Best 3PL Companies in Canada for Fast Ecommerce Fulfillment

Check out the best 3PL companies in Canada with their advantages, locations, and fees!

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The best 3PL companies in Canada allow for online stores to store their products in Canadian warehouse space, get those items packaged up nicely, and then quickly sent to customers all over Canada. As with all 3PL (third-party logistics) companies, we also want to see essentials like integrations with popular ecommerce platforms, partnerships with the top mail carriers (in this case, it’s great to see options like Canada Post), and robust order fulfillment software for figuring out the best warehousing facilities to store your products, when they need to go out, and when you should restock your shelves.

The world of ecommerce relies on fulfillment services and methods like self-fulfillment, dropshipping, and 3PL, so at some point, you must choose one to get products to customers. We usually argue that going with 3rd-party logistics companies is often the most economical, fastest option, considering you eliminate aspects of the fulfillment process (on your end) like warehousing, packaging, and shipping.

But for a transportation company to provide reliable 3PL services, it must offer the right locations and carrier partners for your area.

So in this article, we’ll highlight the top 3PL companies in Canada to ensure your online shop runs efficiently from start to finish.

The Best 3PL Companies in Canada

As mentioned earlier, the goal here is to only present 3PL companies with a strong foundation in Canada. It doesn’t matter whether you’re running an online store in Canada or somewhere else in the world, but the idea behind going with a Canadian distribution company is that you’re trying to send items to customers in Canada. So, during our research, we made sure we only chose 3PL companies with Canadian warehouses and fulfillment centers. We also made sure our favorite Canadian 3PL companies provide simple ecommerce platform integrations, affordable pricing, and useful online tools for managing your shipments.

Let’s take a look!

Shopify Fulfillment

shopify fulfillment - best 3PL companies in Canada

Shopify Fulfillment serves those using the Shopify ecommerce platform, particularly merchants that need to fulfill orders to customers in the US and Canada. It’s one of the best 3PL companies in Canada due to its US locations close to Canada (like the ones in Ohio and New Jersey), along with the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada fulfillment center.

Not only that, but the Shopify Fulfillment program provides incredible online software that integrates right in with your Shopify store. Therefore, you can manage everything from the website design to warehouse placement, and the packaging of products to whatever marketing campaigns you want to run.

The only downside of Shopify Fulfillment is that it doesn’t integrate with any other ecommerce platforms. However, you could see this as an advantage considering you’re able to keep all of your ecommerce tools in one dashboard and invoice. Overall, we recommend Shopify Fulfillment for merchants who sell to Canadian customers and either plan to move to Shopify or already use it.

Advantages

  • Shopify Fulfillment has one location in Canada, along with many others in the US.
  • Your fulfillment software is built to integrate with your Shopify website. Everything is stored in Shopify, including your web design features, warehouse selection tools, and the invoices that come in on a monthly basis. Furthermore, the fees for both the ecommerce platform and Shopify Fulfillment are placed on the same invoice.
  • You can store all of your products at Shopify Fulfillment locations and use the automated inventory distribution services to ensure your products are at the best places. For instance, one product may sell very well in Canada, so Shopify will tell you to send more of those items to the Ottawa location.
  • Shopify Fulfillment picks, packs, and fulfills all sales completed through your Shopify store and any other channels you sell through. This includes sales through places like Amazon and Facebook.
  • You’re able to put your own branding on all packaging.
  • Shopify utilizes a robotics-driven warehouse system to ensure the fastest, most efficient fulfillment possible.
  • You can partner with the best carrier depending on where your customers are located. Go with USPS, FedEx, Canada Post, or one of the dozens of other major carriers.
  • You receive a dedicated customer support rep to ask them questions and ensure everything runs smoothly with your fulfillment.
  • Accept returns and exchanges by having customers send packages back to Shopify.
  • Set your own shipping times and rates.

Locations

The main Canadian fulfillment center in the Shopify Fulfillment Network is in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

There are also several other locations, all of which are in the US.

For instance, you can choose from the following locations:

  • California
  • Georgia
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Texas

As briefly mentioned, these allow you to have a presence in most North American regions. Not to mention, some of the US fulfillment centers are useful for fulfillment to Canada as well.

