Record losses for Canada Post in 2025.
The company says they lost $1.57 billion before tax.
That’s $728 million more than the year before.
In a release, Canada Post says labour uncertainty weighed on business, and decades-old rules and frameworks impede their modernization, and ability to compete.
They say parcel volumes fell sharply.
The company adds that it underscores the need to transform and move away from cash injections.
The union representing Canada Post (CUPW) employees says two years of tough negotiations have led to tentative agreements that protect key provisions and deliver improvements for workers.
The National Executive Board has voted to accept the deals for both postal bargaining units and is recommending members vote yes during ratification in the new year.
The agreements include higher wages with inflation protection, improved benefits without changes to premium cost-sharing, and retention of Article 53 job security in the Urban collective agreement. Other gains include limits on late start times for letter carriers, no dynamic routing, and no load leveling for either bargaining unit. The defined benefit pension plan remains unchanged, and 393 corporate retail counters are protected under Appendix I.
The union says the agreements also provide an extra year of stability, with both deals expiring January 31, 2029.
Language around short-term disability and personal days will be finalized by mid-January, with ratification votes to follow. There will be no strike or lockout activity during the voting period.
Union leaders say the outcome reflects the strength and persistence of members in the face of significant challenges.
A detailed summary of changes will be published soon, and voting details will be shared in the coming days.
Canada Post has submitted a transformation plan to the federal government laying out how the corporation will adapt.
The federal government removed barriers to reform and directed Canada Post to implement concrete changes that respond to the rapidly changing environment and avoid becoming a recurring burden to taxpayers.
The plan was submitted to Public Works Minister Joël Lightbound.
Some of the proposed changes include converting all households to community mailboxes, modernizing the network of post offices, amending service standards for letter mail and reducing overhead costs.
In a statement Monday, president and CEO Doug Ettinger said the plan responds to Canada Post’s challenges and modernizes the postal service to support the current economy while serving all Canadians.
“While our situation requires that we act with urgency, we will be thoughtful and respectful in our approach and responsive to feedback,” Ettinger said. “Canadians deserve a postal service that is strong, stable and focused on meeting their changing needs, and we are focused on delivering on that.”
According to a press release from Canada Post, its approach to transformation will be guided by a set of five principles: prioritizing service, proceeding thoughtfully, treating employees with respect, keeping Canadians informed and flexibility.
Canada Post will work with the federal government on the plan. It will be released to the public once it has been finalized.
Postal workers continue to engage in rotating strikes while trying to negotiate a new contract with Canada Post.
Canada Post has eliminated an unknown number of management positions as part of corporate-wide restructuring.
In a statement, president and CEO Doug Ettinger said Canadians have changed how they use the postal service, and Canada Post must adapt.
“We are embarking on a major transformation to strengthen the postal service and become more self-reliant and service-focused,” he said. “At the same time, we need to ensure our costs better align to our financial realities, which means our organization will be leaner at all levels going forward.”
A separate statement from Canada Post said as the corporation continues to implement measures announced by the federal government on Sept. 25, it will not share further details.
“We can confirm that the changes will align with the government’s expectation that leadership and structural change from within the corporation is essential,” the statement said.
The layoffs come at the same time postal workers are engaged in rotating strikes across the country.
Some Canada Post workers have returned to the job, but more delays are possible due to rotating strikes, meaning workers in select location are on strike temporarily until the strike moves to another location.
The postal service is ramping up its operations after the national strike ended, but mail will not be delivered and packages will not be accepted in places affected by the rotating strike.
As of Tuesday, workers were on strike in:
Another strike in Timmins, Ont., has ended, the release said.
Operations will resume as quickly as possible once the strike rotates to another location, but they cannot guarantee reliable service, so customers should expect delays with shipping.
Canada Post says they are still waiting for a response to their offer presented on Oct. 3.
They say the offer treats employees fairly and considers the financial needs of the corporation.
However, Juanita MacInnis, president of the Port Hawkesbury Local, told our newsroom that it isn’t entirely true the postal service sent another offer. She says they sent the same one already.
