‘Significant portion’ of backlogged items expected to be delivered before Christmas: Canada Post

Canada Post says it is ramping up operations, including weekend delivery in some cities, to try and get packages that piled up during a weeks-long strike delivered to Canadians in time for Christmas.

In an update Friday evening, Canada Post said it has processed the parcels that were being held in its system during the strike, and is now in the process of delivering the ones that haven’t already arrived on doorsteps.

“We expect a significant portion of these items to be delivered before Christmas,” the Crown corporation said.

Canada Post provided the following information about how its handling the backlog at the busiest time of the year:

• Post offices are open and Canadians and small businesses can drop off parcels and letters.
• Carded items held at local post offices during the strike will remain available for pick up for 15 days from December 17.
• To deliver more items before Christmas, Canada Post employees will be delivering this weekend in select cities.
• On-time service guarantees continue to be suspended as we work our way back to full service levels.
• For domestic packages, Canadians should continue to expect delivery delays into early January 2025.
• Between urban centres, Canadians should expect package delivery delays of two to three days. For packages travelling longer distances, expect delays of up to 10 days.
• With a large, integrated network of processing plants, depots and post offices across the country, we expect to return to full service levels and normal delivery standards in early January.
• While employees are making a best effort to stabilize delivery operations for rural and remote areas, delays should be expected into early 2025.

Holiday closures
• Canada Post will be closed December 25 and 26, and January 1. Post offices will be closed and there will be no collection or delivery operations.

Commercial business customers
• New commercial volumes may be dropped off at our plants and depots for processing. Scheduled parcel pickup services have resumed.

International mail and parcels
• We continue to work through an accumulation of international mail and parcels.
• The postal system will start accepting new international mail on December 23.

Carriers ordered back to work

More than 55,000 employees were ordered back to work by the Canada Industrial Relations Board after it determined a deal could not be reached before the end of the year.

The Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers had been deadlocked in negotiations, with federal mediation on pause as key issues like wages and weekend expansion seemed to see no movement.

Now, the government has appointed an industrial inquiry commission to come up with recommendations by May 15 on how a new agreement can be reached, while the existing contracts have been extended to May 22.