A post office in downtown Ottawa, Ontario on November 19, 2018 (Photo by Michel COMTE / AFP)
Mail delivery has come to a halt after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) walked off the job on Sept. 25 in response to the federal government’s plans to change how Canada Post operates.
The latest postal strikes comes after Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced during a Sept. 25 press conference that Canada Post will transition from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes for 4 million additional addresses as Ottawa looks for ways to resolve the Crown corporation’s “existential crisis.”
Lightbound said the government plans to adopt all recommendations in a report from Industrial Inquiry Commissioner William Kaplan in a bid to improve its fiscal situation at a time when the agency is facing a loss of $1.5 billion this year.
The union, which represents more than 55,000 members nationwide, went on strike within hours of Lightbound’s press conference, calling his announcement “an outrage.”
“In response to the Government’s attack on our postal service and workers, effective immediately, all CUPW members at Canada Post are on a nation-wide strike,” the union wrote in a press release.
CUPW Pacific Region representative Blair Bancroft confirmed the strike was active as of roughly 2 p.m. PST Sept. 25.
“We are on full-blown strike. The entire country is on full strike,” Bancroft said in an interview with The Epoch Times. “The details are just kind of coming out at this point. But as of about an hour ago…we are on nationwide strike, full-blown shutdown.”
Majority of Mail Service to Be Shut Down
Canada Post said the strike will worsen its financial crisis and bring a halt to the majority of mail service.
“The Corporation is disappointed that the union chose to escalate their strike activity, which will further deteriorate Canada Post’s financial situation,” Canada Post spokesperson Lucy Liu wrote in a Sept. 25 statement provided to the Epoch Times. “Canada Post’s operations will shut down during a national strike, affecting millions of Canadians and businesses across the country.”
Liu said Canada Post and CUPW have committed to ensuring the continued delivery of socio-economic cheques during any work stoppage. This will guarantee seniors and other Canadians who depend on mailed financial assistance will still receive it, she said.
Liu said this is also a season when livestock are shipped, noting that measures are in place to complete shipments already in transit during the labour disruption. No new live animal shipments will be accepted, however.
If and when service resumes, deliveries will recommence, but Liu noted that longer delays can be expected even if the strike is resolved and said “processing and delivery may take some time to fully return to normal.”
Strike Follows Government Announcement
Lightbound said Ottawa’s decision to adopt Kaplan’s recommendations were a bid to address Canada Post’s insolvency.
Kaplan’s recommendations call for Canada Post to phase out door-to-door delivery for 4 million addresses which will be switched to community mailboxes, along with simplifying the process for raising postage rates and switching non-urgent mail from air to ground transport, extending delivery times from three or four days to up to seven days.
The recommendations also call for lifting a 1994 moratorium on closure of 4,000 rural post offices, some of which Lightbound said are in areas that have since become suburban and are no longer necessary, such as Richmond Hill, Ont., and Burnaby, B.C.
Lightbound said Canada Post has 45 days to come up with a plan to implement the major restructuring, which he said is crucial to keeping Canada Post alive. Ottawa estimates that implementing Kaplan’s reforms could save nearly $500 million annually.
Canada Post has described the plan as a step forward in restoring financial viability to the Crown corporation.
The agency has been in the red for some time.
It accumulated approximately $5 billion in losses Between 2018 and 2025. In 2024 alone, the corporation recorded a $1.3 billion shortfall and required a $1 billion federal bailout in January 2025. Aside from the $1.5 billion deficit it is expecting to post this year, the Crown corporation reported a second-quarter pre-tax loss of $407 million in August.
Canada Post said much of the financial strain stems from a steep drop in parcel revenues.
CUPW said in a May statement that it opposes the majority of Kaplan’s recommendations and seeks instead to expand Canada Post service.
“These recommendations could result in major job losses,” CUPW wrote. “On this, the Minister simply dodged questions from reporters. In accepting the Kaplan report, the Government has completely rejected the need to diversify revenue streams and expand services, accepting instead Canada Post’s requests for cuts.”
Labour negotiations have been ongoing for the past 18 months, including a month-long strike last year. Earlier this month, CUPW banned flyer delivery but ended a long-running overtime ban.
CUPW turned down what Canada Post said was its final offer, which resulted from a Canada Industrial Relations Board-supervised vote ordered by Labour Minister Patty Hajdu in August of this year. The offer proposed a 13 percent wage hike, while the union is asking for 19 percent. Negotiations remain deadlocked on key issues such as weekend delivery, the use of part-time staff, and the handling of flyer distribution.
Paul Rowan Brian is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.