Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (French: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (French: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada.
Canada Post
July 1, 1867 (as Royal Mail Canada)
$11.69 billion[2] (2024)
$−287 million[2] (2024)
72,000[3]
Purolator Inc. (91%)
Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Canadian government founded in 1867), the Canada Post Corporation Act of 1981 abolished the Post Office Department and created the present-day Crown corporation that provides postal service.[4] The act aimed to set a new direction for the postal service by ensuring its financial security and independence.[5]
Canada Post provided service to more than 16 million addresses and delivered nearly 8.4 billion items in 2022 and consolidated revenue from operations reached $11.11 billion.[6] Delivery takes place via traditional "to the door" service and centralized delivery by 25,000 letter carriers, through a 13,000 vehicle fleet. There are more than 6,200 post offices across the country, a combination of corporate offices and private franchises that are operated by retailers, such as drugstores. In terms of area serviced, Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation, including Russia (where Russian Post service in Siberia is limited largely to communities along the railway). As of 2022, nearly 3.5 million rural Canadian customers received residential mail delivery services.[7]
Canada Post operates as a group of companies called The Canada Post Group. It employs approximately 70,000 full and part-time employees. The Corporation holds an interest in Purolator Courier, Innovapost, Progistix-Solutions and Canada Post International Limited.[8] In 2000, Canada Post created a company called Epost, allowed customers to receive their bills from participating merchants and institutions online for free. In 2007, Epost was absorbed into Canada Post. In early 2022, Canada Post announced that the Epost service would be discontinued at the end of the year.
Canada Post (French: Postes Canada) is the Federal Identity Program name. The legal name is Canada Post Corporation in English and Société canadienne des postes in French. During the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, the short forms used in the corporation's logo were "Mail" (English) and "Poste" (French), rendered as "Poste Mail" in Québec and "Mail Poste" in the other provinces.[9] Although English-language advertising also still referred to the corporation as "Canada Post".
Labour relations[edit]
Canada Post has a history of troubled labour relations with its trade unions, particularly the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Letter Carriers Union of Canada (which merged with CUPW in 1989), culminating in periodic strike action that has halted mail service in Canada on different occasions. There have been at least 19 strikes, lockouts, and walkouts between 1965 and 1997,[49] including several wildcat strikes. A number of these strikes since the 1970s have seen the corporation employ strikebreakers, known colloquially as "scabs," resulting in back-to-work legislation being passed by the Canadian parliament.
In 2007, Canada Post was able to sign a four-year agreement with CUPW without any labour disruptions. For 2007, 2008, and 2009 the corporation was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine.[50][51] In 2008, a long strike by its administrative worker union — Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) - compromised customer service.
Nearly all Canada Post employees who are not in the CUPW belong to one of three smaller trade unions. The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association covers 12,000 rural workers, the Association of Postal Officials of Canada has 3,400 supervisors and the Union of Postal Communications Employees represents 2,600 technical workers.[52][53][54]
On June 2, 2011, a labour action involving rotating strikes (the first strike to affect Canada Post in 14 years) commenced with CUPW members striking in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in Hamilton, Ontario on June 3.[55] On June 14, 2011, Canada Post management locked out CUPW members, marking the 20th work stoppage in the 46-year relationship between CUPW and Canada Post. Back to work legislation was passed in the Canadian Legislature which also mandated arbitration by a government-appointed arbitrator.[56] This back to work legislation was challenged in court by CUPW for violating their constitutional right to strike. CUPW won this case in 2016[57] and the back to work legislation was ruled in violation of the constitution by the Superior Court of Ontario. A new collective agreement was signed in 2012 which included major concessions by the employees, such as a $4 per hour reduction in starting wages and the complete elimination of bankable sick days[58] Since this agreement was signed and agreed to by the membership of CUPW, the court ruling on the back to work legislation was of no effect.
In 2016, Canada Post and CUPW negotiated a two-year agreement without a labour disruption. This agreement expired January 31, 2018.[59]
Starting October 22, 2018, Canada Post workers have organized rotating strikes nationwide, the major friction points being major processing centers, including Toronto and Richmond.[60] In mid-November, annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday online purchases, and even Christmas holiday deliveries, appeared at risk.[61] With a 30-day backlog of mail stored in 600 trailers at distribution centers, CP appealed to the 190 Universal Postal Union (UPU) countries to hold Canada-bound mail.[62]
Rural mail[edit]
Safety of rural mobile delivery personnel on busy roads has been an ongoing concern. Canada Post launched the Rural Mail Safety Review as rural and suburban mail carriers across the country, supported by their union, raised complaints about workplace safety.[7] As of March 2008, there have been more than 1,400 such complaints. In some cases, the union staged protests in delivering mail, even after Canada Post tests showed there was no undue traffic safety risk at a particular mail box. Such cases were referred to Labour Canada, who in several instances asked Canada Post to cease delivery to mailboxes. In December 2006, the Canadian government ordered that Canada Post maintain rural delivery wherever possible. On January 1, 2004, rural route contractors became employees of Canada Post and joined the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
Letters to Santa Claus[edit]
Canada Post receives millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus each year. In 1974, three Canada Post employees started to respond to mail addressed to Santa in Montreal, Quebec. In 1982, Canada Post rolled out the initiative across Canada and pledged that every letter sent in would receive a reply. A stamp is not required when sending a letter to Santa Claus from Canada and there is a special dedicated postal code, H0H 0H0. About 15,000 current and retired employees respond in many languages to each letter received on behalf of Santa. Over the past 27 years, more than 15 million letters were written by volunteers. Canada Post also receives letters to God and, on occasion, the Easter Bunny.
In 2001, Canada Post started accepting e-mail messages to Santa. In 2006, more than 44,000 email messages were responded to.[76]
