Quote Originally Posted by WAFKT
You'll still be charged C.O.D. for duty - it's possible that UPS includes custom brokerage fees in the shipping cost, that would explain why they've seem so reasonable

That's precisely it. The brokerage fee on UPS Standard is so high that it's actually cheaper to pay for expedited; plus it gets there faster. USPS, if it were available (only for certain few items on B&H IIRC), would be the cheapest option, since Canada Post is only an $8 brokerage fee.