Art Packed
Art Packed is a Calgary based shipper and covers mostly western Canada but can hook you up with another shipper if you need to go across the border. I have used him and he is good. Art Packed posts a monthly updated schedule on his site

Crown Fine Art
Ships world wide – their site is easy to navigate to find the location and contact information of the office in your area. They have offices in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

US Art
Ships world wide and is based in the US – the site isn’t clear if they pick up in Canada, you would need to contact them to inquire.

Go Navis
Navis Pack & Ship specializes in the packing, crating, and shipping of fine art and have 5 locations in Ontario.

Pacart
Pacart came recommend by one of my readers and they say with “good results”.  Pacart ships across Canada and goes into the states (Chicago and New York). There is a monthly schedule posted on their site.

This list is also available on Artbiz’s links page.

Now saying all that…

When I shipped the work to New York I used an art shipper. Actually 2 art shippers; one from Calgary to Toronto, then handed off from Toronto to New York. They took care of everything and all the costs were quoted up front. It was expensive (close to $800 for 5 pc’s) but it arrived all very safe and sound.

I believe the trouble I had on the return delivery was because the gallery tiring to save money shipped my work FedEx Ground! Why is still beyond me, this was a very reputable gallery who ships work back and forth all across America but not that often across the border. Had they used an bonafide art shipper I don’t believe I would of had the problems I had.

Did I mention that all the work can back DAMAGED! They even managed to break a wood crate. That’s because they shipped via ground and my work was bounced all around the U.S. before it even managed to reach the border. You can imagine how my heart sank when the work finally arrived 2 weeks later.

I hear a lot of horror stories about damaged art and all the artist can do is throw their hands in the air in defeat. I thought that I was going to be one of those but the gallery owner really came through for me. He fought tooth and nail with FedEx and managed to get me a settlement. They also sent me the encaustic that I would need to repair the work, which I was able to do.

The typical scenario is that the artist pays to have the work shipped there and the gallery is responsible to incur the cost of the return. Perhaps it would be prudent to discuss the shipping methods up front before entering into a contract.

Here’s a list of some art shippers