Mail, parcel delivery to resume as postal union begins rotating strikes

Kathryn Gallagher Morton is “absolutely thrilled” that Canada Post is at least moving.

“It may be moving slowly now, but at least it’s moving,” said Morton, who is the owner of Maplelea, a small business that sells Canadian-themed dolls via its website.

Mail and parcel delivery are set to resume on a limited basis in the coming week as Canada Post workers switch to rotating strikes.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said late Thursday night that rotating strikes were to begin Saturday at 6 a.m. local time, ending the countrywide strike that spanned more than two weeks. Local branches will be informed when it’s their turn to rotate out of service closer to that time, it added.

The union, which represents 55,000 members of the postal service, declared a countrywide strike on Sept. 25, hours after the government announced changes to the postal service, including an end to door-to-door mail delivery for nearly all Canadian households within the next decade.

While postal services will begin to resume next week, the Crown corporation said “uncertainty and instability” will persist amid the rotating strikes and all service guarantees will be suspended as a result.

The union’s Thursday night announcement came a day after meeting with Joël Lightbound, the federal minister responsible for Canada Post. The union said it voiced concerns about the government’s changes to the mail carrier’s business model at the meeting.

Gallagher Morton said she is preparing to send out hundreds of thousands of catalogues for the holiday season, and a Canada Post strike would have hurt her business.

Being a toy company, she said a majority of her business takes place about eight weeks before Christmas.

“You have your order in by the beginning of December if you’re going to get it in time for Christmas,” she said. “So timing is everything. This catalogue has to go out in middle of October or we lose our Christmas.”

A previous strike and lockout lasted more than a month in November and December 2024, ending after then-labour minister Steven MacKinnon declared an impasse in the talks and asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order an end to the work stoppage.

Gallagher Morton said she lost more than $300,000 in sales last year because of the strike.

“It was a struggle. It was really catastrophic last year.”

But since then, she said while she uses Canada Post to mail her catalogues she uses multiple carriers to send out toys. 

“We used to be 100 per cent dependent on Canada Post,” she said. 

“We just chose to use them because their prices were reasonable. They delivered to every address in Canada. … But we don’t want to risk our parcels getting caught.”

Gallagher Morton prefers to send out her catalogues by mail because they have a wider reach, she said.

“You don’t reach kids as much through digital media.” 

Canada Post is an essential service for Jo-Ann Martin, owner of Bullock’s Bistro in Yellowknife. Her quaint restaurant that serves locally caught fish is also sought after by customers for its various sauces and dressings, which are sent out using Canada Post, Martin said.

The Crown corporation’s services are “incredibly important” because even though there are flights and a few private courier services that operate, she said they are prohibitively expensive.

“We get orders from all over the country … Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia — everywhere,” she said. “To get those packages out of here, the most affordable option, obviously, is through Canada Post.”

Apart from sending out orders, Martin said she also receives some of her supplies that cannot be found in Yellowknife through Canada Post.

“Canada Post is a big part of our business.”

The rotating strike will bring some relief, she said. 

“It’s not ideal,” she added. “It still creates a little bit of uncertainty, which, when you’re in business and you’re relying on delivery services like (Canada Post), it could mean you losing customers.”

When Canada Post was on strike in November and December last year, Martin said she cancelled several orders and had to return money.

“Some people waited. It was just before Christmas, so it was a lot of disappointed customers because it was for Christmas gifts. That was hard, really hard. And then and now this again, within a year, it is brutal. It’s terrible.” 

Having lived in rural and remote communities all her life, Martin said she understands the importance of Canada Post because it serves as a lifeline. People in those areas where there are no roads rely on the Crown corporation for a number of things, including food, she said.

But she said Canada has to find a find a more “manageable” model to operate better.

“They have to figure the best way to do to serve the majority of Canadians, and to try and accommodate,” Martin said. “Make it so that Canada Post continues, because we need it.”

Gallagher Morton echoed Martin.

“With this second full strike, and now rotating strike, there are more and more businesses like mine that just cannot risk depending on Canada Post,” she said.

“As a taxpayer, I just I don’t want to continue to support what has essentially become a dinosaur, and Canada Post needs to come up with a new model of operating. I think the union has to work with them to find that new model.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2025.