Ending door-to-door mail delivery in Canada. What other countries have considered it?
Canada Post needs to end door-to-door mail delivery, according to a recent report by the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC).
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The seismic shift is one of the key tactics the post office can undertake to modernize, while maintaining solvency without being heavily subsidized by the taxpayer, writes the Commission. The recommendation comes as the union representing Canada Post workers threatens to go on strike at the end of this week.
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It's not the first time the end of door-to-door mail delivery has been considered in Canada.
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Canada Post announced back in 2013 that it would be phasing out door-to-door delivery of regular mail to urban residents. Back then it cited financial losses due to declining mail volume and increased online/digital communication.
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The transition began in 2014. The first phase affected about 74,000 addresses in ten communities, including Winnipeg, Calgary, the Ottawa suburb of Kanata and several northern suburbs in Montreal.
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But the plan came to an abrupt end due to public outcry and political pressure. Seniors and disabled people who relied on the service argued that having to trek to community mailboxes would create hardship. Postal workers protested potential job losses. Then the federal opposition parties campaigned against the Harper government's decision to overhaul the service during the 2015 election. When the Liberals won, the Trudeau government halted the plan, suspending the shift to community mailboxes.
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