Canada Post strike halts mail nationwide as reforms unveiled

Unionized postal workers across Canada walked off the job Thursday evening, halting letter and parcel delivery nationwide after federal officials unveiled plans to overhaul Canada Post’s operations. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said the strike, affecting some 55,000 members, was a direct response to government proposals announced the same day by Joël Lightbound, the minister responsible for the Crown corporation.

Lightbound said the package of reforms is meant to stabilize Canada Post after years of losses. He said the corporation has accumulated roughly C$5 billion in losses since 2018, and that the changes, including ending most door to door delivery by converting about four million addresses to community mailboxes, relaxing letter mail delivery standards to allow nonurgent items to move by ground rather than air, and lifting a moratorium on rural post office closures, would save hundreds of millions annually. Canada Post and the government also said they are reviewing stamp rates and other measures intended to modernize the service. In a statement Lightbound said Canada Post is now facing an existential crisis and that the reforms are needed to place the corporation...