Analysis of Canada Post's Transformation since 2011
Canada Post announced in 2013 an estimated annual $400 to $500 million in savings by converting door to door to community mailboxes. It was part of their five-point plan to bring Canada Post into an economically stable future.[1]
However, a change in Government in 2015 halted such plans. They were only able to achieve around 20% of this financial goal.
Continue reading “The Community Mailbox Financial Fiasco at Canada Post”How much money Canada Post is legislated to lose every year.
Canada Post is obligated under the Canadian Postal Service Charter to a uniform pricing structure for any mail services delivered across Canada.
Anyone will quickly notice that sending parcels and mail to remote places such as Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, or Hopedale, Labrador is going to cost more than any profit that could be generated out of these communities. And there are some rural and urban routes too, especially those that have a large transient population and low levels of income generation, that Canada Post would lose money on. However, legislation requires Canada Post to absorb these losses.
Continue reading “Canada Post and the Universal Service Obligation”The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the largest union representing workers at Canada Post, has serious concerns about Canada Post being able to sustain its daily operational expenses and pension obligations.
Denis Lemelin, National President of CUPW, outlined his concern in a September 2013 letter sent to Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport:
“As you know, the debate on the future of the postal service, which we believe must be public, is of the utmost concern to us. That is why I am writing to you today about an issue that comes up in all of the Corporation’s interactions with the media: the pension plan. Canada Post states that its line of credit will be terminated in April 2014 and that it will have to resume special pension fund payments, which means it will no longer have enough money to operate.”(1)
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1. CUPW Asks Minister Raitt to Organize a Meeting to Discuss Pension Plan
2. See also the National Post article: Canada Post Poised to Lay an Egg Next Easter
3. There are dissenters within CUPW over this letter. See Pension Plan Discussions September 22, 2013
The sudden financial meltdown at Canada Post; who caused it is a secret, but there are some clues.
Many postal employees would argue that Moya Greene, the president and chief architect of the transformation in 2008 is responsible for the present financial problems. However, no one, whether in Government, any board member of Canada Post, or any major newspaper reporter has ever made such a public accusation. It may be unfair to make such a portrait with so little substantive information.
Continue reading “Canada Post in a Financial Crisis: Who is to Blame?”
An analysis of The Future of Postal Service in Canada, published by theConference Board of Canada, April 2013, authored by Vijay Gill, Crystal Hoganson, and David Stewart-Patterson.
It is a concept that is a good start, but is too limited in scope.
The identification of the problems and solutions outlined by this report are not surprising at all, as these have been known and discussed for well over a decade. The Conference Board is simply reiterating Canada Post’s present mantras and does not look outside the corporation’s present mindset for identifying the challenges or possible solutions.
Continue reading “The Conference Board of Canada’s Review of Canada Post”