Five big changes coming to Canada Post

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      Canada Post has announced big plans to overhaul the country's mail system.

      Today (December 11), the money-losing Crown corporation announced a five-point action plan aimed at achieving "financial sustainability" by 2019. The changes will start taking effect in the new year.

      Here's what Canada Post has in store for Canadians.

      1. Bye-bye home delivery

      Canada Post plans to phase out door-to-door mail delivery over the next five years. Eventually, all urban residents with doorstep mailboxes will have to walk to a community mailbox, or "superbox".

      2. Skyrocketing stamp prices

      The price of a single lettermail stamp is going up from 63 cents to $1. Booklets and coils will be priced at 85 cents per stamp. The price hikes take effect on March 31, 2014.

      3. More postal outlets in stores

      Canada Post plans to open more franchise postal outlets, like the ones you find inside Shoppers Drug Mart and other stores. It will look to "streamline" its traditional corporate post offices.

      4. Consolidation of operations

      Mail processing is being shifted to major plants, and fuel-efficient vehicles will be used to deliver both mail and parcels at the same time.

      5. Eliminating jobs

      Between 6,000 and 8,000 positions will be eliminated, mostly through attrition. Canada Post says 15,000 employees are expected to retire over the next five years. It also wants to "permanently address the sustainability of its pension plan".

      What is the Canadian Union of Postal Workers saying?

      CUPW national president Denis Lemelin: “We are extremely concerned that these changes will send Canada Post into a downward spiral. Furthermore, the skyrocketing stamp prices will make the postal service inaccessible to many people.”

      Comments

      8 Comments

      Bonnie Elendiuk

      Dec 11, 2013 at 9:50am

      Just how is putting more people out of work and raising the cost of living going to do anything but creating more people having to live at below or poverty level.

      George Pringle

      Dec 11, 2013 at 9:51am

      I bought a pack of stamps a few years ago, I still have half left. I get nothing but admail, I doubt they even need the community boxes since it will be for nothing but junkmail but since that pays CPost will sell it to try to stay alive for another decade.

      Ben Sili

      Dec 11, 2013 at 2:03pm

      Bye Bye service.

      Leah

      Dec 11, 2013 at 2:05pm

      I live in an apartment with a community box already, and I have no issue with that...my biggest ongoing issue is having my mail and small parcels continuously ending up locked in my neighbour's boxes because my current postie doesn't seem to give a crap. If he/she doesn't care now, I worry about how many botched deliveries are going to happen once looming lay offs start becoming a reality. I don't think the community boxes are bad for most urbanites though some elderly and disabled may have problems. I'm not sure how eliminating carriers will improve delivery and revenue given that it will now cost more for less. I think that if CP focused more on quality of parcel mail (I'd shop online more if their delivery process wasn't so painful - maybe offer discounts for picking up your parcel at an office instead of paying to have a card left for pickup when I'm home and waiting for it)and cutting letter mail deliveries down to fewer days per week they might do better. I'm sure that trimming some of the fat at the top of their corporate chain would help too.

      MarkFornataro

      Dec 11, 2013 at 2:27pm

      Tomorrow's kids won't know what Please,Please Mr Postman means when it comes on the radio.

      Gary

      Dec 11, 2013 at 9:56pm

      My heart bleeds for Cliff Clavin...bah humbug, I just got over the loss of the caboose on trains and now this--what's this world coming too?

      Rudy HAUGENEDER

      Dec 11, 2013 at 10:30pm

      The Internet was an American Defense Department invention which, assisted by fascists Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, destroyed individual freedom and privacy and deep thought. Thankfully one solar super, super storm will collapse the system, result in a culling of our human population to a narrow 250 million survivors within a 30 months period (Atlantis revisited) but this time give rise to a new dominant species -- the Post Man, a film of which was issued some time ago.

      King Hughes

      May 26, 2015 at 6:17pm

      Put the "ad mail" back into the community box mail slot.