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.

• The vote by CUPW members to ratify their collective agreements marks an important moment in efforts to ensure Canada Post and its workers move forward together to build a stronger, more modern and more reliable postal service that continues to serve Canadians and businesses from coast to coast to coast
  • 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 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
  • In November 2025, Canada Post submitted its transformation plan to me, and I am carefully reviewing the Plan

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 mailbox 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
• as a start, Canada Post has initiated discussions with 13 communities as it prepares for conversion in late 2026 and early 2027

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 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

If pressed on the regulated stamp rate-setting process:

• as part of Budget 2025, the Government has amended the Canada Post Corporation Act to modernize and streamline the regulated stamp rate-setting process by enabling Canada Post to adjust postage without Governor in Council approval

In May 2025, an Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) was set up 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 IIC’s 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 IIC 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 (‘The Next Mile’) to the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Québec Lieutenant. 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.

On January 28, 2026, Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced tentative agreements covering both bargaining units, with expiry on January 31, 2029. On June 1, 2026, union members voted to ratify the collective agreements for both units, ending a two-year period of labour uncertainty that has deeply damaged Canada Post’s bottom line. Canadians can look forward to an extended period of service reliability that will enable Canada Post to begin its transformation.

On April 16, 2026, Canada Post issued a news release stating that it was initiating discussions with 13 communities as it prepares to convert approximately 136,000 addresses from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes in late 2026 and early 2027. These communities include Moncton and Riverview (New Brunswick), Sept-Îles (Quebec), La Prairie and Candiac (Quebec), Ottawa (Ontario), Etobicoke (Ontario), Winnipeg (Manitoba), Abbotsford (British Columbia), Mission (British Columbia), and Vancouver (British Columbia). Canada Post plans to convert 4 million addresses that still receive door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes within the next five years.

• Canada Post’s legislated mandate requires it to be financially self-sustaining but it has reported over $6.1 billion in operating losses since 2018
  • In 2025 alone, Canada Post reported a $1.57 billion loss before tax, marking its largest loss in history
  • On April 16, 2026, Canada Post issued a news release stating that it was initiating discussions with 13 communities as it prepares to convert addresses to community mailboxes

On June 1, 2026, members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) voted to ratify the collective agreements for both units, ending a two-year period of labour uncertainty that has deeply damaged Canada Post’s bottom line