United Parcel Service Canada is the latest sponsor to board the Air Miles Reward Program managed by The Loyalty Group of Toronto.

ups is part of Air Miles’ business-to-business program and begins its involvement Oct. 1 in b.c., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where small business collectors will be issued one travel mile for every $10 spent on UPS Canada services.

Loyalty Group has sent a direct mail piece to the more than 60,000 small business Air Miles collectors in Western Canada announcing the new sponsor and will be following up with another mailing to the total body of 1.5 million collectors in those provinces.

Wunderman Cato Johnson handles Loyalty Group’s direct response advertising.

Paul White, director of marketing for UPS Canada, says the company decided to pilot the program out west first because it’s the area of the country where Air Miles is most popular.

He says 75% of Western Canada households are home to an Air Miles collector. He expects Ontario to grow to at least that level of penetration with the recent addition of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company of Canada as a sponsor.

A date hasn’t been decided for rollout to the rest of the country.

ups is signing up its current customers for the Air Miles program and has also sent a bonus offer via direct mail to ups and Air Miles customers.

Further support will come from a radio campaign from ups agency Ammirati Puris Lintas.

White says a decision hasn’t been made yet about television advertising for the Air Miles connection although two new commercials from Ammirati for ups have just launched. A tag line or Air Miles logo may be added to spots running in Western Canada.

The Air Miles Reward Program, which began in 1992, has experienced a recent influx of new sponsors. In addition to ups and a&p, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario has begun a test in its Toronto-area stores that offers consumers one Air Mile for every $20 purchase.