Five weeks after snubbing Canadian readers, Amazon.com announced Tuesday that it has begun shipping the Kindle e-book reader north of the border.

"We know that Canadians have been waiting for it. We're super-excited to bring it them," Kindle director of product management, Jay Marine, said Tuesday morning.

He did not want to address what specifically caused the delay in getting the device to Canada.

As to why the reader is only available through Amazon U.S., as opposed to the company's Canadian distributor, Marine said, "It's simply the fastest way we could get it to Canada."

The e-book reader costs $259 (U.S.). Import fees are extra – Amazon's website estimated them this morning at $31 per unit. The unit ships in a week.

The Kindle comes equipped with access to 3G networks, meaning it can access your paid content outside of wireless hotspots with no additional fees.

The Kindle will have access to 300,000 book titles and more than 90 periodicals, including Canadian newspapers and magazines.