Minister Joël Lightbound cites “existential crisis,” $5B+ losses since 2018

OTTAWA / GATINEAU – NATIONAL – The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has declared a nationwide strike, hours after the federal government announced sweeping changes to Canada Post’s mandate aimed at stemming mounting losses and “modernizing” the Crown corporation.

Announcing the measures in Gatineau, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound said Canada Post faces an “existential crisis,” noting more than $5 billion in losses since 2018, a $1B loss in 2024, and a trajectory to $1.5B in 2025, with the corporation currently losing about $10 million a day.

Letter volumes have fallen from 5.5B annually two decades ago to ~2B today, while parcel market share has slid from 62% (2019) to below 24%, he said.

What Ottawa is ordering Canada Post to do

• Letter Mail Delivery Standards: Add flexibility so non-urgent mail can move by ground rather than air—projected savings $20M+/year.

• Community Mailbox Conversions: Lift the moratorium and authorize conversion of the remaining ~4 million door-to-door addresses to community mailboxes (CMBs)—estimated ~$400M/year in savings.

• Postal Network Modernization: End the 1994 rural post office moratorium and require a plan to right-size the network, reflecting communities that are no longer rural.

• Stamp Rate Process: Shorten and modernize the approval process to allow more frequent rate adjustments.

Lightbound said the government is removing “long-standing barriers to reform” but that leadership and structural change at Canada Post are still required to keep the service reliable, affordable, and sustainable.

CUPW response: “We will fight back”

CUPW blasted the announcement as “outrageous,” saying it was not signalled in a recent meeting with the minister and that the plan undermines universal service, threatens major job losses, and repeats the failures of a previous CMB rollout.

The union argues Ottawa has rejected diversification and new revenue options in favour of service cuts. CUPW says federal mediators have advised that Canada Post will present new global offers next week, but that the union is now in legal strike position nationwide, effective immediately.

What Canadians should expect

With CUPW members on strike, Canadians should anticipate significant disruption to mail and parcel delivery and possible impacts on in-person postal services. Canada Post has not yet detailed contingency plans for essential items; customers should monitor official service alerts for local updates.

Why it matters for Northern, Rural and Indigenous communities

The plan to expand CMBs and reassess rural post offices will be closely watched in Northern and remote regions, where Canada Post remains a critical lifeline for medications, supplies, vote-by-mail, and government documents. Community leaders say reliability and door-to-door access can be a safety issue for seniors, people with disabilities, and winter-road communities; the government counters that modernization is needed to keep the service solvent.

What’s next

• Canada Post is expected to table revised offers with mediators next week.

• Implementation details for CMB conversions, delivery-standard changes, and network “right-sizing” are pending.

• Ottawa says it will review stamp-rate processes and evaluate Canada Post’s plan for network modernization.

Editor’s note: CUPW members are on strike; check Canada Post for service bulletins before visiting post offices or sending time-sensitive items.