Canada Post needs drastic measures to staunch the fiscal bleeding and revamp its operations after a tough decade, experts say.
Ninety-six per cent of the 2.2 billion letters received last year were sent by Canadians, according to the annual report. Given those 2.1 billion domestic letters as well as this month's seven-cent price hike on a stamp purchased in a booklet, some quick math suggests the hike could add roughly $147 million in revenue to Canada Post coffers. That's as much as a fifth of last year's loss.
The postal service's share of the parcel market eroded from 62 per cent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to 29 per cent last year, as Amazon and other competitors seized on skyrocketing demand for next-day doorstep deliveries. Moreover, the move would face at least some backlash, analysts say, including from unions and New Democrats."They're being used less and less, but Loblaws and Shoppers and those kinds of stores would love to have the post office as a franchise just because it builds traffic into the stores," Lee said.
“I have a ‘super mailbox,’ and I love it. If I go away for a couple weeks, I feel secure,” Ryder said. “The boxes are big enough for small items, so I don’t have to worry about porch pirates.”Elbowing into adjacent areas such as food delivery or partnering with e-commerce companies and rivals like UPS on last-mile package shipments present possible opportunities that could build on Canada Post’s vast network of outposts and employees.