OTTAWA—It may have been a simple off-the-cuff musing by the minister who oversees Canada Post, Jean-Yves Duclos, but his suggestion that Canada Post might consider ending daily mail delivery set off a firestorm of concerns. The comment came when the minister was questioned about the recent revelation that the Crown agency was facing an unsustainable $748 million deficit for 2023.
The Expositor reached out to Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes to unearth some clarity as to what is transpiring at Canada Post.
“It’s no secret that Canada Post has entered a rough patch in recent years,” noted Ms. Hughes. “They posted a loss of $748 million last year. The Crown Corporation has recently sold off subsidiary companies Innovapost Inc., responsible for their IT services, to Deloitte Canada, and SCI Group, their third-party logistics business, to Metro Supply Chain Inc. While those sell-offs are going to likely help their business in the short term, it only stands to reason that they will have to rely on outsourcing with increased frequency, which always costs Canadians more in the long run.
“That being said, we’ve heard no specifics on any proposals to Canada Posts business model or changes to mail delivery. I haven’t seen any announcement on possible future plans from the corporation. Canada Post’s mandate is to provide good quality postal services to all Canadian citizens and businesses.
“If they are concerned about the future of their business, it may mean pivoting into a different business model such as e-commerce. It would allow Canada Post to provide those last mile services for packages, which the U.S. Postal Service has done to some success when they started facing similar financial loses. CUPE has previously proposed postal banking, which can give Canadians, particularly those in rural and remote communities who may be losing actual bank branches in their communities more banking options. There are always options on the table.”
Getting rid of daily mail delivery is not an option Canada Post is considering, the Crown corporation’s president and CEO Doug Ettinger told MPs recently, going on to note that Canada Post has been asking for changes to its governing regulations, including around how often it has to deliver letter mail.
But Doug Ettinger told the House government operations committee that if anything, the Crown corporation needs to expand its operations to compete with private companies in package and parcel delivery in order to compete.
Following the furor, Minister Duclos clarified his remarks, noting that the federal government was prepared to do “Whatever we need to support Canada Post in supporting Canadians, it will be envisaged, as we need Canada Post in the future.”
