‘Not good': Concerns revived over recommendation to end door-to-door mail delivery

Toronto Star

24-05-2025

Judy Frank says no longer getting mail at her door would make life harder.
The 78-year-old Regina woman is unable to walk more than a few steps and says she would need someone to pick up her mail if Canada Post stops door-to-door service.
'It's very dangerous,' Frank said in a recent interview, pointing to the uneven and cracked sidewalk outside her home.
Her daughter, Kyara Moon, said Frank once broke a wrist after falling down.
Moon lives with her mother and also has some mobility issues. She said door-to-door delivery helps people maintain their independence.
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'We're trying to keep seniors in their houses,' Moon said. 'I guess we're going to have to help people who aren't able to get their mail, if this is the way it goes.'
Concerns over Canada Post ending door-to-door mail delivery come after a recent Industrial Inquiry Commission report recommended phasing out the service and replacing it with community mailboxes.
The report says declining mail volume has made door delivery financially unsustainable. About 25 per cent of Canadian addresses, or roughly four million homes in older neighbourhoods, continue to receive mail at their doors.
Canada Post estimates it would save about $350 million per year by converting all addresses to community boxes, while providing select door delivery to those with disabilities.
Regina resident Joan Lang supports door delivery. Without it, she said some postal workers would likely lose their jobs.
But she said she could get used to going to a mailbox. Ways of life have changed before.
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'We used to get milk delivered to our home, but now we're used to going to the store,' she said.
Calgary resident Frankie Thornhill said Canada Post could do door delivery once a week, not every day.
Many seniors require the service, she said.
'I ripped my hamstring off my pelvis three years ago, just from (slipping on) some ice that looked like a puddle,' said the 72-year-old.
'You get these older people and they got to walk two blocks to the box. That is not good.'
Canada Post has been in a dispute with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers over a new collective bargaining deal. The Crown corporation received strike notice Monday from the union and, late Thursday, just before a strike deadline, the union called for a stop to overtime work.
The union has said it disagrees with most of the report's recommendations and takes issue with 'some of the information on which it was based.'
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Canada Post began phasing out door-to-door delivery in 2014, which resulted in about 830,000 households being converted to community boxes. The move was unpopular in many neighbourhoods, where residents complained about losing accessibility and convenience. Some also took issue with damage and litter around the boxes.
The federal Liberal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau imposed a moratorium in 2015, preventing Canada Post from doing additional conversions.
Melissa Graham, executive director of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities in Winnipeg, said replacing door-to-door mail with community boxes created barriers.
'(Boxes) used to ice up. They used to be in areas that were difficult to get to, if you had a mobility disability,' Graham said. 'They often didn't have braille, so you could not find your mailbox easily.'
The report says Canada Post has a program to accommodate those with accessibility needs and that the program should be reviewed and enhanced if required.
It also recommends lifting a 1994 moratorium that prevents Canada Post from closing rural post offices.
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The report doesn't provide a list of post offices that should close, but it points out some in suburban communities that were classified as rural no longer are. For example, post offices in the Ontario municipalities of Milton and Richmond Hill no longer fit the rural criteria, even though they were classified as such in 1994.
The post office in the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville was also classified as rural before it was amalgamated by the capital city.
Glen Gower, a city councillor for Stittsville, said the community was rural 25 years ago but has changed. It now has a second Canada Post outlet, he added.
Gower said replacing the original post office with affordable housing makes sense for what the community needs, if one post office could handle all its mail.
'It is sitting on a huge piece of Crown land. But I do want to make sure postal services are maintained,' he said.
'I think (the original post office) is of less significance than it would have been 25 years ago.'
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The report says ending the moratoriums on rural post offices and community boxes could cause massive public opposition.
'Even with public consultation, it is more likely than not that local communities will strenuously object, as will the union,' it says.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2025.