Amazon Canada has announced significant improvements to its same-day delivery service, which is now available in the Greater Toronto Area, Southwestern Ontario and the Vancouver metropolitan area. Prime members in these regions can receive orders as soon as seven hours after ordering thanks to a new delivery window from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. In addition, Amazon has introduced a new overnight delivery option, so orders placed by midnight will arrive the next morning.

This move builds on Amazon’s recent successes in delivery speed. The company has set a global record by delivering over 5 billion units on the same or next day so far this year, a 30% increase from last year. Prime members can use these expedited services at no additional cost on orders over $25, while non-members can still choose same-day delivery for a fee. This improvement reflects Amazon’s ongoing commitment to improving convenience for its customers.

The company also prioritized employee safety and operational efficiency, investing $750 million globally this year to improve security across its network. Amazon’s strategic improvements include placing products closer to customers to reduce delivery times and streamline the process.

In April, Amazon Prime announced faster delivery speeds overall. This year, at that time, over 2 billion packages reached customers in a day or less. In the first quarter of 2024, Amazon reported record performance: nearly 60% of Prime orders were delivered same-day or next-day in 60 major U.S. cities. This efficiency improvement underscores Amazon’s commitment to offering faster delivery options, though the impact on different products and regions remains unclear amid ongoing inventory issues and worker protests.

Amazon’s fast-delivery improvements are part of its broader strategy to strengthen its fulfillment infrastructure. The company has invested heavily in building its own delivery network, which includes planes, trucks, drones and robots, to compete with traditional carriers like FedEx and UPS. A new program also allows sellers to ship directly from the factory to customers, bypassing Amazon’s warehouses and further streamlining the process.

Despite this progress, Amazon is facing legal challenges from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accuses the company of unfair business practices related to Prime shipping and fulfillment services. The FTC’s actions could potentially affect the speed and reliability of deliveries. Since its launch in 2005, Amazon Prime has grown from free two-day shipping on 1 million items to offering free shipping on over 300 million items, including tens of millions with same-day or next-day delivery.