Canada Post to discontinue home mail delivery
By Adnews Staff
Canada Post has announced a five-point plan intended to return the postal system to financial sustainability by 2019. Under this plan, Canada Post will eliminate mail delivery to the door in favour of community mailboxes over the next five years. According to the organization, two thirds of Canadian households already receive their mail through community mailboxes, lobby mailboxes or rural mailboxes. The first neighbourhoods will be converted in the second half of 2014.
Canada Post will also introduce a new tiered pricing structure for lettermail sent within Canada, with the cost of a single stamp increasing to one dollar. Stamps bought in booklets or coils will be priced at $0.85 each. Businesses that use postage meters will pay a new commercial rate of $0.75 per letter. The pricing for US, international and oversized mail will also increase. Prices for parcels and for addressed and unaddressed advertising mail will not change. The new prices will go into effect on March 31, 2014.
Canada Post also intends to open additional franchise postal outlets in Canadian retail stores, and to "align its corporate post offices to customer traffic patterns."
The fourth aspect of the plan is to change internal Canada Post operations in an effort to increase the efficiency of the movement of mail and parcels through the system. These changes will be based on new technology, the consolidation of processing operations at central locations and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The final element of the plan is staff reductions through attrition and collective bargaining over time. Canada Post expects approximately 15,000 employees to retire or leave the company over the next five years, allowing for the elimination of between 6,000 and 8,000 positions. Canada Post also plans to restructure its pension plan.
Once fully implemented, Canada Post expects these initiatives to contribute $700 to $900 million per year to its balance sheet, not including staff reductions.