Canada Post halts mail delivery in rural Ottawa because mailboxes are too short

Residents on a rural Ottawa road are perplexed after they recently stopped receiving their mail.

Dozens of homeowners on Constance Lake Road near Dunrobin say Canada Post stopped delivering to their roadside mailboxes weeks ago.

"Most of the residents on the street here, all of my neighbours with the exception of one had stopped receiving home delivery at the same time that I had," Judd tells CTV News.

The Constance Lake Road residents say they were never given a reason why.

After contacting Canada Post multiple times himself, Judd says he was told his mailbox does not meet courier height regulations - it's too short.

Canada Post regulations say rural mailboxes must be between 42 and 45 inches (107-114 centimetres) above the ground.

"I measured mine and it's at 37 inches," says Judd.

Judd was told that when his road was repaved back in July 2020, it raised the height of the road. However, more than two years later after no issues were raised about the height of his mailbox, his mail delivery stopped.

Judd says he reached out to the city of Ottawa about the roadwork.

"They said that their standard process was to strip down the pavement that was in existence previously, and resurface with the same amount of asphalt. So there should be no change to the road surface that existed two years ago as it does today."

In a statement, Canada Post apologized to customers and said the customers’ rural mailboxes don’t comply with their safety protocols.

“We can confirm that mail delivery to some customers along Constance Lake Road in Kanata has been temporarily interrupted since last week,” the statement said. “Following recent roadwork, these customers’ rural mailboxes are no longer compliant with our safety protocols.

“Our delivery agents delivery to more than 700,000 rural mailboxes across the country and their health and safety are our top priority.”Up the street, resident Steve Edgett had his business affected by the disrupted mail service.

"I was expecting an urgent piece of mail that was being sent to me by Revenue Canada," Edgett tells CTV News.

"It makes me feel pretty frustrated, largely because of the lack of communication," he says.

"If we had of known that mail was being withheld and not delivered, that would have been helpful. If we had known the reason why it could have been remedied very quickly."

After learning why his mail delivery had stopped, Edgett says it took him 20 minutes to raise his mailbox to the required height.

He also left a sign on the side indicating it now stood at 45 inches.

Constance Lake Road residents not in compliance have to travel to the Canada Post depot on Hawthorne Road in Ottawa's east end and present identification to pick up their mail.

Customers can pick up mail at the Canada Post facility at 86 Iber Road in Stittsville until they can adjust their mailboxes to meet the guidelines.

“We have provided customers with the necessary information to assist them," the Canada Post statement said. “We apologize to our customers for this temporary interruption of their mail delivery to their mailbox and we will resume delivery once the issue is resolved.”

Judd finally received a piece of mail Thursday; a notice from Canada Post to raise his mailbox.

"They sent somebody over, but they didn't bring the mail."