How to Get Your Canada Post API Key and Secret

To connect BTCPost (or any shipping integration) to Canada Post, you need an API Key and API Secret (called a "password" by Canada Post). These come from the Canada Post Developer Program, which is free to join.

Prerequisites

An active Canada Post account. If you don't have one yet, see the guide How to Use Canada Post with Crypto first.
You must be logged in to Canada Post on a desktop browser. The Developer Program is not accessible from the mobile app.

Log In to Canada Post

Go to canadapost-postescanada.ca and sign in with your username and password.

Navigate to the Developer Program

Once logged in:

In the top navigation, click Business
Hover over or click E-Commerce
Select Integrate with Our APIs
On the page that loads, click the Go to Developer Program button

Alternatively, you can go directly to: canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/drc/home

Join the Developer Program

If this is your first time accessing the Developer Program:

You will be shown the License Agreement
Read through the terms, then click Agree and Continue
You are now a member — no approval process, no waiting period

If you have already joined previously, this step is skipped and you land directly on the Developer Program dashboard.

Find Your API Keys

On the Developer Program main page, look for the API Keys section in the left-hand sidebar and click it.

You will see two sets of credentials:

Key Type	When to Use
Development Key + Password	Testing and sandbox use only — no real charges
Production Key + Password	Live shipping, real labels, real billing

Each set has two values:

Username — a long alphanumeric string that identifies your application
Password (API Secret) — the corresponding secret used to authenticate API calls

Canada Post calls the secret a "password", but it functions as an API secret key. Treat it like a password — do not share it or commit it to public code repositories.

Copy Your Production Credentials

For live use with BTCPost, you need the Production key pair.

Click to reveal or copy the Production Username
Click to reveal or copy the Production Password
Store both in a safe place (a password manager is recommended)

Finding Your Customer Number

Your Customer Number is a 10-digit number assigned to your Canada Post account. It is separate from your API key but required by most integrations.

Go to My Profile
Your Customer Number is listed under the Account Information section

Enter Credentials in BTCPost

Back in BTCPost:

Go to Settings > Provider > Canada Post
Paste your Production Username into the API Username field
Paste your Production Password into the API Password field
Enter your Customer Number
Save the settings

BTCPost will verify the connection. If the status shows Connected or Active, you are ready to start generating labels and rates.

Notes

Development vs Production keys

Use the Development key only while testing. Shipments created in the sandbox environment are not real and will not be billed, but they also will not produce valid labels. Switch to the Production key before going live.

Regenerating keys

If your keys are ever compromised, you can regenerate them from the same Developer Program dashboard. Regenerating keys will immediately break any existing integrations using the old keys — update BTCPost right away after regenerating.

Customer Number

This is a separate identifier from the API key. It is an 8–10 digit number assigned to your Canada Post account and is used for billing and shipment tracking. You can find it under My Profile once logged in.

Key access is free

Joining the Developer Program and obtaining API keys costs nothing. You are only billed when you generate real shipping labels in the Production environment.

Quick Reference

What you need	Where to find it
API Key (Production)	Canada Post Developer Program > API Keys
API Password / Secret (Production)	Canada Post Developer Program > API Keys
Customer Number	Canada Post account > My Profile
Developer Program URL	canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/drc/home

BTCPost is an independent shipping plugin for WooCommerce and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Canada Post. This guide is provided for informational purposes only; Canada Post's services and Developer Program are governed by their own terms and policies, which may change.