Letter from Doug Ettinger about Canada Post's transformational changes
OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 1, 2025 /CNW/ - When Canada Post became a Crown corporation more than 40 years ago, it was given a mandate to serve all Canadians and remain financially self-sustainable.
A lot has changed since then in terms of how people use the postal service.
For instance, mail has been in decline since 2006. Each year, Canada Post delivers fewer letters to a growing number of households. This means mail revenues are decreasing while costs are rising. At the same time, private companies are delivering more and more of Canadians' parcels, which adds to our losses.
Unfortunately, when Canada Post loses money, taxpayers now foot the bill – a bill which currently amounts to about $1 billion a year. This is not sustainable, nor is it necessary. Instead of increasing our reliance on taxpayers, there are practical changes we can make to modernize the nation's postal service and make it financially sustainable.
Canada Post remains a vital national institution – and Canadians deserve a postal service that is strong, stable and fits their needs. That's why I fully support the measures announced last week by the Government of Canada.
First, community mailboxes. Currently, less than one in four households still receives door to door delivery. Converting more households to community mailboxes will fuel significant savings. This initiative includes our well-established delivery accommodation program. Used by more than 17,000 households, it ensures we can meet the delivery needs of Canadians who have accessibility challenges.
Second, our retail network of post offices. In 1994, to protect rural postal services, the government created a list of rural post offices that were off-limits to changes. However, the country has changed, but the list hasn't. So many post offices that were once rural are now in bustling urban or suburban areas with other post offices in nearby stores and pharmacies. In these now overserved areas, we need to update our retail network.
But it's important to emphasize that we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting services in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities. As someone who comes from rural Nova Scotia, I deeply understand the need for these vital services.
Third, to align our operations to the modern needs of the country, we'll need to be leaner. Serving a country as large as Canada will always be labour-intensive, but we're overstaffed. With thousands of employees eligible to retire over the next five years, we can minimize the impact on our people.
Canadians have been changing the way they use the postal service, and we must change with them. We also understand the importance of our service to small businesses across the country, and we need to get this right. As we move forward, our commitment to Canadians is to be transparent, fair and respectful. We will be attentive to concerns and responsive to questions.
While our labour situation is extremely challenging, we also remain committed to reaching new agreements at the bargaining table. It's vital these agreements reflect our financial reality and support the changes we need to make – while helping us stand on our own, without taxpayer funding.
The journey to restore and renew the postal service is now under way. We will share information as we go on the changes and how we will implement them. Our goal is to provide an affordable, reliable and sustainable service to every Canadian – one that lifts our national pride by strengthening our connections to each other.
Doug Ettinger
President and CEO
SOURCE Canada Post
For more information: Canada Post Media Relations, 613-734-8888, [email protected]
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