Business owners in Ottawa raising concerns amid Canada Post strike ahead of the holiday season

Canada Post trailers sit at a depot in Toronto, Nov. 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Business owners in Ottawa are raising concerns amid Canada Post strike ahead of the holiday season.

"We offer a flat fee right. So, it's in every case, it's 80 to 90 per cent cheaper than the legacy carriers that are in existence," said Alok Ahuja, the CEO and co-founder of Trexity, an online business offering same-day deliveries for local residents and businesses.

"It's a flat fee based on where it’s going in the city. (The fee) could start anywhere from $5 all the way up to $12."

With Canada Post workers on strike, Ahuja says Trexity has been flooded with new requests for service, as many small businesses are turning to alternative delivery options.

"When customers need you, that's when you step up, and this is where the strongest relationships are formed," added Ahuja. "So, for (small businesses) to be crippled by Canada Post in this time, it's extremely unfortunate."

Workers hit the picket lines Friday -- after Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post failed to reach a deal by the strike midnight-deadline.

"It's very disappointing that the CUPW decided to have a national strike," said Jon Hamilton, spokesperson for Canada Post.

"Because that just doesn't impact Canada Post, it impacts our employees, it impacts charities, (and) it impacts small businesses."

Jan Simpson, CUPW’s national president says "right now, we're trying to grow the business, but also improve the working conditions and get fair wages for our workers. There have been many years of bargaining that has happened through arbitration, and there are many outstanding issues."

This is Canada Post's busiest time of year, and with over 55,000 of its workers on strike, it has the potential to cause delays and disruptions for its customers heading into the holiday season.

Ian Lee, associate professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University says this mail strike won’t have the impact it would have had in years past and will push customers to use online services.

"This is just going to accelerate and incentive them to stop using the post office by making sure that they digitize all their records. This is going to accelerate the decline of the post office," said Lee.