Wow! Thanks Nora. I have not read a more clear and detailed account of what Canada Post management and the government are doing or what the solutions are, ever. As you point out, the mainstream press, including the doomed CBC ironically, rant and rave ad nauseum about the Canada Post "losses", not giving a damn about the losses to Canadians if there is no public Canada Post.
And look at the corporate subsidy that Canada Post provides. As of March 23, 2026, Canada Post charges significantly less for "junk mail" (unaddressed Neighbourhood Mail) compared to personal letters (Lettermail). Neighbourhood mail rates are approximately $0.20 to $0.22 per item, while a standard domestic letter costs $1.44 per stamp.
I carried mail at CP for about six months last year, after being laid off from a brand and marketing agency. Morale at my depot was not high - we'd just come out of that three-month strike, major route and staffing changes were imminent with the transition to community mailboxes (CMBs) and of course many folks worried about losing their job. Despite all that, I'd never worked anywhere that felt more supportive (I'm comparing it to previous marketing/non-profit work where new hires are thrown into the deep end without any training). Training was fantastic, instructors and mentors clearly loved their jobs and had decades worth of stories (from falling through decrepit porches to saving the life of an elderly lady living alone), and people looked out for each other. CP certainly had and has its issues, AND it can be a GREAT place to work for so many different types of people.
Many thanks for the cogent analysis, Nora. I've long depended on the post office to send and receive things, and do my best to use the real post office rather than the Shoppers' Drugmart variety. From an organising perspective, know CUPW has a "Hands off our post office" campaign; wondering where the rest of the labour movement and community groups are. (Just don't know.) Who else is pushing back? How does that get media coverage and put pressure on the decision-makers? Is that possible?
Such a great analysis! Followers of the Cult of Carney need to wake up. This agenda, to break CUPW has been operational at least since the early 80’s. Thank you Nora!
There’s a hole in the Canada Post narrative, the postal service that supports many billions of dollars of economic activity and is a public service. Canada Post owns the extremely profitable parcel delivery company Purolator, but its books are reported separately from Canada Post.
Just listened to your most recent pod and you mentioned the curiosity of CP owning a private company (Purolator). I was looking into this and can't figure out why they wouldn't take 100% ownership and absorb it. One potentially "innocent" explanation I came up with has to do with our trade agreements. In the 90s UPS brought a lawsuit against CP under ISDS(NAFTA) essentially alleging that CP was using it's monopoly infrastructure for non-monopoly business (courier services). Other aspects of the case make it less relevant but I wonder if their public service monopoly on letter mail actually prevents them from competing properly. Kind of kneecapping them.
I think the whole thing is bullshit but I was trying to formulate an argument with a family member who might find liberal legalisms persuasive.
I'm trying to educate myself since I made the grave mistake of forwarding a (very poorly argued) Canadian Dimension article without readjng beyond the first couple paragraphs and now have to expunge my shame.
I guess my question would be why would they want 100% ownership at Purolator? Having other hands in it give CP pressure do do things that might not be in the interest of door-to-door delivery. But this explanation makes sense!
Yeah I'd like to formulate an argument that CP has been sabotaging itself -- your observation about service fees barely increasing is a useful point. Though their corporate statement about their troubles makes reference to "regulatory difficulties" (paraphrase) in setting rates so I wonder if something about their mandate prevents them from responding appropriately to changing market conditions. My gut assumption is that sabotage is coming from inside and outside the house, as it were.
If being spun out into a self-sufficient Crown Corporation Enterprise in 1981 isn't considered "privatization" I think we need a word for it since I think that is the original sin. CBC's budget includes parliamentary appropriations so it's officially different than the Enterprise thing which requires "bail-outs".
I'm fairly certain they're looking to privatize airports as well. Pitched a story about it to the IJF but they didn't want it. I'm confident enough though, since big investors are offering money if they were private.
I regularly amuse myself by thinking about the absurd amount of waste that advertisers shunt through Canada Post, most of which goes directly into the blue bins for recycling. Some apartment and condo buildings place a blue bin there directly for our convenience.
An excellent essay about the supposed demise of Canada Post. It is a necessary service, not that much different from a variety of other government services that are supposedly too costly. And like every other service including healthcare, privatization will simply lead to service erosion.
Wow! Thanks Nora. I have not read a more clear and detailed account of what Canada Post management and the government are doing or what the solutions are, ever. As you point out, the mainstream press, including the doomed CBC ironically, rant and rave ad nauseum about the Canada Post "losses", not giving a damn about the losses to Canadians if there is no public Canada Post.
