Published in the Pontiac Journal on October 10, 2025.
Canada Post strike escalates as reforms spark rural fears
Tashi Farmilo & Bonnie Portelance
Local Journalism Initiative
OTTAWA – The future of Canada Post is under scrutiny amid a national postal strike, federal reforms and mounting financial pressures. In rural regions like Pontiac, where post offices are lifelines, residents are watching closely to see what comes next.
On October 3, Canada Post tabled new offers to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). The package maintains a compounded 13.6% wage increase over four years and core benefits, while signalling changes such as more part-time roles with benefits and a realigned post-office network. The corporation says finances have deteriorated and that a smaller, more flexible workforce will be necessary.
Tensions escalated in stages. After an overtime ban in May slowed operations, CUPW in mid-September told carriers to stop delivering unaddressed mail such as flyers and community newspapers, which Canada Post classifies as Neighbourhood Mail. The postal service then stopped accepting those items nationwide. Less than two weeks later, on September 25, the union launched a national strike, halting mail and parcel processing across the country.
The strike followed the federal government’s September 25 announcement of an overhaul of the postal service. In a statement, Joël Lightbound, Minister of GovernmentTransformation, Public Works and Procurement, called Canada Post “effectively insolvent” and outlined measures from the Industrial Inquiry Commission’s report: relax
letter-mail standards, lift the moratorium on rural post-office closures and—most consequential for many households—phase out remaining door-to-door delivery by converting roughly four million addresses to community mailboxes.
Only about one in four households still receives mail at the door. The plan authorizes Canada Post to transition the remaining addresses to community, apartment or rural mailboxes over time, citing falling letter volumes—about two per household per week—and a rising number of delivery points, a cost mismatch door-to-door service cannot sustain.
The minister’s office told the Journal the lifting of the moratorium on rural post office closures is not aimed at truly rural or remote communities. The focus, it said, is on suburban areas once considered rural but now urban. In places like Burnaby, B.C., and greater Gatineau, several post offices operate within blocks of each other—a redundancy the government views as unsustainable. The office added that the 1994 moratorium has prevented Canada Post from adapting to shifting demographics; where urban sprawl has absorbed once-rural communities, the inability to consolidate services has added to financial strain. Accommodations for eligible seniors who currently receive door-to-door delivery will continue.
Canada Post must now file a transformation plan explaining how it will protect service in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.
Union leaders say the reforms go too far and were introduced without adequate bargaining. They argue that ending door-to-door delivery and loosening standards will cut jobs and reduce service—particularly for seniors and people with mobility challenges—and are urging the government and the Crown corporation to return to “real” negotiations.
Canada Post has 45 days from the announcement to submit a national transformation plan, which is expected to include public consultations. In Pontiac, unease remains as residents await details. “This fight is about more than just letters and parcels,” said Lily Ryan, the Journal’s publisher. “It is about who gets to stay connected and informed. Our rural mail system is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.”
This is the second national work stoppage in less than 12 months. A late-2024 strike ended when the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered postal employees back to work and extended collective agreements to May 2025. The current strike began September 25 and is ongoing as negotiations continue.