OTTAWA – The 2024 Canada Post report outlines financial loses last year that total $841 million before tax.
The report, released on May 28, states Canada Post has had seven consecutive years of significant losses. In 2023, it reported $748 million in losses.
The corporation cited the financial impact of last year’s strike in the report, estimating the labour disruption contributed a net negative impact of $208 million towards the year’s losses.
“Parcel revenue and volumes, which had already declined through the first three quarters, fell sharply for the full year, by 20.3 per cent and 19.9 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous year,” it states.
The report featured a section titled “The great mail decline continues,” which outlined the continued decline in letter mail deliveries and revenue.
“Letter mail, the long-standing foundation of the postal system, has been declining steadily for almost two decades,” states the report. “In 2006, the year Canada hit peak mail, we delivered almost 5.5 billion letters. In 2024, we delivered two billion letters, and that erosion will continue.”
According to the report, the average household received an average of seven letters per week in 2006, a sharp contrast to today’s average of two a week.
“This ongoing decline in letter mail volumes is significantly eroding an important source of revenue for Canada Post. A postal system built for 5.5 billion letters can’t survive on two billion letters,” the report continued.
While letter mail is on the decline, parcel delivery has seen a dramatic rise since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Canada Post has quickly fallen behind over the last few years after competition in the parcel delivery market exploded during the pandemic-driven online shopping boom,” it states.
The report noted a need for change, as Canada Post’s delivery system is “outdated” due to competition and changes in delivery needs.
“Broader change is urgently needed to preserve and modernize the postal system,” the report states.
“We need flexibility in our delivery model, collective agreements, and regulatory and policy framework to better serve Canadians and compete in today’s parcel delivery market.”
Labour negotiations
Negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) remain at a standstill.
After presenting what it called its final offer to CUPW on May 28, Canada Post asked the Minister of Jobs and Families to direct that a vote take place on the offer.
CUPW rejected the corporation’s offer and voiced its destain towards the mandated vote, instead extending an invite to Canada Post to a final arbitration to resolve all outstanding issues.
“CUPW strongly believes that the Canada Post requested government-imposed vote on Canada Post’s last global offers will not bring labour relations peace to these parties for the foreseeable future,” state CUPW officials. “A forced vote will not necessarily terminate the labour dispute, which should be the objective of Canada Post, which has expressed concerns about the severe impact of the labour dispute on its business.”
Canada Post rejected this offer.
“After 18 months of challenging negotiations with [CUPW], Canada Post is seeking a timely and fair resolution to restore stability to the postal system while ensuring employees have a voice in the process by allowing them to vote,” stated Canada Post.
“The union’s proposal to send the matter to binding arbitration would do the opposite.”
