Parcels packed with unpredictability

Winnipeg Free Press

27-05-2025

Reduced sales, more expensive shipping and fresh uncertainty have hit Manitoba businesses as a Canada Post strike looms.
Greg Tonn paused Winnipeg-based Into the Music's online shop last week.
'I actually had stuff in my hand Thursday to go the post office,' he said. Then he recalled the Canadian Union of Postal Workers — which represents thousands of Canada Post employees — was threatening strike action over the weekend.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Into the Music president Greg Tonn with postal packaging materials currently going unused at the Winnipeg store.
The union decided against launching a strike Friday, but the threat remains. Workers are following a nationwide ban against overtime. Negotiations between the Crown corporation and union are ongoing.
Tonn cancelled the Thursday shipment. The parcel could get delayed, resulting in a complaint and refund; it's better to relist the item post-labour action and possibly resell to the customer, Tonn reasoned.
'For us, in particular, it doesn't create a lot of stress, but I can see for a lot of businesses it would be huge.'
Online purchases — largely to Saskatchewan and Ontario — consume just one to two per cent of Into the Music's business. Still, it's a revenue source — and Tonn is questioning whether there will be fewer American tourists in Winnipeg this summer, which would hurt sales.
'I don't know what's going to happen. 'We can just put our best foot forward,' he said.
Eye and Ear Control Records, a fellow record shop, has proactively switched its delivery provider to Purolator (which is majority owned by Canada Post) from Canada Post.
'We have built a workflow around Canada Post's service,' founder Brad Skibinsky wrote in an email.
His store mainly operates via mail-order. It was forced to look outside the Crown corporation last winter when Canada Post workers held a 32-day strike during the holiday season.
The recent pause on Canada Post shipments is in customers' best interests, Skibinsky relayed: 'We don't want to introduce packages into the system with the potential for a work stoppage looming, especially at a time of increased customs regulations in both the U.S. and E.U.'
Eye and Ear will resume Canada Post deliveries once the service interruption threat has passed. Skibinsky said he supports the union's position.
A majority of Canadian Federation of Independent Business members — around 75 per cent nationally — use Canada Post services. The holiday strike of 2024 cost about $76 million per business day in its first weeks, said Tyler Slobogian, a CFIB senior policy analyst.
'We expect those numbers to kind of be similar,' he said, considering a new strike.
'It makes it very hard to operate and plan for the months ahead.'
Canada Post reported last week its year-over-year parcel shipping volumes had dropped 50 per cent.
Rural and remote communities are especially hard-hit when Canada Post stops, Slobogian noted. Many jurisdictions aren't serviced by other couriers.
Rodney Francisco anticipates struggling to reach rural customers if Canada Post strikes again. The Collab Shop switched to FedEx and UPS during the 2024 job action; however, the options are more expensive and don't reach as far, Francisco noted.
'Every penny counts right now with everything skyrocketing, but whatever happens, we just have to deal with it,' the clothing store owner said.
The Collab Shop prides itself on fast shipping, Francisco added. He likes to get shoes and shirts to clients within a week.
Often the seller looks bad, rather than the delivery service, when a parcel is delayed, said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
'We live in a world of convenience. With each round of (Canada Post) uncertainty, businesses are growing increasingly frustrated with the unpredictability,' he said.
If firms find an alternative that's secure and affordable, they're less likely to return to Canada Post, Remillard stated.
The labour movement is happening amid ongoing international trade wars. Momentum is building for the movement of goods within Canada, Remillard said, but a non-functioning Canada Post strains other couriers and raises prices.
'It flies in the face of everything that we're trying to build in this country.'
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Purolator has clocked an increase in demand aligning with threats of a Canada Post strike, spokeswoman Emily Innes-Leroux confirmed.
'Our teams have been developing plans to ensure we are prepared for any changes in customer demand,' she wrote in a statement.
The Crown corporation saw more than $3.8 billion in operating losses between 2018 and September 2024. It returned to the bargaining table with the CUPW Sunday using a mediator.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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Gabrielle PichéReporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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