Kleinburg homeowners launch petition over postal code fight with Canada Post

Vaughan Citizen
January 23, 2013
By Adam Martin-Robbins

They thought that they’d bought homes in the highly sought-after community of Kleinburg.
After all, the towering signs and the brochures marketing three massive new subdivisions along Major Mackenzie Drive, west of Hwy. 27 say that’s the case.

But now a group of homebuyers are fuming after discovering that, at least in Canada Post’s eyes, their new homes are in Woodbridge.

Wayne Magro is among them.

He learned, through an online forum for new homeowners, that Canada Post assigned a Woodbridge postal code — L4H — instead of a Kleinburg postal code — L0J — to homes in the Kleinburg Hills, Kleinburg Crown Estates and Impressions in the Village of Kleinburg developments.

“This is not acceptable to myself and a lot of the other purchasers, too,” he said. “It’s Kleinburg and we want to be part of that community. That’s what we paid for and that’s what it was marketed as by all the developers and builders.”

He pointed out that having a Woodbridge postal code could create a number of issues, including getting the appropriate automobile and home insurance rates, which are determined using postal codes.

In fact, when Mr. Magro inquired about insurance for his vehicle recently, he was told rates for those with a Woodbridge postal code would be between $121 and $144 higher per month than for those with a Kleinburg postal code.

There’s also the frustration of having to constantly explain to family, friends and the local pizza parlour that although it has a Woodbridge postal code, your home is actually in Kleinburg, he noted.

Another major concern for many people, Mr. Magro said, is that this might affect the resale value of their homes.

Vahram Iritsyan shares many of those concerns.

“When I first found out, I was like what the hell is going on?” Mr. Iritsyan, a father of two and a Woodbridge resident, said. “People paid a premium. The prices up there are not Woodbridge prices, they are Kleinburg prices. (The postal code) affects everything: the resale market value, the insurance, which in Ontario could be quite a bit different.”

Sergio Milani feels the same way.

“The reason we bought there is that it’s a Kleinburg address,” Mr. Milani, also a Woodbridge resident, said. “My biggest concern is the resale value of the home. I won’t be able to sell the home for nearly the amount I paid for it.”

Eugene Knapik, a Canada Post spokesperson, said the crown corporation is aware of these concerns and is “taking a close look at it” to see if anything can be done.

But, he added, mail delivery for much of Kleinburg has long been handled by the Woodbridge post office.

“There’s no space in the Kleinburg post office to support growth and there hasn’t been in many years,” he said. “We’ve serviced much of the growth around the original village out of Woodbridge, going back through the ‘90s. And details of that were worked out with the mayor and other officials as early as, I think, 1989.”

He also said that if people have concerns about how their insurance rates are calculated, they should discuss them with the insurance industry.

“Canada Post designates postal codes for the purpose of facilitating delivering the mail,” he said. “We don’t approve or control how the insurance industry or other organizations use our postal codes.”

Maple/Kleinburg Councillor Marilyn Iafrate is working with some of the homebuyers to try to resolve the issue.

She was “disgusted” when she found out Canada Post had assigned a Woodbridge postal code to the area.

“It’s the arrogance of coming in and just deciding that this little village is going to change just because we (Canada Post) said so, because we can’t handle your mail anywhere else. … That’s what really bothered me,” she said.  “When you’ve got these little communities that are fighting to keep their identity, like Kleinburg, and then you just come in and say, ‘Well, sorry. too bad, we’ve decided that today you’re going to be Woodbridge.’ You just can’t do that.”

Ms Iafrate has drafted a resolution asking Canada Post to recognize the area as Kleinburg and change the mailing address designation to reflect that.  

The resolution was passed by the city’s committee of the whole last week and is slated to come before council for final approval next week.

Ms Iafrate is also miffed that when she contacted Vaughan Conservative MP Julian Fantino’s office about the issue, the response she got back was that the city had to take the lead in dealing with it.

“It’s a federal matter. It’s their responsibility,” she said. “ We wouldn’t be in this mess if Canada Post had looked for the (most recent) map of the Kleinburg/Nashville community plan rather than basing its decision on a 1990-whatever map.”

Some homebuyers, meanwhile, have created an online petition — http://chn.ge/KImjqa — asking Mr. Fantino to help them in their fight with Canada Post.

But he says there’s a process that has to be followed.

“First off, I should say the post office is an arm’s length agency of the government. I don’t tell them what to do, they don’t ask me what to do,” Mr. Fantino said. “(Councillor Iafrate) was advised by us that we do engage and we will engage in this matter, but what needed to be done first, as per the rules of engagement, is that the City of Vaughan, needed to submit a formal request to Canada Post, at which time Canada Post will proceed with the due diligence required to address this issue. …

“I have to take exception with the councillor’s apparent either lack of information or lack of appreciation for how business is done. We’re getting fingered for something that really should be her lead and if she wants to deeply care about this, it’s up to her to follow the script and get on with it.”