Fees

The Shopify Fulfillment pricing depends on a few unique aspects of your fulfillment process. You must contact Shopify to get a solidified price, but it’s nice to know that all of the following factors come into play for your pricing:

  • Picking and packing: billed daily
  • Packing supplies: billed daily, and some packing supplies are included in the picking and packing fees
  • Transportation: billed daily for Canada and monthly in the US
  • Storage: billed monthly
  • Special projects: these are optional, or only come up once in a while, but they’re billed monthly

The special project fees are rare but include things like wholesale orders, return to sender shipments, inbound receiving, and value-added special projects like kitting or product assembly.

ShipBob

shipbob

ShipBob provides an onslaught of online fulfillment tools along with a vast logistical network to store your products and then have them packaged and shipped out to customers. The ShipBob fulfillment center network offers a location in Ottawa, Canada, along with several other US locations that are close enough to many bordering Canadian Provinces. You even gain access to ShipBob warehouses in the UK, EU, and Australia if you’d like to expand beyond Canada and the US.

Other than that, ShipBob integrates with popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Bigcommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, and WooCommerce. You store all products in ShipBob facilities, where they pick, pack, and ship out the items whenever an order comes through your store. The ShipBob software makes for the ideal logistical environment, as it offers inventory distribution optimization, standard and expedited shipping, and order, shipment, and inventory management. It’s definitely one of our favorite third-party logistics companies.

Advantages

  • ShipBob boasts dozens ofย  fulfillment centers around the world, including one in Canada. You can also take advantage of various locations in the US, along with warehouses in the UK, EU, and Australia.
  • Integrate with any of the most popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix.
  • Integrate with other channels and ecommerce partners like Walmart, eBay, Amazon, and Happy Returns.Customers receive tracking numbers and have the ability to return your products directly to ShipBob.
  • You can view analytics and reports in the ShipBob dashboard.
  • The ShipBob software includes features for inventory and order management, helping you figure out where orders need to go and when you need to refill your stock in certain areas.
  • ShipBob fulfills orders fast with several ship options for domestic and international shipping.
  • You can distribute inventory in the most optimal locations (to reduce transit times and costs), using data ShipBob provides, so you can store some of your inventory in Canada and another batch of it in any region of the US, for example.

Locations

The main Canadian fulfillment center is located in Ottawa, Ontario, meaning you can deliver most of your packages to Canadian metro areas in 2-4 days, but ShipBob can ship orders across all Canadian locations including British Columbia, Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton. It’s also possible to send orders to Canada from any of ShipBobโ€™s US warehouses.

Besides that, ShipBob has dozens of shipping locations, including in these areas:

  • Illinois
  • Texas
  • California
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • New Jersey
  • Wisconsin
  • Arizona
  • Kentucky
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia

Fees

You must request a quote to get a true picture of what to expect with ShipBob fulfillment. It’s truly one of the best 3PL companies in Canada due to its fast shipping in Canada and superior fulfillment technology, but also because the pricing remains consistent and affordable.

Here are some general rates to give you an idea of what to expect:

  • Receiving: A flat rate of $25 for the first two man-hours, and $40 per man hour after that.
  • Storage: This is charged on a prorated monthly basis and costs per SKU at $40 per pallet per month, $10 per shelf per month fee, and a $5 per bin per month charge.
  • Pick and pack: Most picking and packing is included with the basic cost. There are some limits, however: the first four picks in an order are free – after that, it’s $0.20 per pick for every additional pick.
  • Standard packing: Regular packing is included in the basic cost, but you will have to pay for a storage location only to use your own branded packaging (e.g., custom boxes, poly mailers, inserts, etc.).
  • Shipping: This depends on the order. Pricing varies based on elements like the package weight, destination, dimensions, and shipping service.

Think Logistics Services

think logistics - best 3PL companies in Canada

We like Think Logistics as one of the best 3PL companies in Canada for a few reasons. First of all, Think Logistics offers ecommerce and direct-to-customer fulfillment with capabilities such as kitting, bundling, and gifting, along with unique options like poly-bagging and de-tagging. The business is located in Canada and is touted as one of the only logistics organizations in Canada to utilize something called the Kiva robotic fulfillment system. In short, their fulfillment centers are filled with an optimized collection of smart shelves and robots to ensure your products get picked and packed much faster than they would with any traditional form of ecommerce fulfillment.

Think Logistics specializes in serving Canadian small businesses delivering to Canadian customers. Furthermore, the company takes pride in its ability to expedite the process of US ecommerce stores sending products to Canadian shoppers.

