You’ve got mail: Canada Post ending home deliveries is for the best

When I was younger, getting the mail was a chore. Letters were just white envelopes popped through the mail slot into a messy pile on the floor that I would need to get.

So when Canada Post announced it was waving goodbye to door-to-door mail deliveries, I thought it’s about damn time.

I’ve never personally received a letter at my door. When mail was still being delivered directly to a significant portion of households, I was too young to have any addressed in my name. I didn’t get pay stubs or credit card statements back then.

Today, only one of those things still applies — someone please hire me.

When Canada Post made its announcement, I was surprised to learn door-to-door mail deliveries still existed.

I think most Canadians feel the same way. Only about four million Canadian households get mail at the door. The rest use community, apartment, or rural mailboxes. 

With more people sending messages electronically and using other delivery services, Canada Post is struggling to keep its mail services profitable. 

Ending home mail delivery would save the corporation $400 million yearly, according to the federal government. 

Letter mail used to be the main source of revenue for the company. Today, it’s a source of financial stress. Two decades ago, Canadian households received an average of seven letters weekly. Now, it’s down to two letters per week. 

Despite the decline in letter mail, Canada’s housing market continues to expand, with more than 200,000 new addresses popping up each year, according to a 2024 Canada Post report.

Trying to deliver less letters to more addresses has clearly not been a smart or sustainable move on the company’s end.

How does Canada Post get out of this? Can it?

I think there’s hope. Along with ending home mail delivery, Canada Post will close some rural post offices and change delivery standards to reflect mail volumes. 

These are steps in the right direction, but they won’t save Canada Post. 

In February, the federal government had to step in and give Canada Post a $1 billion loan — which follows another $1 billion loan given to the Crown corporation last year. 

Canada Post needs to survive solely on its own earnings. One way to do this is to transform its parcel delivery service to meet customer demands.

As an avid online shopper, opening the front door to a package is the closest thing to waking up to presents under the tree on Christmas morning. If I can skip the overstimulating experience that is a shopping mall and find what I need online, you will not be seeing me outside. 

The way people shop may have changed, but we’ll always be shopping for something. Yay consumerism! Canada Post needs to take advantage of this — and fast.

When I’m checking out my online cart and it comes time to choose a shipping service, I look for one that’s fast, reliable, and affordable. Canada Post already has skin in the game. It just needs to focus its attention on developing a more competitive parcel service. 

After the 32-day strike in 2024, the company’s reputation took a hit. 

Individuals and businesses who relied on Canada Post during the peak holiday season were left disappointed and scrambling for other options. Competitors like FedEx, UPS, and DHL stepped up to provide shipping services Canada Post failed to provide. 

I don’t want to see the end of Canada Post. It’s served Canadians for more than 150 years and it still can for the next 150. 

It just needs to buckle down, cut its losses, and focus on what the market is demanding. And if not, getting the mail will be one less chore to do.