By Pepper Parr
September 25th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Whatever happened to that postal service motto:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”.
Citing “unsustainable” losses, stalled contract talks and dwindling numbers of Canadians sending letters, the federal government is giving Canada Post the go-ahead to end home delivery, close some rural post offices, and send mail by land instead of air.
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, federal minister for government transformation, public works and procurement Joël Lightbound is set to announce that he’s giving the Crown corporation 45 days to come up with a plan to implement the broad restructuring, which he called a necessary step to keep Canada Post alive.
“This situation is unsustainable. Canada Post is effectively insolvent, and repeated bailouts are not a long-term solution. Transformation is required to ensure the survival of Canada Post and protect the services Canadians rely on,” Lightbound said in a press release prior to his press conference.
The losses are more than the public purse can manage.
What’s missing here is a solid re-think of the ways we are going to communicate or send packages.
This is the future for mail delivery – even this might not last.
“Canada has changed. This means that areas that used to be rural may now be suburban or even urban, but are still required to operate as rural post offices,” said Lightbound. “Canada Post must return to the government with a plan to modernize and rightsize its network.”
The changes were all recommended by veteran mediator William Kaplan in a report delivered May 15 after he conducted an Industrial Inquiry Commission.
“For much of the past year, Canada Post has been laying the groundwork for massive service cutbacks. The Corporation has taken every chance it can to play up its financial condition, blaming an ‘outdated’ regulatory framework ‘built for a previous era,” said CUPW national president Jan Simpson.
All true – but listen to the words of Janis Joplin when she sang: “You don’t know what you’ve lost till its gone”
The quote is from Joni Mitchell.
Editor’s response. We said that Janis Joplin once sang the song. Nothing more than that
I’ve seen conflicting reports on mail delivery service, especially to households such as mine. One report says ALL household delivery will cease and community mailboxes will be set up and another that day to day delivery will be just be cut back to several times a week. It’s leaving us in a dilemma, especially seniors who may not be able to hop down to a distant community mailbox.