Business groups expect a “massive” hit to small company’s operations after unionized postal workers began a countrywide strike on Thursday evening.
But the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Ottawa must still push forward with announced changes to Canada Post’s business model, such as the eventual end to door-to-door mail delivery for nearly all Canadian households.
CFIB president Dan Kelly said a work stoppage around the holiday period last year cost small firms over $1 billion.
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He said that another labour action in the lead-up to the critical holiday retail shipping season “is especially troubling.”
“Small firms are still strong users of Canada Post, and a new business model can be quickly implemented if government gives the corporation the labour market protection it needs to get the job done,” Kelly said in a statement.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, representing 55,000 members of the postal service, said it was caught off guard by the federal government’s announcement, calling its strike a response to an “attack on our postal service and workers.”
Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound, who is responsible for the Crown corporation, announced Thursday several government measures including an end to a moratorium on community mailbox conversions. That authorizes the mail carrier to convert the remaining four million addresses that still receive door-to-door delivery in a move that would save nearly $400 million annually.
The government also said it would end a moratorium on closing rural post offices that has been in place since 1994, covering close to 4,000 locations. It said closing some of those post offices in regions that are no longer rural will reduce duplication in overserved areas.
Meanwhile, non-urgent mail will be cleared to move by ground instead of air, reflecting a decline in delivery volumes. Ottawa said this would save Canada Post more than $20 million per year.
Lightbound said the corporation is losing about $10 million per day, despite the federal government providing a $1-billion injection earlier this year to keep it operational.
The postal workers went on strike just hours after the government revealed the suite of reforms, marking the latest escalation in a labour dispute that has been going on for nearly a year.
A previous strike and lockout lasted more than a month in November and December 2024, ending after then-labour minister Steven MacKinnon declared an impasse in the talks and asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order an end to the work stoppage.
“Canada needs some form of temporary or permanent essential services legislation to ensure service continues while the reforms are going into effect,” the CFIB’s Kelly said.
“Small firms are counting on government and all political parties to make this happen.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce called on both sides to return to the bargaining table and commit “to good faith negotiation focused on how to best support consumers and businesses.”
“Canadians are counting on Canada Post to deliver and, following years of repeated supply chain disruptions, another strike is not welcome news,” said Pascal Chan, the chamber’s vice-president of strategic policy and supply chains, in a statement.
