Canada Post starts accepting commercial mail as it ramps up post-strike operations

OTTAWA — Canada Post has started accepting commercial volumes of letters and parcels as it works to get back to normal operations following a month-long strike.

However, the postal service has warned that Canadians should expect delays into the new year as it deals with the backlog of mail.

“With a large, integrated network of processing plants, depots and post offices across the country, stabilizing operations will take time,” it said in a release.

“We remind all Canadians to expect delivery delays through the remainder of 2024 and into January 2025.”

Postal workers went back on the job Tuesday where they began to process pending mail and accept new shipments from customers.

Along with accepting commercial volumes starting Thursday, it says small business customers can now drop off parcels at all Canada Post facilities.

Canada Post said mail is being processed on a first-in, first-out basis, and it will start accepting new international mail on Dec. 23.

While shipments are slowly moving again, the damage is already done for many retailers, said Matt Poirier, vice-president of federal government relations for the Retail Council of Canada.

“The Christmas boom of sales was not fully realized this year,” he said.

The GST tax holiday is helping offset some of the hit, but the busiest shopping window has already closed, he said.

“It’s just unfortunate that the period before the tax holiday kicked in, which is typically the best time of year for retail, was upended.”

The Canada Post strike saw other shippers see a spike in volume, leading some to put restrictions in place including not accepting parcels from smaller carriers.

FedEx said Thursday it had lifted the five package drop-off limit it had instituted to manage the higher demand.

The shipping company said it had also added midnight sort operations at multiple Canadian hubs and is evaluating unscheduled pick-up requests daily based on local market conditions.

More than 55,000 employees were ordered back to work by the Canada Industrial Relations Board after it determined a deal could not be reached before the end of the year.

The Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers had been deadlocked in negotiations, with federal mediation on pause as key issues like wages and weekend expansion seemed to see no movement.

Now, the government has appointed an industrial inquiry commission to come up with recommendations by May 15 on how a new agreement can be reached, while the existing contracts have been extended to May 22.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press