Outgoing Mail

While you’re welcome to submit both official and unofficial university mail for processing through TMU Mail Services, it’s important to note the differences and prepare your mailings accordingly.

Official university mail

• correspondences concerned with academic or administrative matters

• mail required to conduct the affairs of the university

• mail required to carry out the individual's professional and scholarly activities related to their discipline

• mailings on behalf of professional societies and other organizations are considered unofficial university mail. However, with advance approval from the department head in writing, the Mail Room will process and charge these items to the department account

Personal/Unofficial university mail

• personal correspondence concerned with domestic, personal or private matters

• should be kept separate from official mail

• should be placed into a non-university envelope with the appropriate postage in advance. Mail Services cannot provide postage for personal/unofficial university mail items

All recipient addresses must have a complete address. For Canadian addresses, please include a postal code without additional characters such as commas, periods or hyphens. For help finding a Canadian postal code, see the Canada Post (external link)  website.

Mail items must be properly prepared to prevent damage to mailing machines or injury to postal employees.

• all overstuffed and large manila envelopes should be sealed by the sender prior to mail pickup

• please do not close envelopes with staples or cover staples with tape

Restrictions may exist for mailing certain items to the USA and other foreign countries. If in doubt, please check the Canada Post (external link)  website.

Before mail is picked up, it must be separately bundled according to destination, e.g. by department within TMU, IUTS, Canada, USA, international.

TMU Mail Services provides postage for all mailings considered official university mail and ensures items conform to mailing regulations. We determine the most economical and fastest means on behalf of senders.

Once processed, postage and any other charges incurred from sending is charged back to individual departments. Please note that we cannot provide postage for personal/unofficial university mail items.

Parcels should be set aside from other mail, with a separate mail chit completed and marked "courier post".

Large or heavy parcels

If your parcel is larger than  9" x 12" x 10" and/or weighs over 20 lbs., please contact Receiving 24 hours in advance at receiving@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 557021 for a separate pickup.

Out-of-country parcels

Parcels going out-of-country require the following information:

• complete street address (P.O. Box is not acceptable)

• local phone number where possible

• cost centre

• package contents for customs purposes

• approximate value of shipment

• reason for shipping, e.g. sent back for repair, return to sender

For mailings of 50 pieces or more, please inform the Mail Room a few days in advance to allow for scheduling, handling and metering of your mail. Contact the Mail Room at 416-979-5000, ext. 557020.

Bundling items

Items part of a large-quantity mailing must be separated from regular mail and bundled according to destination, e.g. by department within TMU, IUTS, Canada, USA, international.

Sealing envelopes

Prior to pickup, please:

• seal large envelopes, overstuffed envelopes and envelopes with side flaps

• do not seal envelopes with top flaps - leave the flaps in an upright position

Non-standard envelopes

Please check with the Mail Room before purchasing envelopes if you intend to send a large quantity of:

• envelopes with non-standard closing flaps such as greeting card envelopes with a rectangular flap

• envelopes containing inserts of different sizes, making it uneven

All TMU internal mail should be placed in a brown interoffice mail envelope clearly showing the recipient’s name and department.

Items too large for interoffice envelopes should be securely wrapped and clearly marked “interoffice” to avoid loss amongst external mail.

Please ensure items intended for the inter-university transit system are marked with “IUTS” on the package.

Properly preparing packaging and mail chits helps ensure your items are processed on time and not returned for additional details or preparation. Ensure each piece, or bundle, of external mail includes a:

Mail chit

Please indicate on the chit:

• the date

• your department and eight-digit cost centre number

• total number of pieces by mail category, e.g. interoffice, external, courier

• the project or account number you’d like us to charge if items are not covered by the main department account. In these instances, please complete a separate chit as only one account should be indicated per chit

Mail without a properly completed mail chit cannot be processed.

To request mail chits, contact the Mail Room at 416-979-5000, ext. 557020 or receiving@torontomu.ca.

Return address

It’s important to include a name and department on the upper left-hand comer of the envelope or parcel, in case it needs to be returned to the sender.

Once prepared, envelopes and small parcels being sent by courier can be included for pickup in the daily mail run.

If your courier mailings contain large, heavy and/or multiple parcels, please contact Receiving 24 hours in advance for a separate pickup at receiving@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 557021.

Please ensure all courier items:

• include a recipient’s complete address

• indicate the department cost centre or the recipient’s courier account number if you’re sending the shipment collect

• arrive at the shipping department by 2:30 p.m. to allow time for the shipment’s data entry