Canada Post is doing away with door-to-door mail delivery.
The change in service is just one of many announced, Wednesday, in an effort to avoid major debt by the year 2020.
“It would be a billion dollars in losses, per year, clearly that’s unacceptable,” says Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton.
“With mail erosion and the way were going, if we didn’t make major changes, yeah, we were going to be in trouble,” he says.
About one-third of Canadian communities still receive door-to-door delivery. Canada post will transition to community mailboxes in the second half of 2014.
“Going to the house, I like meeting the people, that's what I love about,” says one Canada Post letter carrier sad to see the service go.
Canada Post says the way people use the mail service is changing. An increase in online shopping means Canadians are more focused of receiving small parcels than regular mail. It says community mailboxes with special parcel compartments will better suit their needs.
The Canadian Postal Workers union disagrees.
“As a union we recognize that Canada Post has to change, but it's not the way. Change is not to cut, cut and cut,” says CUPW national president Denis Lemelin.
The cost of stamps is also going up. A single stamp will rise from $0.63 to $1.00. A book or roll of stamps will cost $0.85 a stamp.
Canada Post will also move away from corporate post offices for more franchised locations by partnering up with other retailers. It says this will mean more parking and better hours for its customers.
The changes will also mean a reduction of about 6,000 to 8,000 jobs. Canada Post says it hopes most will be done through attrition with an expected 15,000 employees expected to leave or retire in the next five years.
With a report from CTV’s John Hua.
