No Mail Leaves Charities and Small Businesses Scrambling Amid Canada Post Strike
Across Canada, the recent Canada Post workers' strike has thrust numerous charities, small businesses, and individuals reliant on mail services—especially during the holiday season—into disarray. The strike, involving over 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), began last Friday, citing demands for fair wages and improved working conditions as primary catalysts for the work stoppage.
Immediately, the strike brought mail delivery to a grinding halt, leaving charitable organizations, such as the Greener Village Food Bank in Fredericton, scrambling to adapt to the sudden disruption. Alex Boyd, CEO of the food bank, remarked, “We can hope to bring in $500,000 to $600,000 worth of donations to help us...but with the strike, our means of communicating with our donors has been severely impacted.” According to Boyd, this time of year typically marks the peak for charity mailouts, and any decrease in donations could lead to dire consequences for those who rely on the services offered by charities.
Boyd is urging donors, especially those accustomed to mailing their contributions, to explore alternative methods like e-transfers. “If we can’t get the revenue we need, it will mean we will need to seriously evaluate our programming and how we deliver it,” he noted.
The impact is not limited to food banks. The CHU Dumont Foundation, which supports patients at Moncton’s Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, also felt the heat. Gilles Allain, the foundation's CEO, indicated, “Last year, we received 35 percent of our donations through mail,” and they had already planned to intensify their outreach by sending out 20,000 mailouts for their annual Tree of Hope campaign. With donations expected from mailed letters, Allain expressed concern, stating the strike came as “a surprise” just as the mail had gone out.
Boyd and Allain’s concerns deepen as the holiday season approaches. Timing is everything, especially for charities—receiving donations during the height of giving is pivotal. “Folks come to expect those holiday mailings,” Allain commented, stressing the habitual nature of donors’ annual commitments.
Meanwhile, the situation isn’t getting any easier for small businesses who depend heavily on Canada Post for shipping products, especially during this lucrative holiday shopping period. Jessica Duffield, owner of Wishes & Whatchamacallits, expressed dismay over the situation. "This week I had about 40 orders waiting to be processed... Do you pause your shop and lose all momentum?" She usually ships her products at $8 via Canada Post, but now finds alternatives costing over $20 per shipment. Faced with rising costs, Duffield considers alternatives such as driving across the U.S. border to mail orders, stating, “I’ll probably have to eat some of those extra costs just to keep things afloat.”
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, noted the stressed atmosphere among small business owners. He cited business owners opting for more costly courier services, often two to three times more expensive than Canada Post, as they adjust to the disruptions. “It’s not like these private sector delivery companies had just massive amounts of surplus capacity, so... this is very much a challenge,” Kelly highlighted.
With upcoming sales events such as Black Friday, many businesses usually bank on this time to account for as much as 40 percent of their annual sales. Omid Habibi, operator of OplusN, which sells handmade leather goods, is one of many who could feel the squeeze more than ever. He stated his company relies on the holiday season for 70 percent of annual sales, reporting delays and complications due to the strike impacting customer satisfaction.
Even more troubling, small business owners must also contend with cheques and invoices stuck within the halted mail system. Kelly observed, “There’s still a huge number of businesses paying other businesses, suppliers, or their business customers with paper invoices... It takes days, sometimes weeks, for them to sort out.”
With the current strike still underway, no immediate solution is on the horizon. The federal government has stepped up by appointing senior mediators to help navigate the conflict. Yet, both sides appear far from reaching common ground. While Canada Post has proposed annual wage increases of up to 11.5 percent, CUPW demands up to 24 percent.
The urgency of resolving this situation affects not only those sending and receiving packages but increasingly impacts the broader Canadian economy, especially as the strike occurs at such a notoriously busy time of year. Many fear the financial toll could ripple through entire communities as small businesses struggle to maintain operations and charities face dwindling support just as they’re meant to help the most vulnerable.
If daily operations fail to resume soon, many are left wondering how much longer these interruptions can last. Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ Local 620 president Leo Favreau expressed his hope for swift negotiations, acknowledging the unfortunate timing of the strike but reinforcing the necessity for workers to stand firm for their rights.
Predictably, the situation has raised concerns about long-standing issues like job security and wages—issues which, as highlighted by all parties involved, will require meaningful resolutions. Canada Post itself has reported significant losses totaling $76 million earlier this year, underscoring the financial strains the corporation currently faces and compounding the sense of urgency for both employees and management.
The ripples of this strike are visible everywhere, forcing charities and small businesses to rethink delivery strategies and alternative communications methods during what is usually one of the most lucrative times of year. Many hope for quick negotiations and resumption of services before the damage worsens. The pressure is on for both Canada Post and CUPW as communities across the nation await solutions to be delivered swiftly—before the holidays arrive and the backlog begins to snowball beyond repair.
