It appears that Canada Post may have decided to classify record LPs as fragile items, in essence removing their liability as per their section 12.1.2 (c) of their General Terms and Conditions :

“Canada Post shall have no liability for damage of shipments containing Fragile Items. Fragile Items include but are not limited to ceramic, glass, porcelain, mirrors, crystal, pottery, china, perishable items or items requiring refrigeration or temperature-controlled transportation.”

I have personally never received broken LPs by mail, having last received a rape LP in the summer. But this causes me to be a bit nervous, although i’m sure most retailers will do their best to package vinyl correctly.

I guess I would suggest that you choose a courier other than Canada Post/Xpresspost or Purolator when shipping rare items that are fragile. The later also has a policy removing liability on fragile items and “Collectors’ items”.

Federal Express will insure collectible items up to $100 according to their policies (pdf) and UPS will require prior approval on these items. But shipments originating from the United States may have better coverage through these services so you might want to investigate your options when you order vinyl records and collectibles from abroad.