Christmas 2026 shipping deadlines
The last day to send a parcel so it arrives before Christmas, for the main carriers in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Every date comes from the carrier's own page, with a link. Where a carrier has not published its 2026 dates yet, we say so and show last year's for reference.
Last checked October 3, 2026. We recheck weekly through November and December.
Ordering online, not posting yourself?
A carrier deadline is the day the parcel must be handed over. A shop needs one to three working days to pack, so order at least three days before the date for the service the shop uses. Most shops use the slowest standard service by default. After the deadlines, gifts that arrive by email still work.
United States
USPS
2026 dates published Source · checked October 3, 2026
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantagecontiguous US | December 17, 2026 | 74 days |
| First-Class Mailcontiguous US | December 17, 2026 | 74 days |
| Priority Mailcontiguous US | December 18, 2026 | 75 days |
| Priority Mail Expresscontiguous US | December 19, 2026 | 76 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| First-Class Package International Servicesame date for all regions listed | December 9, 2026 | 66 days |
| Priority Mail International | December 9, 2026 | 66 days |
| Priority Mail Express International | December 16, 2026 | 73 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantagemost military ZIPs | November 4, 2026 | 31 days |
| First-Class Mail / Priority Mail | December 9, 2026 | 66 days |
| Priority Mail Express Military | December 16, 2026 | 73 days |
FedEx
2026 dates published Source · checked October 3, 2026
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx Ground Economy | December 15, 2026 | 72 days |
| FedEx Ground / Home Delivery (5-day transit)4-day 12-18, 3-day 12-21, 2-day 12-22, 1-day 12-23; transit by ZIP | December 17, 2026 | 74 days |
| FedEx Express Saver | December 21, 2026 | 78 days |
| FedEx 2Day & 2Day AM | December 22, 2026 | 79 days |
| FedEx First/Priority/Standard Overnight, Extra Hours | December 23, 2026 | 80 days |
| FedEx SameDayFedEx dates target arrival by Dec 24 | December 24, 2026 | 81 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx Ground to Canada (7-day transit)6-day 12-16, 5-day 12-17, 4-day 12-18, 3-day 12-19, 2-day 12-22, 1-day 12-23 | December 15, 2026 | 72 days |
| FedEx International Economy / Connect Plus | December 21, 2026 | 78 days |
| FedEx International Priority Distribution | December 22, 2026 | 79 days |
| FedEx International Next Flight / First / Priority | December 23, 2026 | 80 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx International Economy / Connect Plus | December 21, 2026 | 78 days |
| FedEx International Next Flight / First / Priority | December 22, 2026 | 79 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx International Economy | December 22, 2026 | 79 days |
| FedEx International Next Flight / First / Priority | December 23, 2026 | 80 days |
UPS
2026 dates published Source · checked October 3, 2026
UPS has a 2026 holiday operations schedule (closed Dec 25; Dec 24 Air pickup only if prearranged by Dec 18, no Ground pickup). Per-service last-day-to-ship dates could NOT be verified: ups.com and about.ups.com return Access Denied to automated fetch. A search-index summary suggested Next Day Air Dec 23 / 2nd Day Air Dec 22, unconfirmed so not recorded. Ground is transit-based (ups.com/ctc). Ops PDF: https://assets.ups.com/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:4756cbe3-c3b7-4bfb-a79e-1d285308dc2e/original/as/2026-holiday-operations-schedule-us-en.pdf
No per-service dates we could confirm yet. Check UPS's own page linked above.
Canada
Canada Post
2026 dates published Source · checked October 3, 2026
Values from a direct page fetch. A search-engine snippet of the same page showed slightly different numbers (e.g. Expedited national Dec 12, cards local Dec 19), possibly a stale cache; recheck before launch.
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Parcelnational; regional 12-16, local 12-21 | December 10, 2026 | 67 days |
| Expedited Parcelnational; regional 12-18, local 12-22 | December 14, 2026 | 71 days |
| Cards/lettersnational; regional 12-21, local 12-22 | December 18, 2026 | 75 days |
| Xpresspostnational/regional; local 12-23 | December 22, 2026 | 79 days |
| Prioritylocal, regional and national | December 23, 2026 | 80 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Tracked Packet / Small Packet USA | December 11, 2026 | 68 days |
| Cards | December 11, 2026 | 68 days |
| Expedited Parcel USA | December 14, 2026 | 71 days |
| Xpresspost USA | December 17, 2026 | 74 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | December 3, 2026 | 60 days |
| Xpresspost International | December 10, 2026 | 67 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Xpresspost International | December 11, 2026 | 68 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Xpresspost International | December 14, 2026 | 71 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Xpresspost International | December 15, 2026 | 72 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | December 9, 2026 | 66 days |
| Service | Send by | Days left |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | December 11, 2026 | 68 days |
Purolator
2026 dates not published yet: 2025 dates shown for reference Source · checked October 3, 2026
2026 send-by dates not found (only 2026 closures: Dec 25, 26, 28). purolator.com returns 403 to automated fetch; 2025 values come from the search-index text of this official page, not a direct read. Verify.
