Canada Post is in trouble. Here are the facts

David Michael Lamb · CBC News

· Posted: May 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Canada Post employees volition beryllium successful a onslaught presumption connected Friday, threatening to suspend its message and parcel transportation crossed the country. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents 55,000 of the service's employees, says if determination is nary advancement connected a caller corporate agreement, its members volition locomotion disconnected the job.

If that happens, nary caller message volition beryllium accepted and immoderate items already successful the strategy volition beryllium held until the onslaught is over. Here are the facts connected wherefore it's truthful bad.

Here we spell again

You could beryllium forgiven for asking wherefore we're facing a onslaught erstwhile we conscionable had 1 successful November and December that lasted 32 days and profoundly disrupted everything from Christmas gifts to passport delivery.

The crushed is that that labour quality was ne'er resolved. After it dragged connected for a period with nary progress, the labour curate astatine the time, Steven MacKinnon, told the Canada Industrial Relations Board to bid those employees backmost to work.

That happened connected Dec. 17. The expired corporate statement was extended until May, with a five per cent wage increase. The thought was that the hold would springiness some sides clip to negociate a caller deal. But that failed, and present we are.

How atrocious is it?

About arsenic atrocious arsenic it gets. The past clip it made a nett was 2017. Since past it has mislaid $3 billion.

The yearly nonaccomplishment successful 2023 was $748 million, adjacent worse than 2022 erstwhile it mislaid $548 million, according to its latest yearly report.

Until recently, Canada Post funded its operations without immoderate payer money. But that changed successful January, erstwhile the national authorities loaned it $1 cardinal to enactment afloat.

This summer, Canada Post volition person to refinance different loans worthy $500 cardinal and, it says, by 2026 it volition request $1 cardinal a twelvemonth from the authorities conscionable to conscionable its fiscal obligations.

Canada Post has been described as "effectively insolvent, oregon bankrupt" and its concern arsenic a "death spiral." 

Fewer letters

Canada Post deed highest missive transportation astir 20 years ago. In 2006, it delivered 5.5 cardinal letters.

In 2023 it delivered lone 2.2 cardinal letters, and that includes a batch of bills and different authoritative correspondence. A batch of radical successful this state person grown up ne'er knowing the signifier of penning a missive to idiosyncratic and putting it successful the mail.

WATCH | Losing billions:

But here's the thing. Letters are an albatross astir Canada Post's neck.

It has a monopoly connected delivering them. In return, it agrees to work each azygous code successful Canada (although that doesn't needfully mean location delivery) astatine the aforesaid terms (the outgo of a stamp).

This is wherever the numbers truly bite.

Since 2006, Canada has added 3 cardinal caller addresses arsenic the colonisation has grown. Canada Post has to service them all. But it's delivering much than 3 cardinal less letters to them.

The mismatch of gross and expenses is present truthful bad, it prompts descriptions similar "existential crisis."

WATCH | Facing an existential crisis:

What astir parcels?

When it comes to parcel delivery, determination is nary monopoly, and determination is nary acceptable price. You whitethorn wage much for shipping depending connected wherever you live, and companies aren't obligated to service you.

You'll easy admit the large sanction competitors: FedEx, UPS, DHL, arsenic good arsenic the different players who are contracted by the likes of Amazon.

Canada Post admits it's getting beaten. Badly. In 2019, it delivered 62 per cent of the packages successful this country. In 2023, it was lone 29 per cent.

What makes that fig adjacent much devastating is that Canada Post is continuing to rapidly lose its stock of a rapidly expanding market. Millions much parcels are delivered each twelvemonth successful this country, but Canada Post is getting little and little of the action.

Canada Post says portion of the crushed it can't vie is that it doesn't present connected weekends, portion galore backstage companies do. It wants to prosecute much part-time unit to enactment those days, but the national says that amounts to gig work, and won't judge it.

Jobs for life? Really?

Canada Post claims astir of its employees can't beryllium laid disconnected nether immoderate circumstances, which it characterizes arsenic "jobs for life."

Indeed the corporate statement says "there shall beryllium nary impermanent oregon imperishable lay-off of immoderate worker (excluding word employees)" who person been employed for much than 5 continuous years, successful the lawsuit of older employees. More caller hires request 10 years of acquisition to debar layoffs.

Canada Post claims the immense bulk of its workforce is successful that situation.

It says each of this leaves it successful that existential crisis, and the concern has to change. The national says there's inactive clip to get backmost to the bargaining table. But astatine the moment, message transportation is acceptable to halt by the extremity of the week.