The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) launched a nationwide strike Thursday afternoon, hours after the federal government announced it would permit Canada Post to phase out home delivery and close rural post offices as a strategy to reduce mounting financial losses.
Picket lines formed at facilities across the country after the union directed its members to walk off the job in protest. Regular mail and parcel deliveries are expected to be disrupted effective immediately.
The job action comes in direct response the federal government lifting a 30-year moratorium on closing rural post offices and ending the freeze on converting door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes. About four million addresses are still served by home delivery.
In addition, the government authorized Canada Post to relax delivery standards for letter mail. Non-urgent items will be routed primarily by ground rather than air, extending delivery windows from two to four business days to three to seven.
Officials said the measures were necessary to reduce losses at the Crown corporation. Ottawa estimates the mailbox conversions could save $400 million annually, with further savings from reduced air transport and network consolidation. Canada Post has been operating at a deficit for several years, posting a pre-tax loss of $407 million in the second quarter of 2025, its largest ever. Since 2018, cumulative losses have exceeded $5 billion.
The reforms follow recommendations released in May by the Industrial Inquiry Commission, headed by mediator William Kaplan. The panel concluded that Canada Post was financially unsustainable without major structural changes.
CUPW condemned the government’s decision and announced strike action within hours of the reforms being made public. In a statement, the union said Ottawa was “attacking the public postal service and workers” by allowing service reductions. The union maintains it has a valid strike mandate from earlier this year.
Thursday’s walkout is the second nationwide strike in less than a year. A month-long stoppage in late 2024 ended only after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered employees back to work. That dispute centred on wages, job security and weekend delivery.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MY LOCAL PAPER?
This is an evolving situation that could find resolution between now and the October 1 edition. However, Caribou Publishing is activating its contingency plan, very similar to the response to the November and December, 2024 work stoppage. Affected subscribers in every municipality we serve will have a nearby location where they can grab a newspaper. Stores that sell the newspaper already will be stocked with higher quantities. As always, copies can be grabbed any time at one of our locations during office hours. And the e-edition of our newspaper hosted on this website as well as at patreon.com/cariboupublishing will be FREE TO READ for the entire duration of the disruption, should it extend to October 1 and beyond.
“We are dealing with this situation and making plans as quickly as we can,” said Eric Anderson, Publisher of The Community Press and Senior VP of Caribou Publishing, late Thursday afternoon. “Our readers were incredibly understanding in the last go around, and I know for a fact we picked up new readers as a result of offering our product temporarily free online. I think advertisers can rest assured knowing that we’ll once again try our best to have our papers reach as many eyeballs as possible, as the entire nation deals with this ridiculous postal standstill.”
Anderson continued; “Canada Post, CUPW, and now the Federal government do not seem to recognize two major pillars of the post office’s customer base – rural Canada and community newspapers. The three parties seem determined to erode Canada Post into nothingness, and force every Canadian citizen and business that depends on Canada Post to suffer hardship. There is no foresight here, there appears to be no real leadership, and there is certainly no determination to stand up and put the customer first.
“We are beyond disappointed in having to deal with another strike, as well as the news earlier today that Canada Post is permitted to begin shutting down any rural post office it sees fit. At this moment, we consider our relationship with Canada Post, our primary means of distribution, as severely fractured. Many publications and businesses across the nation feel the same.
“We can’t apologize enough to our readers and customers for the disruption this has once again caused.”
