Ottawa customers turning to couriers to get holiday packages shipped as Canada Post strike continues

The ongoing postal workers strike has some people turning to other delivery companies to get their holiday packages sent to loved ones in time for Christmas.

"It has been a wild couple of weeks," jokes Alok Ahuja, CEO and co-found of Trexity, an Ottawa-based delivery company. "It has been extremely eye-opening."

Trexity started with local-same day delivery in Ottawa and has since expanded into major cities across Canada.

Since the start of Canada Post strike, Trexity's business has been booming. "We're seeing a 40 per cent increase in deliveries on a daily basis, on top of the holiday rush that we already forecast at the beginning of the year," say Ahuja.

The strike is about to enter its fourth week with no end in sight. That has many turning to alternative shipping methods for the holidays and opening up new business opportunities for small businesses. "I see a huge opportunity for us as a company and yes, this has helped us for sure, but we were going to scale and we will continue to scale," says Ahuja. "Now, we'll just do it a little bit faster than we had anticipated."

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For almost 40 years, Laurier Office Mart has been offering courier, printing, and office supply services in downtown Ottawa. Shahe Abedissin, owner of the family-run business, has noticed an increase in customers looking into courier services. "The courier aspect of it, it's been about 40 per cent more," says Abedissin, "but a lot of people walk out disappointed because the rates of the courier companies that we represent, FedEx, Purolator, and DHL, compared to Canada Post are much higher."

We used online price estimates from Canada Post, FedEx and Purolator to compare shipping of a medium size postal box (21.5cm x 15cm x 12cm) that weights 2kg, from Ottawa to Toronto on a Friday.

Canada Post would have had the cheapest option with Regular Parcel shipping, arriving in three business days, at $21.85. Canada Post's Xpresspost option is $26.61 and guarantees delivery in one business day.

FedEx Ground shipping is their cheapest option at $27.23 and is expected to arrive the end of day Monday. FedEx has numerous options at $38.04 that guaranteed shipping before 5 p.m. on Monday.

Purolator Ground shipping will set you back $69.61 to arrive by end of day Tuesday, or Purolator Express Guaranteed option is $71.07 to arrive by end of day Monday.

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The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says it is ready to get back to the bargaining table.

Canada Post says it is reviewing the union's new counterproposals after talks stalled late last week.