A Canada Post box.

Today, Canada Post has announced that it will end door-to-door delivery of mail over the next five years and increase the postal rate to $1 for stamps purchased on an individual basis, or 85 cents each if purchased in a pack.

A Conference Board of Canada report earlier this year claimed that “mail volumes are expected to drop another 25 per cent in the next seven years“.  Of course, part of the issue here is Canada Post.

The Post Office will eventually offer no door-to-door delivery, and the cost of postal services keeps increasing.   This does nothing to help with the decrease in mail volumes.  On the contrary, this will only increase the issue.  E-mail, and on-line services will only increase as people decide not to pay more for stamps or have to go out in all kinds of weather for their mail.

Delivery service has already greatly decreased over the last few decades, as more ‘community mailboxes’ have been created, and mail delivery decreased from six days a week (twice a day from Monday to Friday, and once on Saturday) to once a day, Monday to Friday.

Yes, people are using e-mail, paying their bills on-line, etc.  However, Canada Post has options to deal with the decrease in mail volume, yet keep door-to-door delivery:

1. Instead of offering once a day delivery, Canada Post could reduce delivery to three days a week (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.)
2. Offer more competitive pricing.  For example, instead of charging 85 cents per stamp for anywhere in Canada, the rates could depend on where the item is being sent: local, provincial, and out of province.  Thus the most important costs – out of provincial deliveries – are charged the most while the least expensive, local mail, are charged the least.
3. For charitable organizations, and businesses of all sizes, a reduced postal rate – as used by larger organizations – can be allowed to help encourage mail volume.
4. Better delivery of packages.  On many occasions when I am expecting a package, instead of delivering the package to the door, I receive a a notice to pick the package up at the local post office, despite the fact that someone was home.  This is an area, that if improved, would encourage people to use the postal system.
5. More reliable mailing times.  While Canada Post tries to be fast with delivery of ‘regular mail’, this is something that must be maintained.  People are not going to use a service if it takes too long to send items by mail.

Canada Post claims that the delivery of packages will remain as is.  However, can we really believe this?  How long will it take them to refuse to even deliver packages?

Canada Post claims that it will eliminate between 6000 and 8000 jobs, but expects to do this through attrition, as it hopes enough employees will retire.  Unfortunately, expectations may not come true and Canada Post may have to layoff employees.  And this is not necessarily the best ‘message’ to be sending citizens, especially as the economy recovers from a recession.

Canada Post has options to reduce their costs or improve services to maintain a delivery service, and to encourage people to use the postal service.  Instead, Canada Post has decided to reduce service and increase costs, the best two things to turn people away from the postal service even more.

Related articles

• Canada Post to stop door-to-door delivery, convert to community mailbox delivery (news.nationalpost.com)
• Canada Post announces end to door-to-door delivery (thestar.com)
• Canada Post phasing out door-to-door delivery, thousands of jobs (vancouversun.com)
• Canada Post to end urban delivery: reports (metronews.ca)
• Seven things to know about Canada Post’s plan to axe mail service (globalnews.ca)