Dive Brief:

• UPS last week announced enhancements to U.S.-to-Canada routes so that Canadian businesses and online shoppers receive their shipments a day faster.
• As demand grows from customers shipping to Canada, UPS says it's improving its ground network between Chicago and most of Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. 
• The changes will affect businesses across the Midwest and Western U.S. in all industries. The move will help facilitate the volume of items going from 114 U.S. cities and through UPS' Chicago consolidation hub to Montreal.

Dive Insight:

UPS' announcement comes as parcel delivery services are attempting to expedite their offerings in order to maintain market share. 

UPS brokers over 6 million shipments into Canada annually and notes that Canadian e-commerce grew by 17 percent in 2015, with 62% of Canadians already making purchases from American electronic retailers. Most of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border, which helps fuel demand for U.S. goods, the delivery company says.

But Amazon's recent announcement of its plans to operate 40 cargo planes has various delivery services worried the electronic retailer will cut into their market share. Canada Post, for example is concerned Amazon — which is the mail service's largest parcel customer — will begin to compete directly with the mail and parcel service provider.