Canada Post is in deep financial crisis. These losses are truly unimaginable— at $3.8 billion in operating losses from 2018 through September 2024. Our beleaguered postal service has suffered record drops in mail volumes over the last twenty years. This significant decline has led to grave doubt about its long-term sustainability. The nonprofit is in stormy seas. Tensions with its largely unionized workforce have reached a boiling point, leading to demands for better working conditions and an end to bad faith contract negotiations.
With the rise of digital communication, Canada Post has experienced a 20% decrease in its letter deliveries. Letter volume has plummeted from nearly 5.5 billion letters a year to only 2.2 billion in 2023, an incredible 55% decline. This drop heralds a much larger industry wave. Today, the average Canadian gets just two letters per week – a dramatic decline from seven in 2006. The transition to digital communication and the emergence of competing messaging services have only added to these challenges.
Like other postal operators, Canada Post has responded to the declines in volume by slashing jobs. Employees who are unionized have dropped by 7%, down to 55,813. The service’s overall share of the parcel market has suffered a big blow. It crashed from 62% pre-COVID to only 29%, largely lost in the shuffle of intense competition from Amazon and other last mile delivery solutions.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is joining the charge on that by demanding action on employee safety. They have demanded an immediate national stop to all schedule changes over eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. This call for reform comes as Canada Post recently offered a nearly 14% wage increase over four years to its workers in an attempt to stabilize labor relations.
Dustin Ellis, a President of his local Canada Post mail carriers’ union expressed his fear on the corporatization of the organization. He’s chosen to deepen his commitment by taking a leave of absence to pursue a social work career. In light of the current situation, Ellis emphasized the need for democratic engagement within the union regarding the latest contract offer.
“Let us vote on a contract. Let democracy prevail.” – Dustin Ellis
Ellis, for one, is not worried about complacency taking root as early adopters expand—especially with the relatively new employees. He admits that this wish list doesn’t necessarily line up with today’s realities.
“They feel that everyone should be full time. That’s just not the reality of the world right now.” – Dustin Ellis
Experts like Whiteman believe the falling public demand for postal services has made some of that overtime excessive. Ian Lee, a professor at Carleton University, noted that employers are responding to shrinking workloads by limiting employee hours.
“There’s no need for overtime because the demand for the services of these workers has declined so precipitously.” – Ian Lee
Having just meandered into a potential bankruptcy from issuing an intent to strike notice, Canada Post’s parcel delivery route has collapsed. Since then, the postal service has shipped 1.3 million fewer packages. That’s a jaw-dropping 50% decrease, relative to the same timeframe in 2022. The last strike, which lasted 32 days, ended in mid-December. Then, in June, Canada Post announced it had obtained a $1 billion loan from the federal government to continue business as usual.
As Canada Post navigates this precarious landscape, it remains under pressure from both declining revenues and demands from its workforce. The future of this long-established institution hangs in the balance as it attempts to adapt to changing market conditions and respond to the needs of its employees.
