Ottawa small businesses feeling the pressure amid postal worker strike

While mail and parcel deliveries remain at a standstill, small businesses in Ottawa are being forced to scramble to find other shipping methods during the busiest time of year.

"Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a pivotal time for us because we're going into the quieter months," said Sports 4 general manager, Karen Zerr.

"It's been especially busy online, so it's been pretty significant. I used to bike into work now I have to drive into work so I can drop off the packages at the UPS outlet."

Forced to find alternative shipping methods, Zerr says the cost to ship with UPS is triple what it is with Canada Post.

"An $11 dollar package is now a $35 dollar package," Zerr said.

"We generally do free shipping after $150 but that cuts into our bottom line now because we're paying more for shipping."

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) the majority of small businesses rely on Canada Post, with 75 per cent saying they've been negatively impacted.

"This is a disaster and for some businesses, especially small businesses that hustled to go online during the pandemic, this is an existential threat for many of them because the cost of the private sector delivery options are often just so much more," said CFIB president, Dan Kelly.

It's yet another hurdle for businesses like The Papery, who recently moved back into its home on Bank Street after a fire two years ago.

"We've changed up a couple of things," said assistant manager, Sean Everett.

"We do have a company that does same-day delivery and then there's a new company that can actually ship within Canada for reasonable prices."

As the strike continues into the busy holiday season, shoppers are also feeling the uncertainty.

"Having family that lives outside of the area and having to either mail gifts or hopefully send gifts that we purchased online has been challenging. Just not really knowing if we'll be able to depend on that to get things out by Christmas," said shopper Kelsey MacIntosh

Canada Post says it hopes to reignite discussions and help the parties work towards a final agreement with the support of mediators.

"In an effort to move talks forward, Canada Post earlier today presented the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) with a comprehensive framework for reaching negotiated agreements. The framework includes proposals to bring greater flexibility to the Corporation's delivery model, while also demonstrating movement on other key issues," Canada Post said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the CFIB says if the strike isn't over in the next couple of days, Canada Post likely won't be able to deliver anything new before the holidays because of the backlog.

"The message to consumers is anything you can do to go and support local independent small and medium sized companies in your neighbourhood's is a huge help," Kelly said.

"If you can shift your purchasing from online to in-person, that also makes a big difference."