And look at the corporate subsidy that Canada Post provides. As of March 23, 2026, Canada Post charges significantly less for "junk mail" (unaddressed Neighbourhood Mail) compared to personal letters (Lettermail). Neighbourhood mail rates are approximately $0.20 to $0.22 per item, while a standard domestic letter costs $1.44 per stamp.
Constantly also screaming about this!!!
I carried mail at CP for about six months last year, after being laid off from a brand and marketing agency. Morale at my depot was not high - we'd just come out of that three-month strike, major route and staffing changes were imminent with the transition to community mailboxes (CMBs) and of course many folks worried about losing their job. Despite all that, I'd never worked anywhere that felt more supportive (I'm comparing it to previous marketing/non-profit work where new hires are thrown into the deep end without any training). Training was fantastic, instructors and mentors clearly loved their jobs and had decades worth of stories (from falling through decrepit porches to saving the life of an elderly lady living alone), and people looked out for each other. CP certainly had and has its issues, AND it can be a GREAT place to work for so many different types of people.
Many thanks for the cogent analysis, Nora. I've long depended on the post office to send and receive things, and do my best to use the real post office rather than the Shoppers' Drugmart variety. From an organising perspective, know CUPW has a "Hands off our post office" campaign; wondering where the rest of the labour movement and community groups are. (Just don't know.) Who else is pushing back? How does that get media coverage and put pressure on the decision-makers? Is that possible?
Governments mostly don’t pay Canada Post to send letters to citizens. This is rarely considered in public discourse.
Such a great analysis! Followers of the Cult of Carney need to wake up. This agenda, to break CUPW has been operational at least since the early 80’s. Thank you Nora!
Has anyone done an analysis of the management structure of Canada Post, including their salaries?
There’s a hole in the Canada Post narrative, the postal service that supports many billions of dollars of economic activity and is a public service. Canada Post owns the extremely profitable parcel delivery company Purolator, but its books are reported separately from Canada Post.
where is Avi Lewis's outrage on this? i should've gotten their fundraising email by now. hellooooo
Just listened to your most recent pod and you mentioned the curiosity of CP owning a private company (Purolator). I was looking into this and can't figure out why they wouldn't take 100% ownership and absorb it. One potentially "innocent" explanation I came up with has to do with our trade agreements. In the 90s UPS brought a lawsuit against CP under ISDS(NAFTA) essentially alleging that CP was using it's monopoly infrastructure for non-monopoly business (courier services). Other aspects of the case make it less relevant but I wonder if their public service monopoly on letter mail actually prevents them from competing properly. Kind of kneecapping them.
I think the whole thing is bullshit but I was trying to formulate an argument with a family member who might find liberal legalisms persuasive.
I'm trying to educate myself since I made the grave mistake of forwarding a (very poorly argued) Canadian Dimension article without readjng beyond the first couple paragraphs and now have to expunge my shame.
I guess my question would be why would they want 100% ownership at Purolator? Having other hands in it give CP pressure do do things that might not be in the interest of door-to-door delivery. But this explanation makes sense!
Yeah I'd like to formulate an argument that CP has been sabotaging itself -- your observation about service fees barely increasing is a useful point. Though their corporate statement about their troubles makes reference to "regulatory difficulties" (paraphrase) in setting rates so I wonder if something about their mandate prevents them from responding appropriately to changing market conditions. My gut assumption is that sabotage is coming from inside and outside the house, as it were.
If being spun out into a self-sufficient Crown Corporation Enterprise in 1981 isn't considered "privatization" I think we need a word for it since I think that is the original sin. CBC's budget includes parliamentary appropriations so it's officially different than the Enterprise thing which requires "bail-outs".
I'm fairly certain they're looking to privatize airports as well. Pitched a story about it to the IJF but they didn't want it. I'm confident enough though, since big investors are offering money if they were private.
I regularly amuse myself by thinking about the absurd amount of waste that advertisers shunt through Canada Post, most of which goes directly into the blue bins for recycling. Some apartment and condo buildings place a blue bin there directly for our convenience.
An excellent essay about the supposed demise of Canada Post. It is a necessary service, not that much different from a variety of other government services that are supposedly too costly. And like every other service including healthcare, privatization will simply lead to service erosion.
Great post. I think the non-profit national bank would provide just the kind of competition our banking industry needs.
Right on the mark Nora ! Thank you for this important post !