POST OFFICE

Responsibilities:

The Acadia University Post Office provides quick and efficient distribution of internal and external mail and correspondence for all employees, including:

  • Sorting and processing of external mail
  • Sorting and processing of incoming external mail and packages
  • Processing of external mail for external delivery by Canada Post
  • Drop-off and pick-up location for courier shipments

The Post Office also supports:

  • Canada Post changes such as address formats, price increases or delivery slow downs
  • Courier/waybill support (i.e. creating electronic waybills, securing FedEx supplies, etc.)
  • Address guidelines
  • Printing departmental labels on envelopes
  • Indicia requests
  • Identifying opportunities and working with internal departments to reduce/eliminate unnecessary "junk mail"
  • Post Office mail box management

The following is the proper address structure for Acadia Employees to provide to external contacts:

Your Full Name
Your Department or Faculty Name (no acronyms)
Acadia University
15 University Avenue
Wolfville, NS
B4P 2R6
Canada
 
 

NOTE FOR STUDENTS: All incoming mail for students at Acadia is directed through the Acadia Students' Union (ASU) Post Office.  In order to receive mail, students must have a valid ASU mailbox number. For more information on how to receive student mail, contact the ASU: https://www.acadiastudents.ca/contact

Helpful Directions:
 
Internal Campus mail
 
  • Please use a reusable campus mail envelope.
  • When addressing internal campus mail, please print clearly and include:
    • the full name of the intended recipient
    • the name of the faculty/department name or mailbox number.
  • Avoid the use of abbreviations or acronyms for department names
  • Do not use staples as envelope closures. If envelopes are no longer closing securely, throw them out.  Replacement envelopes can be received through the Post Office.
  • If you have a green card in your mailbox, it means that there is a parcel for you to pick up.
  • If you have an orange card in your mailbox, it means you have Registered Mail to pick up and sign for.
 Outgoing Canada Post mail and parcels
 
  • All external mail must be accompanied by the Accounting Bar Code Card belonging to the sending department.
  • Use standard envelopes whenever possible in order to take advantage of the lowest rates.
  • The department return address should be shown on the top left-hand corner of all envelopes.
  • Mail requiring special handling should be clearly marked. This would include Registered Mail, Express Post, Special Delivery, Priority Courier, C.O.D. and Insured Mail.
  • Mail to be sealed by the Postage Meter must be separated into bundles of Canadian, U.S. and International destinations and shingled, i.e. one flap over the other and securely held by an elastic band.
  • A Customs Declaration Form must be attached to all parcels in excess of 500 grams that are to be mailed out of Canada.
 
Standardized addressing as per Canada Post guidelines
To avoid unnecessary delays in delivery of your mail items, follow these addressing guidelines as per the Canada Post addressing guidelines:

  • The address should be printed in upper case.
  • The postal code should be printed in upper case with the first three characters separated from the last three by one space. Do not use hyphens.
  • The municipality, the province, territory, and the postal code should be on the same line, and it should be the last line within a domestic address block.
  • There should be one space between the municipality and the province /territory, and two spaces between the province/ territory and the postal code.
  • Avoid using “Canada” in domestic addresses.
  • Characters in the address block should not be underlined.
  • Punctuation should not be used unless it is part of a proper name, such as in “ST. JOHN’S”.
  • Do not use # symbol in an address.
  • All lines of an address should be formatted with a uniform left margin.
  • The return address should be formatted in the same manner and include department and/or box number.  The return address should be in the top-left corner.
 
Addresses within the United States of America should contain the following information:

Other International addresses should contain the following information:

 

For further information on sending and receiving local and international letters and parcels, visit  Canada Post.

 

Incoming Courier deliveries
 
  • For courier deliveries made to the Post Office at 15 University Avenue, you MUST include your name and department.
  • For courier deliveries to your department, you MUST include your name, department, street address, floor number, room number. Someone must be there to receive and sign for it.  If no one is available to accept and sign for the delivery, it will be returned to the depot.
  • All incoming courier deliveries for students at Acadia is directed through the Acadia Students' Union (ASU) Post Office. For more information on how to receive mail or send via couriers to students, contact the ASU: https://www.acadiastudents.ca/contact
 

 
Outgoing Courier shipments
 
  • Method of Shipment:
    • Within Maritime provinces: Canada Post, FedEx
    • Outside Maritime provinces: FedEx
    • Internationally: FedEx
  • All outgoing courier mail is dispatched daily from the Post Office.
  • Outgoing packages must be brought to the Post Office door.  Do not put them in the mail drop with the external and internal mail.
  • Paperwork associated with courier mail is the responsibility of the sender.  Courier mail received without proper documentation attached will be returned.
  • Electronic waybill preparation is encouraged.
  • Courier envelopes and forms, Tyvek packs and boxes are available at the Post Office.
  • A Customs Declaration Form is to be attached to all parcels in excess of 500 grams that are to be mailed out of Canada.
  • International packages (with the exception of documents weighing less than 500grams) require a commercial invoice to be completed to accompany the package and waybill. If assistance is required to put together the commercial invoice, contact Procurement at 902-585-1624.
  • To ensure that courier packages arrive at their correct destination, each package must contain the full street address, city, province/state, postal/zip code and phone number of the addressee.  In the United States this is especially necessary as deliveries will not be made to a post office box number.
  • A departmental account number must be included and shown on the waybill.
  • Outgoing FedEx Express packages must be complete with the appropriate forms by 2:00 pm each day in order to meet pickup deadlines.
  • Courier packages sent via Federal Express can be traced through their website, or by calling 1-800-463-3339 if you have the waybill number.
  • All courier waybill receipts will be retained by the University Post Office for 30 days.
 

 
Junk Mail
 
  • External commercial or business advertising matter, giveaways and promotional material will not be distributed internally unless received directly from Canada Post, properly addressed to a person with a box number or department name.
 
 
Mailbox Keys
 
  • A maximum of two keys are allocated to each department. If a new key is required, the Department Head will need to request a new key from the Postmaster.
  • Access Control will contact the recipient once the key is ready for pick up at Security.