Ottawa businesses brace for possible Canada Post strike before the holiday season

A potential strike by Canada Post could disrupt services for Canadians and businesses nationwide, and locally in Ottawa.

For many, checking the mail is a daily routine; and in the age of e-commerce, many businesses rely on services by Canada Post.   

The rural, suburban and urban bargaining units of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) issued strike notices to Canada Post on Tuesday.

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The Crown corporation issued a lockout notice on Tuesday, after mail carriers handed their employer a 72-hour strike notice.

If negotiated settlements are not reached by the deadline, workers will be in legal strike position Friday morning, according to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Daily mail

It’s a habit for many – walking or driving to their local mail box.

"I check it every day. Just you never know," says Ottawa resident Attilio Nicastro.  

• What consumers need to know if Canada Post workers strike ahead of a busy holiday season

"It will affect me. We'll be getting bills. So, the bills will be paid late. If they go on a lengthy strike with interest going and we're going to be charged the interest.”

Businesses

At Toys on Fire in Barrhaven, you don’t have to look further than the front of the store on Tuesday morning to see how a potential strike could affect shipping.   After the postal service was paused for Remembrance Day, dozens of packages were ready to be picked up by Canada Post.

The business has a brick-and-mortar storefront, as well as an e-commerce business that ships throughout Canada.

“Right now, probably about 70 per cent of everything is going with Canada Post,” says store manager Grayson Doherty.

Doherty adds that the business has a backup plan with a variety of couriers, but some addresses are only services by Canada Post, such as remote communities or PO boxes.

"Fifteen to 20 per cent of that has to go with Canada Post because there's no other option.”

Lee Valley Tools is getting ready to ship catalogues, just ahead of the busy shopping season.

"What's particularly at risk for us is two things,” says President Jason Tasse.

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“One, consumer confidence. Even though we have multiple parcel carriers, and we can still get the parcels to your household, you know, the average household just assumes, 'Oh, Canada Post potentially there's a work stoppage or interruption.' They lose confidence in the mail system for parcels, and then for the hundreds of thousands of catalogyes that were about to mail out there now in jeopardy because they're addressed and they go through the postal system, right, you know, to the households."