Canada Post said Monday it lost a staggering $1.57 billion before tax last year, a record-smashing loss it blamed on labour uncertainty and barriers to modernization.
The financial loss is nearly double the $841 million before tax the national mail carrier lost the year before, the company said in a statement alongside its annual report.
“The severity of the corporation’s financial situation underscores the urgency to transform and meet the modern needs of the country,” the statement said.
Revenues fell nearly five per cent, or $315 million, which Canada Post said was due to a sharp 32.6 per cent decline in parcel volumes last year.
Many customers shifted their parcel deliveries to private carriers during last year’s labour unrest that saw Canada Post workers take several job actions — culminating in a nationwide strike — as it sought to negotiate a new contract.
The two sides finally reached tentative agreements late last year.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began voting on whether to ratify the new contracts on Monday, a process set to last more than a month. The union has urged its members to approve the deals.
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The company said Monday that parcel revenues fell by $850 million compared to the year before during the strike actions, a loss offset somewhat by the $256-million profit reported by its subsidiary Purolator, which operates separately from Canada Post.
“Given the impact on customers, the lost parcel volumes will be challenging to win back — emphasizing the need to modernize Canada Post’s services in a competitive market,” the Crown corporation said.
Earlier this month, Canada Post laid out its five-year plan to convert the four million addresses across the country that still receive door-to-door mail delivery to community mailbox service.
The move is part of a larger transformation plan announced by the federal government last fall, which includes relaxing letter mail delivery standards and shuttering some post offices in areas once considered rural but have since grown more suburban or urban.
Both the government and the company have promised that delivery services will be protected for rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
Canada Post also laid off members of its management team last year as required by the government under the transformation plan. It has said it plans to reduce its workforce mostly through attrition and retirements.
The government says the transformation plan, which Canada Post has adopted, will save the company hundreds of millions of dollars a year and move it away from relying on federal cash injections.
Ottawa loaned Canada Post another $1 billion earlier this year after the company burned through a previous $1.03-billion loan faster than it anticipated.
Canada Post said Monday it agreed with the government that it is “critical” for the company to transform and end its reliance on taxpayer-funded loans.
The company said in November it had already lost over $1 billion in 2025 due to the then-ongoing labour unrest.
The problem with CP is the old days..Years ago it was the place to work..great pay, benefits..and hardly any hours!… Ppl still expect that because it’s the government. I really hope they hashed out something that works for both employees and employer. I hated the strike, but I understood it from Cp.s side too.
It’s too late because they failed Canadian citizens come on strike again over holidays but Amazon continued as far as delivering to rural areas I live in Manitoba in rural area we have to go get our mail it’s not delivered. Now I just order delivery to my door with whatever company I deal with because it’s kind of post is a failure but nothing unusual for government corporations. If it had been run like a business you wouldn’t be in this trouble and again striking during holidays biggest mistake ever made by the Union.
This is a crown corporation, we shouldn’t think of it as losing money. It costs money. The RCMP doesn’t lose money, it costs money. Firefighters don’t lose money, their services cost money. Canada Post is no different.
This shows on of the unions benefits , how to bankrupt a business
Congratulations Canada Post for this great loss. You deserved this. Keep it down like this.
NO Wonder
The strikes did not cause sympathy. The strikes proved that using that service is unreliable, and heartless to use Christmas as blackmail. Proved it. The union heads will not feel this except for less member fees as its members are taking the brunt of the consequences.
Global News is obviously captured media manufacturing consent for the private takeover of good public service jobs. Canada Post is a SERVICE not a business. While all public services can use restructuring to help reduce costs, they fundamentally exist to provide both a service AND create jobs with our taxes. I want my fellow citizens to have good living wage jobs with benefits. Same rhetoric used by Doug Ford to say run schools like a business – education is a service, not a business. WHY would you want your education system or postal system run like a business when business prioritize profit over service, living wages and employee well being. People please pay attention to what’s actually happening rather than falling for the division.