Advantages

  • Think Logistics has a network of hubs and a primary location in Canada to help both Canadian and US companies get their products shipped to customers in a reasonable amount of time.
  • You can store your products at a Think Logistics facility where most picking and packing is done exclusively through a unique robotics system.
  • Think Logistics supports merchants that sell anything from large to small items, and expensive items to fragile goods.
  • You can take advantage of unique shipping and third party logistics services, like if you need de-tagging, kitting, or gifting.
  • Think Logistics offers a program called SmartMerge, which combines the benefits of 3PL and dropshipping, meaning you can processes daily, consolidated orders (close to on-demand) while still utilizing the 3PL speed and effectiveness from Think Logistics.
  • You receive immediate onboarding from a dedicated customer support rep.

Locations

Think Logistics utilizes a network of fulfillment hubs, but its main location is in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. This allows Think Logistics to reach Toronto, along with most other Canadian metro areas with rapid transit times.

Fees

There aren’t any fees provided in advance from Think Logistics, but you can contact a sales rep to get a stronger idea of what your business can expect to spend with Think Logistics. We do know that Think Logistics keeps costs low with its robot-heavy fulfillment setup.

Crane Worldwide Logistics

crane - best 3PL companies in Canada

The Crane Worldwide Logistics company not only caters to Canadian businesses, but it offers a global fulfillment network for sending to anywhere in the world. It’s one of the best 3PL companies in Canada due to its primary hub in Toronto, but also because Crane Worldwide Logistics offers incredibly fast shipping speeds to around 60% of the Canadian population.

They also have shipping locations in places like Vancouver and Calgary, while partnering with specialty ocean, trucking, and air freight providers to ensure all of your international shipments. What’s truly unique about Crane Worldwide Logistics is that it caters to a wide range of unusual industries such as aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, and government organizations. So, you probably won’t find anything that Crane Worldwide Logistics isn’t able to ship.

Finally, Crane offers online software with its own centralized dashboard, shipment center, and order management area for all merchants to maintain control over their operation.

Advantages

  • You gain access to wonderful software with a mobile-friendly dashboard, warnings for supply chain management interruptions, purchase order management, and more.
  • Crane Worldwide Logistics has a primary location in Toronto, as well as fulfillment centers in Calgary and Vancouver.
  • You can tap into a network of shipping providers for sending out unusual products to just about every location in the world.
  • The 3PL company reaches the majority of Canadian customers in just a few days.
  • You can opt to ship products from China to the US or Canada with a special, customs brokerage option through Crane Worldwide Logistics. This typically waves any duties or taxes you would have to pay as long as the value of your shipment remains less than around $800.
  • All of your customers receive reliable tracking to check when their package will be delivered.
  • Crane Worldwide Logistics offers global customer support so you can get in touch with someone at any time.
  • The software provided can be integrated with most ecommerce platforms.
  • Crane Worldwide Logistics provides a specialized ecommerce parcel shipment service to surpass traditional postal carriers and get products to customers even faster.

Locations

Canadian locations from Crane Worldwide Logistics include Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Fees

You must directly contact Crane Worldwide Logistics in order to receive a quote for your ecommerce fulfillment.

N&N Logistics

n and n

N&N Logistics offers everything from warehousing to ecommerce logistics, and overland, ocean, and air freight forwarding if that’s what you need. You can even get shipping for less stable products like chemical goods, oil, or perishable items.

What’s really impressive is that N&N Logistics has a network of over 150 locations, starting with its headquarters in Ajax, Ontario.

You can partner with N&N Logistics for its warehousing and supply chain logistics solutions. That means you obtain secure storage space for your products, have them picked and packed by N&N Logistics, and you can manage all of that from an online dashboard.

Advantages

  • There’s a large network of locations to store your products, including a primary location in Canada.
  • It’s possible to give your customers fast shipping no matter where they live. This is attainable through N&N Logistics’ freight management, rail, and ocean services.
  • Send products that you may not be able to fulfill through other companies, such as perishable goods or chemical products.
  • N&N Logistics handles everything from stockpiling, picking, packing, and shipping.
  • You can choose the most efficient carrier based on the type of product and where it needs to go.
  • The N&N Logistics software provides beautiful inventory management elements that are meant to help with stock control.
  • Opt to have your products packed in your own branded packaging materials.
  • You’re able to ask for specialty services like kitting and product assembly.

Locations

The Ajax, Ontario location serves as a hub for most shipments, especially those going to Canadian customers. Having said that, N&N Logistics has managed to build a network of more than 150 locations all over the world, many of which are through logistics and transport partnerships. So, although they don’t necessarily own all of these hubs, you can utilize the network to ship your products anywhere you want.

