Major changes possible for Canada Post

The beleaguered Crown Corporation, Canada Post, will have some more flexibility moving forward to help right its finances.

Some big changes are now possible

Standards will be adjusted so that non-urgent mail can move by ground instead of air, and the corporation will save more than $20 million per year.

Government is lifting the moratorium on community mailbox conversions. Currently, three-quarters of Canadians already receive mail through community, apartment, or rural mailboxes, while one-quarter still receive door-to-door delivery. Canada Post will be authorized to convert the remaining 4 million addresses to community mailboxes, generating close to $400 million in annual savings.

The moratorium on rural post offices, in place since 1994, will also be lifted. The rural moratorium was imposed in 1994 and covers close to 4000 locations. Canada Post must return to the government with a plan to modernize and right-size its network.

Canada Post is effectively insolvent

Canada Post is facing what the federal government has deemed an existential crisis. Since 2018, the corporation has accumulated more than $5 billion in losses. In 2024 alone, it lost over $1 billion, and in 2025, it is already on track to lose close to $1.5 billion.

Earlier this year, the federal government provided a $1-billion injection to keep the corporation operational. In the second quarter of 2025, Canada Post posted its worst quarterly results ever, losing $407 million. Today, the corporation is losing approximately $10 million every day.

Twenty years ago, Canada Post delivered 5.5 billion letters annually. Today, it delivers only 2 billion, even as the number of households has grown.