Mail procedures

fake, white plastic person holding red envelope

Please Note: All outgoing mail requiring postage must be University business. 

University business means the business purpose of an expense must contribute to the pursuit of learning through scholarship, teaching, and research. If the expense in itself does not clearly demonstrate how it contributes to the pursuit of learning through scholarship, teaching, and research, or the administrative support thereof, a detailed explanation must be provided to ensure that an independent third-party (i.e. an auditor) could reasonably come to the conclusion that the expense did constitute an appropriate business expense based on the information attached as supporting documentation.

Return address:

All mail must have your name and dept. written at the top left side of every envelope.

Sealing:

All 9 x 12 and larger envelopes must be sealed before sending to Central Stores.

Customs Declaration form:

When sending packages and parcels to the USA or Internationally,
please fill out a customs declaration form

Fill out this online form for each package you're sending outside of Canada.
Under the section called "Itemized list of package contents" provide a detailed description
of each good/item in the package, including brand and material. 
An acceptable description would be: "Men's cotton t-shirts."
Examples of unacceptable descriptions would be : "Clothing," "Goods," or simply stating "Gift."

Once you have entered the information, click on the "Review customs form" button at the bottom of the page. This will give you a barcode along with the customs information. Click on "Print this barcode".  Attach the printed sheet to your package and send it to Central Stores for processing.

Clearly mark your mail:

Since the mailroom does not know how quickly you require your mail piece to get to its destination, it is very important that you let us know. You can do this by writing Inter University Transit System (IUTS) on the mail you want to go via IUTS.

Please note: IUTS mail goes out Tuesday & Thursday mornings only. So if you send over IUTS on Thursday, it will not go out until the following Tuesday. If you send IUTS over on Tuesday it will not go out until Thursday. For a list of the Ontario IUTS partners.

Sorting your mail:

Please put on-campus and IUTS together in your on-campus mail slot for pick up. Please put off-campus mail (Canadian, USA, Foreign & Stamped) in your off-campus mail slot for pick up.

Tracking mail:

Securely attach a piece of paper to your envelope with “Send XpressPost” written on it. If you like to have it traced right to the company please also state that you would like a signature. If no signature is required your mail can only be traced to the last postal outlet it was at. If you would like the tracking number and postage cost please also advise us on that piece of paper.

Email csoutmail@uwaterloo.ca if you have any questions on outbound mail.

Courier:

Registered users must fill out the necessary electronic forms from the 2Ship web page for preparation to ship. Accurate and complete shipping details, entered into this system, will expedite the overall shipping process. Once the electronic forms are completed, print out the "Shipping Order Barcode Ticket", securely attach the ticket to the goods and send it to Central Stores.  For information on becoming a 2Ship user please go to the Central Stores Shipping page.

Call ext. 46621 or email cs-shipping@uwaterloo.ca  if you have courier (shipping) questions.