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| InternationalLAST YEAR; for delivery by Dec 24 | December 11, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Purolator GroundLAST YEAR | December 15, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| InternationalLAST YEAR | December 17, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| InternationalLAST YEAR | December 18, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Next-dayLAST YEAR; Purolator advised Dec 22 to allow for weather; same date for US next-day where available | December 23, 2025 | 2025 date |
United Kingdom
Royal Mail
2026 dates not published yet Source · checked October 3, 2026
2026 dates NOT published; the page is still titled 'Get ready for Christmas 2025'. royalmail.com returns 403 to automated fetch, so 2025 per-service dates could not be read and are left out rather than guessed. Only 2026 item seen: Letters to Santa by 2026-12-09 (search-index text, unverified).
No per-service dates we could confirm yet. Check Royal Mail's own page linked above.
Parcelforce
2026 dates not published yet: 2025 dates shown for reference Source · checked October 3, 2026
Page still titled 'Christmas last posting dates for Account customers 2025'. 403 on fetch; values from the search-index text of the official page. International dates not retrieved.
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| express48LAST YEAR (account customers) | December 19, 2025 | 2025 date |
| express24 / expressAM / express10LAST YEAR; last collections 2025-12-22 | December 22, 2025 | 2025 date |
Australia
Australia Post
2026 dates not published yet: 2025 dates shown for reference Source · checked October 3, 2026
Page still shows Christmas 2025 dates. Add 2-5 business days from SA/TAS/NT. Sea-mail cut-offs page: https://auspost.com.au/disruptions-and-updates/international-service-updates/international-economy-cut-off-dates-for-christmas-delivery
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Letters (Regular/Priority)LAST YEAR; interstate; same state 12-18 | December 16, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Parcel PostLAST YEAR; metro to other eastern states; same-state 12-22; to WA 12-18; to NT 12-16 | December 19, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Express PostLAST YEAR; metro NSW/ACT/VIC/QLD/SA; NT/TAS/WA 2025-12-22 | December 23, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| International Courier / ExpressLAST YEAR | December 15, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| International EconomyLAST YEAR | December 4, 2025 | 2025 date |
| International StandardLAST YEAR | December 11, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| International ExpressLAST YEAR; Courier to USA suspended | December 15, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| International ExpressLAST YEAR; Courier 12-15, Standard 12-02, Economy 11-25 | December 9, 2025 | 2025 date |
| Service | Send by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| International ExpressLAST YEAR; Courier 12-15, Standard 12-05, Economy 11-28 | December 12, 2025 | 2025 date |
StarTrack
2026 dates not published yet Source · checked October 3, 2026
Old festive-season page (startrack.com.au/logistics-and-freight/festive-season-freight) now 301-redirects to a generic Australia Post StarTrack page; no Christmas cut-off dates found for 2026 or 2025.
No per-service dates we could confirm yet. Check StarTrack's own page linked above.
Service notices
- Canada Post: Labour dispute resolved: CUPW members voted to accept the Urban and RSMC tentative agreements (news release 2026-06-01); agreements run to 2029-01-31. No 2026 strike notice found. (2025 had an overtime ban from May and rotating strikes from Oct 2025.) Source
- UPS: Dec 24 2026: Air/international Air pickup only if prearranged by Dec 18; no Ground pickup. Closed Dec 25. Source
- FedEx: Nov 23 2026 to Jan 4 2027: delivery commitment times extended by 90 minutes on First Overnight, Priority Overnight and 2Day AM. Closed Dec 25. Source
- Australia Post: International Courier to the USA was suspended (2025 table). Source
Getting a gift there in time
Sending across a border adds customs to the trip and usually a week or more to the deadline. If the person lives in another country, it is often faster and cheaper to order from a shop in their country and have it delivered there. Every gift on this site lists the shops that sell it by country.
Remote and rural addresses get the earliest dates: the national dates above are for the longest trips within each country, and local deliveries can go later. Tracking matters more in December than any other month, because a parcel that misses a scan can sit for days.
More detail by country: US shipping deadlines, Canada shipping deadlines, and duties on gifts ordered from the US.
Get a reminder before your deadline
One email a few days before the main cutoffs in your country. Nothing else in between.