Can You Mail a Legal Notice or Demand Letter Online?
Usually not with ordinary lettermail. If a law, a court, or a contract requires you to prove the recipient received your notice, you need Registered Mail, a bailiff, or a process server. Ordinary letter mail — including every online print-and-mail service, ours included — produces no proof of delivery.
The distinction that matters
| Ordinary lettermail | Registered Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Proof you sent it | No | Yes |
| Signature on delivery | No | Yes |
| Tracking | No | Yes |
| Can be sent online end-to-end | Yes | No — requires a post office |
Registered Mail exists specifically to create evidence. Canada Post describes it as the service for those who need proof of mailing and proof of delivery. That signature is the entire point, and it is why it cannot be done from a browser: someone has to hand the item over a counter.
When proof is actually required
This is jurisdiction-specific and this article is not legal advice, but the common cases in Canada are:
- Formal notice in Quebec (mise en demeure). Quebec's own guidance is that a formal notice should be sent by registered mail or served by bailiff, and that you may have to prove receipt to a court. Québec.ca sets out the process.
- Residential tenancy notices. Most provinces prescribe exactly how a notice to end tenancy or a rent increase must be served, and email is frequently not on the list.
- Contractual notice clauses. Plenty of commercial agreements specify the delivery method for notices. If yours says registered mail, ordinary mail does not satisfy it, however reasonable that feels.
- Anything with a limitation period. If a deadline starts running when the other side receives the letter, you need to be able to show when that was.
The rule of thumb: if you can imagine standing in front of a decision-maker being asked “how do you know they got it?”, ordinary mail is the wrong tool. Go to a post office and send it Registered, or use a bailiff or process server.
What ordinary mail is genuinely fine for
Most correspondence, including a lot of correspondence that feels formal:
- A first approach before anything is in dispute — a polite request to pay an invoice.
- Invoices, statements, and receipts.
- Cover letters and supporting documents accompanying an application.
- Notices where the contract or statute does not prescribe a method.
- Anything where the recipient is not going to contest having received it.
A common middle path
Sending the same letter twice, by two methods, is normal practice and often explicitly contemplated: Registered Mail for the evidentiary copy, and an ordinary copy by regular mail or email so the recipient actually reads it promptly rather than waiting on a delivery attempt notice. The registered copy is for the file; the ordinary copy is for the human.
And keep a copy of whatever you send, with the date. That costs nothing and is the first thing you will be asked for.
To be plain about our own product: sendletter posts standard Canada Post lettermail. There is no tracking and no signature. If you need proof of receipt, we are the wrong choice, and we would rather say so here than take the order.
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