Operations update: as CUPW moves to rotating strikes, customers should expect delays.
After the long weekend, we are safely ramping up our operations across the country – welcoming back employees and restarting machines and vehicles.
While postal services resume this week, uncertainty and instability in the postal service will continue with the union’s decision to conduct rotating strikes.
Shutting down and restarting parts of our integrated national network with rotating strikes has always challenged our ability to provide reliable service to customers. As a result, all service guarantees have been suspended.
Rotating strikes begin
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is holding rotating strikes in the following location(s) today:
Dawson Creek (B.C.)
Fort St John (B.C.)
St. Anthony (N.L.)
Rotating strikes have ended in:
Timmins (Ont.)
Canada Post continues to operate across Canada
After today, we will be accepting and delivering mail and parcels in all locations, except where there are rotating strikes, but you should expect delays.
Once an item is inducted in our network, it will be secure but cannot be retrieved if that facility is affected by a rotating strike. Items will be delivered as quickly as possible after a disruption is over and operations resume.
Mail and parcels will not be delivered or picked up in locations where there are currently rotating strikes. Once the strike is over in a given location, the delivery of mail and parcels will restart as quickly as possible once operations resume.
Accepting parcels and mail starting October 15, but customers should expect delays
Beginning tomorrow, we will begin accepting commercial inductions into our network. As we manage potential disruptions at select facilities and restart our operations, we will resume scheduled pickups, and you will be able to drop off mail and parcels at our plants, depots and commercial deposit centres (CDCs).
What this means for your business
Given the duration of the national strike and with rotating strikes starting, we first need to begin processing the mail and parcels trapped in our network. As we continue to operate with an unstable network, it will take time to clear the trapped volume and manage operational resources, so customers should expect delays in processing and delivery. Where possible, all new parcels will be processed on a first-in, first-out basis as we also process the volume already in the network.
Here’s what you can expect in the days ahead:
Parcels•
Beginning Wednesday, October 15, parcels can be inducted at receipt verification units (RVUs) and CDCs.
You may experience lineups and delays at our facilities as we manage rotating strikes. Therefore, we may not have the ability to complete live offloads. We ask for your patience.
Customers can also expect delays when waiting to receive empty tractor-trailers. For the first few days, equipment availability will be a challenge, and we will fulfill on a best-effort basis.
Scheduled pickups will start on Wednesday, October 15, but it will take several days to process items. We will make a best effort to collect all items at the time of the pickup; if that is not possible due to volumes or equipment availability, we will return to pick up the remaining items either the same day or next day. It is important to note that there will be delays from the time is it picked up to when processing begins.
On-demand pickups will also resume on Wednesday, October 15.
On-time service guarantees for parcel delivery services remain suspended. We will notify you when on-time service guarantees are reinstated.
Neighbourhood Mail•
Beginning Wednesday, October 15, Neighbourhood MailTM (NM) can be inducted at RVUs and CDCs.
On October 15 and for the first few days, you may experience lineups and delays at our facilities. Therefore, we may not have the ability to complete live offloads. We ask for your patience.
As we resume operations, the limited availability of our equipment means you may have to find a secure alternative when inducting NM (e.g. boxes).
Date-specific NM will not be available. We will notify you as soon as we are able to resume this service.
For NM mailings already in the network, we will not be able to honour date-specific delivery.
All other NM in our system will be delivered as upon receipt – and will be delivered as quickly as possible.
Return labels and call-for items•
All return labels created on or after August 25, 2025, will remain valid for up to 45 days until our operations stabilize.
We will also restart the clock on all items currently held for customer pickup at post offices, regardless of whether the office was open or closed during the strike.
As of October 14, your customers will have 15 days to pick up their parcel before it is returned to the sender.
Package redirection•
If you leveraged package redirection during the national strike, we will do our best to locate and redirect your parcel. However, our ability to fulfill package redirection requests will be limited until the network stabilizes.
International mail and parcels•
We will work to process the accumulation of international mail and parcels currently queued up to enter the postal system.
The postal system started to accept new international mail on Monday, October 13.
Transaction mail•
Service standards for Transaction Mail will be affected for an extended period.
Transaction Mail trapped in the network by the national strike will be processed and delivered on a first-in, first-out basis to the extent possible.
We will work to move new volume as quickly as possible.