Canada Post puts community mailbox program on hold

With the Liberals set to form government, Canada Post announces it is suspending move to end door-to-door delivery.

Thestar.com
Oct. 26, 2015
By Vanessa Lu

Canada Post is putting on hold plans to switch customers from door-to-door mail delivery to community mailboxes as the federal Liberals, who promised to restore the service, are set to take office next week.

The Crown agency issued a short statement on Monday, saying it was “temporarily suspending” the conversion program, and promised to work collaboratively with the federal government to determine the best path forward.

“Efforts are now underway to place the comprehensive program on hold in an orderly fashion,” the statement said, noting that service will remain unchanged for about 460,000 addresses that are in process of being switched over.

Canada Post has been struggling with declining mail volumes in the age of email and texting, and argued that dramatic changes were needed for the agency to remain in the black.

Ending door-to-door delivery was a move supported by the Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, along with hikes to stamp prices and shrinking the Canada Post workforce.

Canada Post’s move to end door-to-door home delivery was touted as a cost-savings measure, though it was opposed by many disabled and seniors’ groups.

All conversions planned for November and December 2015, and those announced for 2016, are now all on hold. Big cities like Toronto were not slated for any changes until 2017 at the earliest.

Residents living in neighbourhoods that have already made the switch, such as Oakville, which was among the first converted last year, will continue to use community mailboxes.

Both the Liberals and the New Democrats campaigned on a promise to restore door-to-door mail delivery. In some communities, switchover plans resulted in bitter protests, and even a lawsuit in Hamilton over where the mailboxes were placed.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers welcomed the news, and argued that the planned cuts should be “permanently cancelled and delivery restored to the thousands of people who have lost it.”

The union added in an emailed statement that “there has never been an economic or a moral justification for these cuts,” noting that Canada Post has been profitable.