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Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa business owners brace for another Canada Post strike

Ottawa business owners are preparing for the long haul without Canada Post, with a second strike looming on May 23. Article content After recovering from the impacts of the strike that brought package delivery to a halt over the holiday season, local businesses that depend on Canada Post are bracing for another work stoppage. Article content 'Many of our [small and medium enterprises] rely on Canada Post for their core operations, for their shipping, invoicing and receiving payments, and so they're the ones who are at risk,' Sueling Ching, CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade, told the Ottawa Citizen. Article content Article content On May 21, Canada Post offered the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) a deal that included a 13 per cent wage increase. The union said the offer fell short on wages, cost-of-living allowances and part-time parcel delivery, among other disputes. Article content Article content The union requested a two-week truce to review the offer, but Canada Post declined, setting the stage for another strike. Article content Gareth Davies owns Maker House, a retail store in Hintonburg that sells local and Canadian-made homewares and gifts. Article content Traditionally, 20 per cent of his sales have been online, but he said the buy Canadian push in recent months has pushed that volume up 'significantly.' Article content Davies said he lost just under $5000 when a holiday advertising flyer never left the Canada Post distribution centre during the first strike. He isn't waiting to see how another Canada Post strike will impact his business. Article content Article content Before the first strike, Maker House switched to a Canadian parcel carrier ICS Courier, while the store also has Purolator and UPS as shipping options. Maker House still hasn't switched back to Canada Post for most of their parcel delivery due to the ongoing uncertainty, Davies said. Article content Nathalie Carrier, the vice-chair of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas, said that 'businesses are just drowning in impacts,' from the COVID-19 pandemic to the economic uncertainty around U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats, and now a second Canada Post strike in a matter of months. Article content Carrier said businesses have become accustomed to pivoting. Canada Post 'is something that we pride ourselves on here in Canada, that many institutions that are Canadian-made and Canadian-trusted,' she said. Article content 'But if you can't trust a service as a business person and your livelihood depends on it, you will find other alternatives,' Carrier added.