Fees

You must contact N&N Logistics to get a quote for their logistics services and transportation services. Some factors that come into play for pricing include storage, picking and packing, and shipping fees.

ShipHype

shiphype - best 3PL companies in Canada

ShipHype combines its collection of fulfillment centers in Canada and the US to offer same-day shipping to just about every area in North America. As one of the best 3PL companies in Canada, ShipHype offers deep integrations (using apps) with ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, and Shopify. You can also get orders fulfilled that come in from channels like Amazon and eBay.

Along with all of that, ShipHype partners with carriers like FedEx and Canada Post to provide some of the steepest carrier discounts possible.

Overall, ShipHype works to automate much of your ecommerce business with seamless integration, picking and packing, product storage, and shipments to your customers. Most products are shipped in two days, and you can also opt for services like subscription fulfillment, FBA prep, and crowdfunding fulfillment.

Advantages

  • You gain access to three fulfillment centers, two of which are in Canada.
  • You can integrate with top ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Magento.
  • There are some marketplace integrations as well, like for Etsy, eBay, and Amazon.
  • Partner with major carriers like Canada Post, FedEx, and UPS.
  • You can take advantage of special services like for crowdfunding, Amazon FBA prep, and kitting.
  • Offer anywhere from 1-2 day shipping for most of your customers.
  • You receive an order dashboard for managing your orders, setting up inventory management, and tracking shipments.
  • ShipHype handles all returns for an extra fee.
  • You get discounted rates from all major carriers.

Locations

ShipHype has three locations. One of them is in Los Angeles, California, while the other two are situated in Canada: Toronto and Vancouver.

This means you’re able to offer 1-2 day shipping to most customers in Canada, along with fairly rapid shipping to much of the US.

Fees

All fulfillment pricing is customized, but here are some base rates for ecommerce fulfillment:

  • Receiving: $25 per shipment, with an extra charge if it takes longer than 2 hours
  • Container unloading: Starting at $300.
  • Storage: $5 per bin per month, $15 per shelf per month, and $40 per pallet per month.
  • Pick and pack: $2.50 for the first item and $0.50 for all additional picks. $0.50 per packaging, and an additional $0.50 for inserts.
  • Shipping: Depends on the product and shipping carrier.
  • Returns: $3 per return and $40 per hour for handling the returns.
  • Other services: $40 per hour for kitting and anything else that falls under the “Other Services” category.

There are some minimum charges as well, such as a $25 per shipment minimum for receiving and a monthly minimum fee of $99 per month.

Which of the Best 3PL Companies in Canada is Right for You?

Here’s a quick guide on the best 3PL companies in Canada to clarify everything we’ve talked about in this article. Use our final suggestions to give you a better view of which is ideal for your business:

  • Shopify Fulfillment: We like Shopify if you’re shipping to the US or Canada, but not really anywhere else. It’s also a great fulfillment partner for those who either plan to use the Shopify ecommerce platform or already have that in place.
  • ShipBob: Go for ShipBob if you want the best possible integration with your ecommerce platform, along with a beautiful online dashboard. It’s just a bonus that you can ship to any Canadian metro area in 2-4 days.
  • Think Logistics: Consider Think Logistics if you need to ship specialty products, quickly move items from the US to Canada, or if you want to take advantage of the SmartMerge dropshipping hybrid.
  • Crane Worldwide Logistics: We believe Crane comes out strong due to its ability to wave certain shipment fees when sending from China to the US or Canada. It also has a wonderful network throughout Canada to reach customers in a few days.
  • N&N Logistics: This one makes the most sense if you have the need to ship unique products, or if you’d simply like to take advantage of the network of 150 global locations.
  • ShipHype: This 3PL company shines with its sleek online dashboard, simple integrations, and the fact that it has two Canadian fulfillment center locations.

Please feel free to leave us a comment below if you have any questions about the best 3PL companies in Canada. Also, share your thoughts on the mentioned 3PL companies if you have any experience with them. We love to hear from online retailers who have utilized logistics providers and supply chain solutions in the past – especially if you’re shipping to Canadians in places from Brampton to Mississauga!

Joe Warnimont

Joe Warnimont is a Chicago-based writer who focuses on eCommerce tools, WordPress, and social media. When not fishing or practicing yoga, he's collecting stamps at national parks (even though that's mainly for children). Check out Joe's portfolio to contact him and view past work.

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