Question Period Note: Rural Postal Service

Questions have been raised in the past on the level of postal service in rural communities and on the moratorium on rural post office closures. On February 6, 2024, the Government Operations and Estimates Committee passed a motion to study the decline of rural postal services

• Canada Post is a Crown Corporation that operates at arm’s length from the Government and its operations are funded by the revenue generated by the sale of its products and services, not taxpayer dollars
• Canada Post is committed to quality postal services in every corner of this country
• The Canadian Postal Service Charter confirms that providing postal services in rural settings is an integral part of Canada Post’s universal service

If pressed on postal service:

• Unavoidable situations affecting the operation of a post office in small communities may arise, such as retirement, illness or a fire
• In these circumstances, Canada Post consults with the community to find solutions to ensure they continue to receive postal services
• The Rural Moratorium has been in place since 1994, and has remained unchanged, meaning rural post offices are protected
• Canada Post has been expanding services right across the country, including in rural areas
• Community Hubs have been a successful model for rural, northern and Indigenous communities
• Canada Post opened Hubs in Little Current, ON; Membertou, NS; High Prairie, AB; and Fort Qu’Appelle, SK

If pressed on delivery and returns:

• Canada Post works hard to serve northern and remote communities, and understands the importance of the service provided to these communities
• The Corporation goes to great lengths to serve these communities, moving mail on 280 flights a week on average
• While Canada Post makes its best efforts to deliver all mail and parcels, they cannot guarantee that all items will be delivered. Decisions to return an item to the sender are not taken lightly and are only done for one of two reasons – that it has an incorrect address or it contains non-mailable matter and has been pulled from the mail stream
• It’s also important to note that the price a customer pays for shipping when buying an online item is not set by Canada Post. It’s set by the retailer based on the address provided. If that address is incorrect, it may not cover the actual shipping cost, which may result in the item being returned to sender

The operations of Canada Post are funded by the revenue generated by the sale of its products and services, not taxpayer dollars.

Rural moratorium

In 1994, the Government announced that no rural or small town post offices would be closed or converted to franchised postal outlets and thus established an indefinite moratorium on rural post office closures.
In 1999, the Government confirmed that the moratorium was to remain in place and in 2009 introduced the Canadian Postal Service Charter. This charter reflects the Government’s commitment to a universal, effective and economically viable postal service for all Canadians, rural and urban. Canada Post continue to meet all of our obligations under the Canadian Postal Service Charter. This ensures postal services remain universal, affordable and reliable. Canada Post serve all 17.2 million residential and business addresses in Canada, including rural and remote regions. Canada Post provide five-day-a-week delivery while maintaining an extensive network of post offices.

The Charter recognizes that situations affecting the operation of some small post offices do unfortunately arise, whether the office is corporately or privately operated. Retirements, illness, death, fire, termination of a lease or sale of a business occurs and it is unavoidable that service at small rural post offices will be affected. Canada Post has established an assessment and consultation process to manage these changes in rural communities.
Canada Post’s first priority is always to ensure that local mail delivery is maintained without interruption while the options available to meet the postal needs of the community are explored. In some cases, emergency temporary arrangements are put into place to ensure that mail delivery is not interrupted. If a dealer operates the post office, Canada Post attempts to replace the dealer.
Canada Post proceeds to immediately staff the corporate post office where:

• There are other businesses in the community;
• The community is the acknowledged central hub of a farming area; or
• The affected post office is far from the next post office

Canada Post consults with elected officials from communities where:

• There are no other businesses left in the community; and
• The distance to the next post office is not unreasonable

Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, and the approach is to find solutions that are satisfactory to the community by providing the service required in a practical manner. All affected Members of Parliament and municipal officials are informed when a situation affecting a post office arise. In 2022, there were 135 events potentially affecting ongoing operation of rural post offices. In 77% of cases, retail services were maintained within the same community. The other 23%of cases were resolved through services provided in nearby towns.

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