More Canadians delivering packages, costs slowing

E-commerce sales totalled $45.1 billion in 2023, accounting for 5.7% of total retail sales from Canadian-based retailers. Based on that number, and the steady stream of packages landing on doorsteps, the number of deliveries necessary to get all the goods to Canadian households certainly isn’t slowing down.

But, as our latest data from the Couriers and Messenger Services Price Index show, the price of shipping a good, from the final leg of the journey to the doorstep, is increasing more moderately.

In April 2024, prices for services provided by local messengers and local delivery services increased 3.6% year over year. In April 2023, prices rose 4.6%, and in April 2022, prices rose 10.3%.

Local messengers and local delivery services include the delivery of small parcels, letters and documents, take-out food, alcoholic beverages and groceries within a single urban area by bicycle, small truck or van, or on foot. 

In 2023, more Canadians delivered by app or platform, while industry payroll employment decreased

The number of Canadians who provided delivery services through an app or platform increased by nearly one-fifth (+19.2%) from 2022 to reach 278,000 in 2023, according to data from the December 2023 Labour Force Survey supplement.

Similar to the pattern observed in 2022, half (49.9%) of Canadians who had provided personal transport or delivery services in 2023 were living in the three largest census metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver.

In December 2023, there were 11,500 payroll employees (i.e., employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer) in the local messengers and local delivery industry in Canada, compared with 12,100 one year earlier.