‘Canada Post is in an existential crisis’: Canadians brace for another postal service shutdown

Canada Post is headed toward another strike—the second work stoppage in six months—if a deal can't be reached by Friday.

Canadians are bracing for another potential postal service shutdown as the union representing more than 55,000 postal workers issued a 72-hour strike notice on Monday afternoon, threatening to halt operations by Friday morning at midnight.

This marks the second strike notice in six months.

The looming work stoppage comes as disagreements between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continue.

Jon Hamilton, a spokesperson for Canada Post, says the future looks bleak for the mail business.

“Canada Post is in an existential crisis, and we need to work together, between the union and employer, to make changes to our collective agreement and other changes so that we can get out of this death spiral that we’re in, because mail continues to decline,” he said.

Hamilton says the union is resisting plans for modernization, such as changes to increasing the number of part-time workers and weekend shifts.

“We’ve been trying to make changes,” he said.

“We need to fix the core business. We need to make it strong, and trying to hold on with white knuckles to the past is a death sentence for the postal service as we know it.”

Wycliffe Oduor, president of CUPW Calgary Local 710, disputes those claims, blaming Canada Post for abandoning negotiations.

“(The workers) are disappointed because Canada Post has walked out of negotiations, (away from) the table, three times,” he said.

“Within the last week, they did send out a notice to our members letting them know that they are going to change the terms of employment, including cutting them off from benefits and possible layoffs.”

Oduor believes it is possible for the company to come back to the drawing board and iron out a deal.

“We do think that Canada Post is capable of coming back to the table, rather than running away,” he said.

Oduor believes Canada Post should look to other countries, including those in Europe, and offer other services.

“We can’t be like Blockbuster, just focusing on the core business,” said Oduor.

“We need to be innovative. We need to grow this and provide this service to Canadians, by Canadians, for Canadians.”

The potential strike has local business owner James Teague preparing.

My Everything Store provides medical and accessibility supplies for Canadians with disabilities by purchasing them online, with front-door delivery.

He uses other carriers such as Purolator or FedEx to deliver products, but a strike will have a knock-on effect for those seeking urgent medical devices.

“This is what happened last time, when the strike happened. All those other couriers must pick up the slack from Canada Post, and then everything starts to back up, because it’s not just medical supplies that are getting delivered,” said Teague.

“Fortunately, this is not Christmastime like it was last time.”

Teague says his business benefits people who may be confined to their homes.

“You don’t have to go to the store. You don’t have to fight the weather. It’s a fantastic service,” he said.

Teague says he wants his customers to be cautious of the strike and maybe make a larger order in case there are backups.

“Order extra. Have the extra on hand,” he said.

“Even if you hear supplies are good (and) you’re like, ‘OK, I got another month and a half,’ order now. Don’t wait. Because in that way you’ve got to stockpile in case this does happen to last longer than normal.”

A 32-day strike last November and December, during the peak shipping season, caused significant backlogs and disruptions.

No new items would be accepted until the strike ends, while those already in the system would be “secured” but not delivered, Canada Post says.

Social assistance cheques and live animals mark the two exceptions, with delivery of both continuing, it says, though no new animals would be let through.

Canada Post warns another disruption would deepen the company’s grave financial situation, which saw an $845-million operating loss in 2023.

On Friday, a federally commissioned report on the 158-year-old institution highlighted its flagging business model and recommended foundational changes, including phasing out daily door-to-door letter mail delivery for individual residences while maintaining it for businesses.

The 162-page paper by William Kaplan, who headed the commission, stated moratoriums on rural post office closures and community mailbox conversions should be lifted as well.

With files from The Canadian Press