Canada Post set to reduce frequency of letter mail delivery: minister

By Canadian Press on September 25, 2025.

OTTAWA — Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound said Thursday Canada Post will reduce the frequency of door-to-door letter mail delivery to shore up its finances and save itself from an “existential crisis.”

The minister also announced the federal government will accept all of the recommendations in the Industrial Inquiry Commission’s report on Canada Post, which also called for the introduction of more community mailboxes.

“Canada Post is a national institution, older than our country itself, that has been serving Canadians for more than 150 years. For generations, postal workers have connected communities in every corner of the country, providing an essential lifeline to hundreds of northern, Indigenous and rural communities,” Lightbound said.

“At the same time, Canada Post is now facing an existential crisis,” he added. “Repeated bailouts from the federal government are not the solution.”

The change to mail delivery is expected to increase the time it takes Canada Post to deliver letter mail from an average of three to four days to an average of three to seven days.

Four million Canadians will also see their service switch from door-to-door delivery to a community mailbox model, and some post offices will be closed for good.

Lightbound said more than three in four households in Canada already don’t have door-to-door delivery, but there has been a moratorium in place to expanding the use of community mailboxes. That moratorium is ending, he said.

Lightbound said it will take up to nine years to implement community mailboxes to all four million households, but most of them will switch within three to four years.

The federal government cites the shrinking volume of letter mail and Canada Post’s small share of the parcel market as reasons for the changes.

It says Canada Post needs to change to achieve financial sustainability and maintain reliable service.

Lightbound said Canada Post loses $10 million per day and has needed federal bailouts to keep its operations afloat.

He said that while Ottawa will not stop helping Canada Post through its financial difficulties, the Crown corporation needs to cut costs to keep the lights on.

The commission also recommended changes to Canada Post’s collective agreement to allow the Crown corporation to hire part-time employees for weekends to help with the weekday load.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press