Question Period Note: Canada Post Transformation

The Government has instructed Canada Post to take steps to transform its operations and work toward becoming financially self-sustaining.

Note:

Questions regarding the labour situation fall under the responsibilities of the Minister of Jobs and Families and the Secretary of State (Labour).

• Canadians deserve serious action to begin transforming Canada Post in response to the scale and urgency of its financial challenges. Inaction is not an option
  • As such, I have instructed Canada Post to operationalize changes to letter delivery standards, proceed with community mailbox conversions, and return to me with a plan to right‑size and transform the retail post office network, while protecting access in rural, remote and underserved areas
  • This marks the first step in a multi-year transformation that will set Canada Post on a better and more sustainable financial path

If pressed on the updates to letter delivery standards:

• To reflect worldwide decline in mail volumes and improve efficiency, Canada Post will update letter mail delivery standards and transition toward a more flexible, volume-based delivery approach

If pressed on community mailboxes conversion:

• Increasing centralized delivery, which already serves 72% of Canadians, will save over $350 million annually, once fully implemented. Canada Post will consult with affected communities and enhance its delivery accommodation program, which includes door-to-door delivery for Canadians with accessibility challenges

If pressed on ending the rural moratorium:

• The Government knows that the post office is often a lifeline for rural and remote communities, but it is time to modernize the 1994 moratorium. I have instructed Canada Post to return to me with a plan that will protect access in rural and remote communities and underserved areas before any post office closure occurs. Canada Post submitted its plan to me on November 7, 2025 and I am reviewing it carefully

If pressed on the regulated stamp rate-setting process:

• As part of Budget 2025, the Government proposed amendments to the Canada Post Corporation Act to modernize and streamline the regulated stamp rate-setting process by enabling Canada Post to adjust postage rates [Redacted]

Since November 2023, negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have been at an impasse.

In May 2025, William Kaplan was appointed to lead an Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) to examine Canada Post’s financial challenges in the context of the collective-bargaining dispute, with special attention to the underlying causes of the dispute.

The Industrial Inquiry Commission report, submitted on May 15, 2025, outlined structural and financial challenges faced by Canada Post and made recommendations for both the Government and for collective bargaining, to return Canada Post to some degree of financial sustainability so it can continue, but in a manner that reflects 2025 realities.

On September 25, 2025, the Government announced it was accepting the recommendations of the Industrial Inquiry Commission and instructed Canada Post to develop a comprehensive transformation plan, given that additional measures would be necessary to return the Corporation to financial solvency.

On November 7, 2025, Canada Post submitted its comprehensive transformation plan to the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement. The plan lays out an implementation strategy for conversions to community mailboxes, modernizing its network of post offices (following the lifting of the rural moratorium, while ensuring the maintenance of service to rural, remote, and Indigenous communities), amending service standards for letter mail and reducing its management and overhead costs.

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