Can you depend on registered mail?

Difficulty sending registered mail to the CRA Ross McLaughlin explores digital alternatives as he looks at why one woman had trouble confirming the CRA had received her registered mail.

VANCOUVER — COVID-19 has caused disruptions and delays for many businesses and organizations, including the U.S. Postal Service and Canada Post. The Canadian postal carrier has had to adjust some of the ways it does business because of it, and that has led to some glitches in the system.

Artia Golestani experienced one of those glitches first-hand when he needed an important document sent to the Canada Revenue Agency by registered mail on April 8.

As of May 10 – more than a month after it was sent -- the website said the document was still out for delivery.

“Actually sending registered mail doesn’t make a difference,” Golestani told McLaughlin On Your Side in frustration. “We never got the signature that we had hoped with registered mail.”

So where did it go? He says getting through to the CRA in order to find out was next to impossible, but Canada Post responded, confirming the letter was delivered on April 9, the day after it was sent to a mail room. But there was no signature on receipt, so Golestani didn’t receive the notification he had expected letting him know it had arrived.

It cost $11.36 to send the letter, he says, and he expected a certain service.

“In the end, your mail is not treated differently than if you had just sent it regular mail,” Golestani says.

What went wrong? Canada Post told McLaughlin On Your Side that because of the pandemic, changes have been made to how signatures are captured on registered mail, and the tracking website should have been updated when it was delivered. But it wasn’t. Canada Post said it was an isolated incident and an unintentional error.

If you’re concerned about sending items by registered mail, the CRA says you can upload documents securely online using your CRA account. But there are limitations to what you can upload, and only certain kinds of documents are accepted. You could run into problems if your document type doesn't appear in the drop-down menu, and you may need a case number to upload other types of documents that are not on the list. However, the CRA does have plans to expand the document size from 150MB to 500MB.

And if you still want to use Canada Post, make sure to check the COVID-19 changes on its website so you know what to expect.