extra charges for being your virtual mailbox company.
Pros
The benefits that come with using YCA include :
- Forwards all kinds of legal and safe packages all over the world
- Free Package Consolidation & Export Documentation
- No monthly subscription fee
- Customers can change delivery addresses even after package delivery has taken off.
- Handle domestic Amazon returns
Cons
- Only accept PayPal payments.
- There is no provision for a sign-in page to monitor mailboxes. Communication is either by email or call.
URL: https://www.canadianaddress.ca/
#5) eSnail.ca
eSnail is another premium virtual address company that offers customers a Canadian address to receive and manage their mail worldwide. e.Snail.ca provides a prestigious business address, which is always better than a PO Box, as many carriers don’t ship packages to a PO Box.
eSnail Pricing
The pricing options that eSnail offers depend on whether the customer is located in Vancouver, Toronto, or Edmonton. A complete breakdown is provided below:
- Vancouver: Basic ($25/month or $275/year), Personal ($30/month or $300/year), Family ($25/month or $$300/year), Business ($54.99/month or $500/year), Backpacker ($20/month or $200/year).
- Toronto: DowntownTO ($30/month or $300/year), Toronto Business Plan ($55/month or $600/year), Toronto Backpacker ($10/month or $110/year)
- Edmonton: Edmonton Personal ($30/month or $330/year), Edmonton Business Plan ($45/month or $495/year), Edmonton Corporate Plan ($65/month or $715/year)
These plans also impose additional charges for extra mail or users on top of the stipulated maximum.
Pros
- Immediate cheque forwarding
- Full-color scanning
- Provision of an actual virtual P.O. Box
Cons
- Physical mail storage is limited to only three months
- Aside from the monthly subscription fee, a $1 fee applies for every mail received
Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a Virtual Mailbox?
In the simplest terms, a virtual mailbox is like a PO. Box, where you own a real street address with which you may receive your important mail and package deliveries, but where you do not have to physically visit your mailbox to act and take further action on your mail.
To understand a virtual mailbox better, imagine it’s like an e-mail address, but this time, an actual physical address where people may deliver things to you. If you wonder how it differs from traditional mailbox services, here’s the point.
Unlike traditional mail services, you will typically not need to visit any physical address to pick up a document, bill, check, or any other package you may have received. So now, let us demystify that process for you.
How Does a Virtual Mailbox Work?
Owning a virtual mailbox precedes receiving packages with one. Virtual addresses typically allow you to reserve and maintain a virtual mailbox address for a monthly or yearly fee. This address will usually be an actual address that you may retain even when traveling or relocating.
In addition to mailbox addresses, the company provides you with a platform to monitor your postal mail and package deliveries and act where necessary.
When mail arrives via a virtual mailing address, say a letter or bill, your digital mailbox service scans the outside of the envelope containing information that allows you to identify the sender. They typically do the same for more extensive packages, such as a good you ordered or a gift item someone sent you. You then choose what action to take on the mail, including scanning, forwarding, shredding, and destroying unwanted mail.
You can ask to have your documents scanned and sent by the virtual mailbox client. This makes it possible to respond on time to emails requiring urgent attention, even while away from home.
Another option is to ask the mail to be forwarded to another physical address when you receive it in person, say, your home. This usually is the case for confidential documents and end-user items or goods. For example, suppose you hope to clean up your mailbox by eliminating documents you do not need anymore.
In that case, you can ask your mail client to dispose of such documents by shredding and destroying them.
While virtual mailbox companies generally offer a similar suite of services, it will not be surprising to find that there will be some level of variation in the quality of their services. For this reason, we have done the hard work by researching the virtual mailbox companies in Canada that offer the best services.
Final Words
So, there you have it. You can use five of the most reliable virtual mail services in Canada. While the information above is accurate when publishing this article, you must confirm that figures and facts have remained the same before deciding.
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