“They are lying. They left the table. You can’t negotiate if you left the table,” said MacInnis.
She added that she thinks Canada Post just expects the union to decline the offer.
Striking postal workers are going back to work.
Sort of.
The president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers announced Thursday night that the nationwide strike action would end.
Jan Simpson said starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, the union would switch to rotating strikes.
She said locals that will be rotating out will be informed closer to the time they’ll take action.
CUPW members have been off the job since Sept. 25. They walked out after the federal government announced reforms to Canada Post to stabilize the corporation’s finances.
Simpson said the union couldn’t stand by as the government authorized Canada Post to “gut our postal service and slash thousands of our jobs.”
She also said the Sept. 25 announcement let Canada Post make a mockery of the negotiating process.
Simpson said union leadership will meet with Minister Joël Lightbound next week. Lightbound is the minister responsible for Canada Post.
Canada Post must adapt to a modern world, the corporation’s president and CEO said Wednesday.
In an open letter to Canadians, Doug Ettinger said he supports the measures announced last week by the federal government.
The letter comes in the middle of another strike by postal workers across the country.
Ettinger said a lot has changed in terms of how people use the postal service since it became a Crown corporation more than 40 years ago.
“Mail has been in decline since 2006,” he said. “Each year, Canada Post delivers fewer letters to a growing number of households. This means mail revenues are decreasing while costs are rising.”
Ettinger said when Canada Post loses money, it’s taxpayers who must pay the bill.
“A bill which currently amounts to about $1 billion a year,” he said. “That is not sustainable, nor is it necessary.”
Ettinger said there are practical changes that can be made to modernize the postal service and make it financially sustainable.
He listed switching from door-to-door delivery to the community mailbox model, updating the retail network, and reducing staff numbers as some of the ways Canada Post can reduce its costs.
“Canadians have been changing the way they use the postal service, and we must change with them,” he said.
He said management also remains committed to reaching negotiated agreements with striking postal workers.
“It’s vital these agreements reflect our financial reality and support the changes we need to make,” he said, adding they must help Canada Post reduce reliance on taxpayer funding.
Nostalgic travel posters from the 20th century are featured in five new stamps from Canada Post.
The Vintage Travel Posters collection puts the spotlight on alluring ads from the 1930s to 1950s.
As Canada’s popularity as a tourist destination surged, railways and steamship companies commissioned illustrators and designers to create eye-catching posters.
“Ad campaigns beckoned people to explore Canada’s wild beauty and urban attractions by promising world-class adventure, scenery and luxury,” said a news release from Canada Post.
A total of five posters were selected for the release, including:
Officials unveiled the new stamps at the inaugural CAPEX 22 International One Frame Stamp Championship Exhibition in Toronto.
Canada Post is highlighting endangered whales this week with the release of a new stamp.
The stamps will help raise awareness of five endangered whale species.
They are:
There are more than 30 species of whales in Canadian waters, but these populations are at risk.
This is due to ship strikes or entanglement in fishing gear and debris. Pollution, climate change and ocean noise are also a threat.
Stamps will be available for purchase at post offices starting on May 20.
“It’s really important to have these whales recognized as Endangered. This recognition can lead to legal protection. It can also lead organizations and people to act voluntarily to stop activities that harm the whales,” says Dr. Hal Whitehead, a biologist and professor at Dalhousie University and co-chair of the COSEWIC Marine Mammals Specialist Subcommittee. “Thirdly, it raises awareness that we have a problem here, and we need to do something about it.”
The scaling back of Canada Post services could be happening in the not so distant future.
Minister for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Filomena Tassi, asked Canadians back in December about possible changes to services provided by the Crown corporation.
Items of note of services that could change include;
The change could come as a result of consistent losses the mail company has posted.
While 2021’s data isn’t fully available yet, the self-funded corporation did lose $570 million on revenue earned of $9.3 billion for 2020. It was indicated that there was a lost of $264 million on revenue of $5.4 billion in its third quarter according to a report published in November 2021.
