There is increasing alarm over a pending shift in Canada Post’s letter delivery operations. Currently, heated conversations keep trending towards substitution community mailboxes instead of door-to-door service. Melissa Graham, the executive director of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities in Winnipeg, powerfully underscores this point. Most importantly, she illustrates how this transformation poses serious and purposeful obstacles to those with mobility crippling challenges. Today, nearly a quarter of Canadian residences still have their mail delivered directly to their doors. That’s about four million single-family homes found throughout all of our older, traditional neighborhoods.
In 2015, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his new federal Liberal government stepped in to impose a moratorium. This decision stopped the conversion from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes in their tracks. This decision has drawn praise and scorn from vastly different groups. Proponents of the universal residential service counter that it is necessary for people living in areas where they would have difficulty accessing neighborhood community mailboxes.
Judy Frank, a 78-year-old post-stroke widow living in sheltered housing, limited in movement and access, expressed how losing door delivery would affect her. “Not being able to get my mail at my door would make life harder,” she stated. Living with her is Kyara Moon, who uses a wheelchair. Moon spoke personally to the challenges that her elderly friend struggles with. She remembered an earlier mishap when Frank accidentally broke her wrist after she had fallen.
Frankie Thornhill, a local resident who’s been speaking out to keep door delivery in place, offered a better way forward. He suggested that Canada Post start door delivery once a week rather than the current service of five days a week. Thornhill drew upon his personal experiences with slip and fall incidents and discussed the dangers that come with trying to reach community mailboxes. “I ripped my hamstring off my pelvis three years ago, just from slipping on some ice that looked like a puddle,” he explained.
Joan Lang, a Regina resident who supports continued door delivery, expressed her need for assistance if the service were to change. “We used to get milk delivered to our home,” Lang recalled. “Now we’re used to going to the store.” Lang’s sentiments are echoed by seniors across the country who depend on reliable, universal mail service.
Glen Gower, a city councillor for Stittsville, appreciates how much his community has changed in the last 25 years. He noted that Stittsville used to be considered a rural community before being incorporated into Canada’s capital city. One thing that concerned him, though, was maintaining cost-effective postal services to every American. Yet it’s sitting on a massive chunk of valuable Crown land. “I do want to protect postal service as we know it,” he said.
Melissa Graham repeated her concerns about the new community mailboxes’ lack of accessibility. “So you had a lot of these boxes that were in very inaccessible, unwelcoming spaces for people with mobility disabilities,” she noted. “They often didn’t have braille, so you could not find your mailbox easily,” she added.
As conversations about the future of mail delivery grow increasingly urgent, everyone from consumers to elected officials are still sounding off on the ongoing debate. The debate reflects a growing awareness of how changes in public services can impact vulnerable populations, particularly seniors and individuals with disabilities.
