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No. LetterAgent's labels only cover Canada Post Xpresspost parcels under five kilograms, and propane tanks and camping gas canisters are pressurized flammable gas that Canada Post will not carry. Even empty tanks are still regulated. Here is the full picture.
| Item | Classification | Canada Post |
|---|---|---|
| Full 20 lb BBQ propane tank | Class 2.1 flammable gas | Refused: heavy, pressurized, flammable |
| Small camping canister (butane/propane mix) | Class 2.1 flammable gas | Refused: size does not change the class |
| "Empty" tank or canister | Still a hazardous article until properly purged and certified gas-free | Refused without dangerous-goods certification |
| Purged tank with gas-free certificate | Regulated but reclassifiable by a qualified service | Consumer mail still not the channel: needs freight with paperwork |
This is the trap. A propane tank that "feels empty" is not empty: it still holds residual gas and vapor at atmospheric pressure, and residual propane is still flammable. Dangerous-goods rules treat a used container as still containing the substance until it has been purged by a qualified process and documented as gas-free. Nobody's garage purge with the valve open qualifies. Even a properly purged tank needs its valve protected (the protective cap or collar) because the valve is the fragile point: snap it off and the tank becomes a pressurized projectile. That is why carriers keep the rule simple and say no to consumer parcels.
Not in any way that helps you. USPS does not accept pressurized flammable gas in consumer mail, and the private couriers classify propane the same way: a dangerous good that only moves through their hazmat channels, which are set up for commercial shippers with training and accounts. A consumer label cannot tap those channels. The camping canisters people most want to ship (the small green bottles) look harmless on a shelf, but the rules measure chemistry and pressure, not size.
For a move: use up, donate, or sell the propane locally, and buy fresh at the new location. A full BBQ tank holds months of grilling; an unused one sells fast on local marketplaces. Camping canisters that are genuinely spent go to hazardous-waste collection, not the garbage and definitely not a mailbox. If you are gifting camping gear, ship the stove or lantern (unfueled) and let the recipient buy fuel locally: fuel canisters are sold at every outdoor shop in Canada and the US.
Refill stations and propane dealers will often take back a tank you no longer want, and many municipalities accept propane tanks at hazardous-waste collection days. The deposit-style exchange cages at gas stations and hardware stores (the kind where you swap an empty cylinder for a full one) also accept tanks that still have life in them. The one thing you should not do is put it in the regular garbage: crushed tanks in garbage trucks have caused fires when residual gas met the compactor.
Usually, yes: personal transport in your own vehicle is the normal way people move propane, and it is why camping works at all. The safety rules are common sense made strict: upright, secured so it cannot tip or roll, valve cap on, away from direct heat, and never left for hours in a hot closed car. Cylinders should ride in ventilated space (a trunk is fine briefly; an open truck bed is better), and you should never transport a tank with the valve open or a hose attached. Personal transport is not a loophole in the mail rules: it is just a different, explicitly normal, activity.
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