Take the money from CBC .
Save our 70,000 good paying jobs !
This is yet another proof of Carney’s eloquence.More than half a year ago, Carney said that Canada Post had lost 5 billion taxpayers’ money and this problem must be solved.More than half a year has passed, but not only has the problem not been solved, but funds are still being provided for them to waste.
This can be a joint-stock system, with each party bearing its own profits and losses and receiving state supervision.This is just too bad. Even a monopolistic industry can lose money. It’s completely worth breaking up.
It a crown corporation! It is a Public Service, The hospitals aren’t told to make money, the the police service is not made to stick to a budget, the Fire servise is not told to stick to their budgets either. These are public services as well.
If you remove all the improvements they made new vehiciles new huge sorting warehouse etc the spread sheet would look a lot different.
Cut the VP’s Cut the Managers Salery to something that reflects their actual job worth and stop playing into corpiorate greed they want it to fail so they can buy it in a fire sale taking all the improvments and laughing all the way to the bank
Please get your heads out of your asses
We could get rid of the government issued monopoly on the industry so real professionals csn step in…
Intentionally so, I would say. As with all our other industry and services. We pay more and get lesser standards for the honor of doing so.
Please lay off half of the staff, including Management. Those that get to stay take a 25% pay haircut.
Congratulations to the postal workers. Your idiotic pushback against change has guaranteed your demise. Last years loss is something like $30k per employee! Time to close down and put you all out of work. Bye-bye.
Canada post has 15 vice presidents, the USA has one. Do you think that ending door to door service is going to balance the books. Give your head a shake.
Colton Keith, where have you been???!!! Services were cut to twice a week long time ago. They also install community mail boxes everywhere so no more “walking” from door to door.
Less work, but more pay!
Cut services to every second day. Get rid of half the staff.
Ettinger should be dismissed immediately as it is clear on his
watch Canada Post has failed.
Sadly..under liberals no accountability so Ettinger remains despite clear incompetence.
Like WAY TO MANY UNION DEMANDING WAGE INCREASES has pushed Canada Post right out the door now. This is what happens when workers demand they join UNIONS and price the companies and our lives right out of this country. Remember, we JUST went through airline pilots, mechanics etc. DEMANDING wage increase recently and now the whole gas “war” adding to the high cost of flying. We I think are going to see a lot of changes coming up real soon in the way of businesses shutting down and a lot going in bankruptcy. Thank UNIONS for that.
Canada Post always claims that they’re responsible but when there is something wrong they claim there’s no responsibility so they want to do both be responsible but not be responsible when they get caught doing bad things
If you look at the history, you’ll find that the losses coincide with the appointment of Doug Ettinger as CEO of Canada Post Corporation. In the years that he has been in charge of the service, the company has been in the red annually. At the same time, the executive of the corporation have continued to draw huge salaries (Ettinger makes more than the PM) in addition to 6-figure bonuses (stealthily called “at risk” pay). If you delve in further, you’ll see that Mr. Ettinger also sits on the board of Purolator, which just happens to be 91% owned by Canada Post. During the 2 full strike actions taken by the union, one for 5 weeks, and the other for 2 weeks, you’ll see that Purolator revenue surged for the same period.
The financial statements for both companies are readily available for anyone who wants to have a look.
It’s hard to say whether Ettinger is following the government’s direction, or is just incredibly inept at managing the service.
C is right. Canada Post is not a business. It’s a service! Just like healthcare, education, police services, etc. Services provided for us, by the gov’t, using our money. The fact that they under fund our services, withholding money the public gives them for said services, and then gives it to private business to make up for the “shortfalls” is infuriating.
They need to stop portraying Public services and corporations as regular businesses answering to shareholders. The profit is a healthy, functioning society.
Another huge fail for Carney.
Canada post is a service you don’t say oh the police lost millions last year .. it’s a government funded taxpayer service
This is absolutely insane. How much more tax dollars are going to go to dig them out again. Nothing they can do will fix this sinking ship.