Storing Belongings and Keeping a Canadian Mailing Address While You Study Abroad
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Oct 08, 2024 • Canadian Universities & Colleges, Canadians Studying Abroad
Canada Post's mail forwarding service moves your mail for 3 to 12 months at a time, but for most study terms it is cheaper to keep a trusted person's address as your mailing address and store belongings with family or in self-storage.
📩 Canada Post forwarding within a province runs about $61.50 to $100.75 for 3 to 12 months, more for cross-province or international forwarding.
Parcels are not forwarded, only letter mail, so tell online sellers your new address separately.
Ask a parent or trusted contact to hold your mail and flag anything urgent instead of paying for forwarding on a short exchange.
🏠 Store belongings with family, in a self-storage unit, or through your university's summer storage program.
Decide whether you need mail forwarding at all
A short exchange of one or two semesters rarely justifies paying for full mail forwarding. Ask a parent, sibling, or roommate to hold your mail at their address and flag anything that looks urgent, such as a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency or your bank. Switch as many bills and statements as possible to email or online-only delivery before you leave.
A full degree abroad, or a year away with no one you trust to manage mail, is when Canada Post's forwarding service is worth the cost.
Handling parcels separately
Canada Post does not forward parcels, so update your shipping address directly with any store or subscription box before you leave. For anything you still expect during the transition, such as a replacement bank card, ask the person holding your mail to accept parcels on your behalf, or use a parcel locker service near their address.
Cancel or pause subscriptions and memberships you will not use while abroad instead of paying to forward items or leaving them unopened for months.
How Canada Post mail forwarding works
Set up Canada Post mail forwarding online or at a post office with a government-issued photo ID. Service starts as soon as 5 days after you buy it online, or 3 days if you set it up in person.
Pricing depends on distance and length:
| Forwarding type | Price range |
|---|---|
| Within your province | $61.50 to $100.75 (3 to 12 months) |
| Across provinces | $77.25 to $126.25 |
| To the US or another country | $114 to $292 |
Extend the service month by month once the initial period runs out. Canada Post only forwards letter mail, not parcels like Xpresspost or Regular Parcel, so update your address directly with any online sellers you use.
Keep a Canadian mailing address for accounts that need one
Banks and the Canada Revenue Agency expect a Canadian mailing address on file for many accounts. Keep a parent's or trusted contact's address as your mailing address for these accounts rather than switching everything to your address abroad, since some Canadian institutions restrict services for accounts with a foreign address.
Move as many statements as possible to paperless delivery through your bank's app or CRA My Account before you leave, so the physical mail that still arrives is limited to items that matter. This matters most for CRA correspondence tied to benefits or refunds, where an undelivered letter causes delays you do not notice for months.
Keep your bank reachable
Tell your bank your travel dates and destination before you leave, and update your phone number and address on file. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is the place to check your rights around account access and fees if a Canadian bank restricts services once you live outside the country.
Where to store belongings while you are away
🏠 Store boxes and furniture at a parent's or relative's home if you have the space and a trip home planned.
Rent a self-storage unit near home for a fixed monthly rate if family storage is not an option.
Check whether your Canadian university offers summer storage for students returning after an exchange term.
Sell, donate, or store only what you will use again. Shipping items abroad and back rarely costs less than replacing cheap items locally.
Check whether the storage facility or your parent's home insurance covers stored belongings against damage or theft, especially anything valuable.
Before you leave
Confirm who holds your mail and how often they check it.
Set up Canada Post forwarding if you have no one to manage mail at home.
Switch bills, bank statements, and government mail to digital delivery wherever possible.
Label stored boxes clearly and leave a list of what is where with whoever is holding your things.