Canada Post receives strike notice, workers set to walk out on Friday
A Canada Post worker fills his truck with mail in Montreal on Dec. 17, 2024.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Canada Post says it has received strike notices from its union, putting roughly 55,000 postal workers on track to walk off the job by the end of the week.
In a statement Monday, the Crown corporation said the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) notified it that employees plan to strike starting at midnight on Friday – exactly when the current collective agreement expires.
This would mark the second strike in less than a year. Last winter, workers walked off the job for 32 days in November and December, disrupting deliveries during the critical holiday shopping season.
A new work stoppage would ripple across the country, affecting millions of households and businesses. In 2023, Canada Post handled an average of 8.5 million letters and 1.1 million parcels per weekday – about 29 per cent of the parcel market, according to the Crown corporation.
A new strike could also add pressure to an already fragile shipping sector, as global supply chains face delays linked to U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty.
A looming strike threat follows a tumultuous week at the bargaining table.
Canada Post workers could strike Friday. Here’s what to know
Earlier last week, Canada Post told workers it was taking a “temporary pause” in negotiating, citing a lack of progress. CUPW condemned the move at the time as “reprehensible.”
Then on Friday, a government-commissioned report recommended sweeping changes to Canada Post’s business model, including phasing out daily door-to-door mail delivery to individual homes. While Canada Post praised the recommendations, the union pushed back, saying in a statement the report “skews heavily in favour of Canada Post’s positions.”
Canada Post warned that a strike would worsen its already dire financial position and called on both sides to return to the table to reach a deal.
Canada Post has been under financial strain for years. It has lost at least $3-billion since 2018, driven by a drop in letter mail volume. In January, it received a $1.034-billion loan from the federal government to help cover operations this year.
In its latest annual report, Canada Post said, “at least $1-billion will also be needed in 2026 and each year afterward to maintain operations and meet our employee obligations.”
The report painted a bleak picture of Canada Post’s financial health: “Without thoughtful, measured, staged, but immediate changes, its fiscal situation will continue to deteriorate.”
Opinion: Ottawa must think outside the mailbox
In December, the federal labour relations board ordered postal workers back on the job after a request by then-labour minister Steve MacKinnon.
That decision extended the collective agreement to May 22 and triggered the formation of an industrial inquiry commission to examine why talks have repeatedly broken down. The commission, led by labour negotiator and former law professor William Kaplan, delivered its findings in a report last week.
Stephanie Ross, an associate professor of labour studies at McMaster University, told The Globe last week that the delay in negotiations may have weakened the union’s leverage.
“The annual rhythms of when Canadians use the postal service coincide with Christmas. It’s when they can apply maximum pressure,” she said. “Kicking the dispute down to May places it at a time when the union has less leverage.”